The environmental impact of packaging has never been under greater scrutiny. Consumers want brands to reduce plastic and packaging waste. The introduction of new government regulations such as the extended producer responsibility (EPR) and growing pressure from investors, has led many brands to set greater targets and pledges to improve packaging sustainability.
Organisations can no longer afford to lag
However, meeting the technical requirements of packaging without compromising on the environment is not straightforward. If your business is responsible for handling over 50 tonnes of packaging with an annual turnover of £2 million you will be responsible for the full net cost recovery of packaging placed on the market.
In the past you may have purchased Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) as a waste management measure. However, with PRN prices increasing this approach is not sustainable in the long term and is not in line with new legislations.
Organisations need to be looking for proactive approaches to packaging that will allow you to reduce the cost of compliance fees, the annual tonnage of packaging waste and environmental impact.
To stay ahead of the regulatory curve and meet the growing expectation of customers, you must address the sustainability of your packaging.
Making a decision between packaging is difficult
It is becoming more challenging for businesses to prioritise and choose between different packaging options. There are a variety of packaging materials on the market proposing to reduce environmental impact.
However, making a switch from one packaging to the other without understanding where the environmental impacts are coming from will lead to unintended consequences.
Whilst your businesses might be making changes to packaging that are consumer facing there may be significant volumes of secondary and tertiary packaging across your supply chain and business operations that will require attention.
Sustainable packaging is a holistic life cycle approach
Sustainable packaging is not a contest between paper and plastic, but helping you achieve packaging functionality with the least environmental impact possible. Our sustainable packaging work covers three key areas
Our sustainability packaging impact assessment takes a holistic life cycle approach which involves 5 key areas of packaging intervention.
This allows you to understand the impact of your packaging at every stage of the life cycle from design to end of life. We can ensure that when you make positive changes in one area it doesn’t lead to negative impacts in another. For example if you may want to switch to locally sourced biobased material to reduce environmental impact however if you are unaware of the compatibility with recycling systems it will end up as a waste or contaminant.
Identifying the right packaging solutions for your organisation
We understand that you may not have control over every packaging decision in your supply chain. We prioritise our support based on what is material to your business. We have worked with various brands in consumer goods sector to provide tailored services on sustainable packaging.
Right from steering workshops to identifying what is high priority & packaging risk in your value chain to implementation of sustainable packaging guides to your suppliers, buyers and relevant teams.
Make sustainable packaging work for your business and your customers. We can help.
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