Steps to Procuring Sustainable Packaging

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Your business may be working to reduce your carbon footprint. An article on the Chase & Associates website discusses the Steps to Procuring Sustainable Packaging and notes that this must involve some R&D in order to ensure that you are getting the most up-to-date sustainable solutions for your packaging.

The author points out that the world’s leading tech companies became world leaders through an ongoing cycle of innovation.

Predicting where to Focus Your Packaging R & D Efforts

How can anyone predict what will happen in the future of packaging and hence decide where to focus your R & D efforts?

The article quotes Jana Inverson who recommends looking into the following 3 things to help decide where the future is heading.

– emerging technology,

– global packaging trends

– market projections

What elements of packaging areas warrant further research?

In particular, the author recommends a few areas where either small changes and/or research can make a big difference such as;

Making your packaging smaller. This will reduce the amount of board used and the freight costs. Of course, your carton must still be fit for purpose so we advise customers to talk to us before making any changes to the structure of their carton. You can read more about carton structure here. https://www.dollard-packaging.ie/a-carton-structure-for-every-packaging-challenge/
Consider how you transport your products – some methods, such as rail transport have a lower carbon footprint than road
Circular economy – always design your products with the circular economy in mind. For example, can you use recycled materials in your packaging and can they be recycled afterward?
Reuse – is it possible that your packaging can be reused? The article states that creating reusable products/packaging is currently one of the biggest challenges for the packaging industry.
Simplifying packaging. Writing in R&D World, Dr. Bob Maughon and Dr. Mark Jones urge us to simplify packaging, noting: ”Many packages are made up of multiple layers, with layers for structure, for barrier and for aesthetics. Multiple materials complicate recycling so efforts to provide more functionality from the same base resins continue to be ripe for innovation.” One has only to look at the packaging for a new mobile phone to see a good example of packaging that could be simplified, where currently sustainability still seems to play “second fiddle” to aesthetics.
Focus on Design The author quotes Joe Iles of the Ellen McArthur Foundation, “Everything is designed – from the clothes we wear to the food we eat, and the buildings we live in. Considering the principles of the circular economy at the design stage can have a huge influence over how such items are produced, used, and what happens to them after use.”

Therefore sustainability begins at the design stage and design will always need R&D to guide it. You can read the full article here.

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