When it comes to new ideas in packaging, necessity is becoming the mother of invention

Sustainability is a holistic business. It’s no use if your lovely organic apples come in compostable packaging when the manufacturing process involved the use of vast amounts of water, or if they’ve been air-freighted from the other side of the world.

It’s this kind of disconnect that leads to toxic products being protected by recyclable packaging, or organically grown produce on single-use plastic trays. Sustainability and ecological efficiency need to be designed into the full life-cycle of a product. Not only do the materials products are made of, and the manufacturing processes involved, need to be sustainable, but also the way they’re packaged, transported, used and disposed of.

All of these aspects are important when making the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a product, but packaging in particular plays a strategic role. Partly because it has become a major product design feature itself, and partly because it currently accounts for almost half of plastic waste in the developed world (in the UK it represents 40 per cent).

But there are plenty of innovative ways of reducing the plastic content in packing. Foils are getting thinner (or even plastic-free), containers lighter, excessive components are being removed. Meanwhile, recyclability rates are improving. Metal can be decoupled from plastic; black food trays – for years largely undetectable by recycling processes – can be recast in drabber but more easily sorted colours.

However, eco-designers argue that striving for more virtuous recycling means we still think inside the disposability box. Designer and sociologist Leyla Acaroglu, for example, argues that “recycling validates waste” through perpetuating widely known practices such as planned obsolescence, where products are intentionally designed to be difficult to repair and with short lifespans, forcing consumers to simply buy more of them.

The call for more radical solutions is in line with the waste hierarchy incorporated into UK law in 2011, which ranks waste management methods according to their environmental impact. In the inverted triangle of waste hierarchy, the least desirable methods – disposal and recovery – are at the bottom, with recycling in the middle and reuse and prevention at the top. “Prevention” involves the absence of any protective or decorative covering on the product, so sustainable design doesn’t play any role there. Reusable packaging, however, is an area with great potential, and one showing increasing activity.

The challenges of reusable packaging

Reusable packaging is not a simple or instant remedy to a complex problem, with different, and sometimes competing goals. It has to be sturdy and as scratch-, dent-, detergent- and smash-proof as it can be, but without compromising aesthetic performance too much. It must be compatible not just with transport and delivery, but also reverse logistics (pick-up), sanitisation and refilling.

Visual appeal is not being abandoned, but consumers and producers need to re-examine their priorities – we may need to get used to a somewhat clunkier, visually more subdued packaging design to pay for the more important environmental targets. Designers also have to ensure reusable packaging some sort of uniformity, to make containers easy-to-transport and clean, and also allows brands to somehow differentiate themselves; they need to be heavy-duty, but also attractive enough to persuade customers to do their bit for product stewardship – in other words, enhancing the packaging’s longevity by taking good care of it.

But it’s not all work and no play for eco-designers. They also have a unique opportunity to shape the future by revisiting the tested solutions of yesteryear, such as the milkman’s reusable glass bottles or the Indian stackable stainless-steel tiffin lunchbox. Or perhaps they want to appeal to younger generations with revolutionary new materials and designs such as paper bottles. Eco-design might even force us into coming up with better ideas for packaging functionaity, such as zero-waste shopping platform Loop’s double-walled ice-cream container, featuring spoonable rounded corners and an optimum melting rate.

If refillable packaging catches on, all of these new types of transit packaging, tote bags, oriental style takeaway boxes made of bean shells, and stainless-steel sprays will become ubiquitous. Moreover, with the emergence of product and packaging sustainability software, the composition of eco-packaging is becoming more visible too. Empowered by eco-design tools, manufacturers will be able to make more informed decisions when commissioning designers to create packaging for their products, and retailers can learn the sustainability score of competing products’ packaging and order accordingly. Meanwhile, the eco-friendly apps that can translate this knowledge into customer decisions can also provide direct feedback to designers regarding what trade-offs end-users are willing to make to be able to live in a healthier, more sustainable packaging environment.

By Zita Goldman

Cheap plastic is flooding developing countries – we’re making new biodegradable materials to help

Deirdre McKay, Keele University

Squeezed by lower fuel demand during the pandemic and the rise of renewable energy, the oil industry is staking out a new future for itself in plastics. Instead of powering vehicles or generating electricity, oil companies are increasingly looking to use their product to manufacture cheap plastic packaging, which they can sell in lower to middle income countries.

The problem? Many countries lack the means to recycle even their own plastics. Countries in the developing world are already inundated with plastic exported for sorting and reprocessing by higher income nations, so oil companies are effectively threatening to flood the developing world with a new wave of virtually unrecyclable plastics. Companies in the US are setting the groundwork for this right now by lobbying to undermine Kenya’s plastic bag ban.

The vast amounts of plastic waste that have already accumulated in the developing world are not being adequately managed. Landfill and incineration are the most common solutions, but burning plastics releases toxic chemicals. In reprocessing or landfill facilities, plastics often escape to choke rivers and coastal seas. Even lying around on the soil, plastics cause problems. A team of researchers in China found that the number and variety of insects and worms in soil was significantly reduced when LDPE – the kind of plastic carrier bags are made from – was spread over the earth.

As pressure to sell more plastics to the developing world grows, so does the body of evidence demonstrating the harms caused by this waste accumulating in the environment. This calls for locking waste plastics in “safe sinks”, like wood-plastic composites.

Biodegradable composites

Waste plastics from homes and businesses, like used carrier bags, can be collected, cleaned and combined with natural materials such as sawdust. These new composite materials lock plastic debris in a stable form, preventing it from being broken up and scattered into soils and the ocean. New materials could eventually replace plastics derived from petroleum and turn off the tap of new plastics production. But for now, these safe sinks are a vital step.

Our team at Universiti Sumatera Utara (the University of North Sumatra) in Indonesia recently developed a wood-plastic composite for use in construction. Combining LDPE and durian wood sawdust from a local sawmill, we pressed out composite materials suitable for building homes, fencing and furniture. Our study demonstrated that termites native to Indonesia can ingest these composite materials when buried in the soil, but we still need further research.

The termites have LDPE in their guts, but we’re not yet sure if they are digesting the plastics entirely or just breaking them up into micro and nano-plastics. Some termites cultivate microorganisms in their nests which can degrade LDPE plastics. Do ours? If not, introducing new termites or microbes that aren’t indigenous to Sumatra might create even bigger problems.

North Sumatra is home to rainforests, rhinos and tigers, and local ecosystems are vulnerable. People living in remote communities typically want the convenience of consumer goods, processed food, medicines and other amenities that come with plastic packaging. But they don’t want the waste it generates. Most of these communities lack solid waste management services, so burning and burying are their only options. While people on the nearby Indonesian island of Java enjoy a higher standard of living, their rivers are more polluted with plastic than any others in the world.

Our wood-plastic composite could replace wood, plastic decking or fencing, diverting plastic waste from the environment and easing the pressure on forests for building supplies. But we also need to test if our biodegradeable composite is safe. We don’t yet know if it will be more or less of a fire hazard than other building materials available on the Indonesian market. Flammability assessments are important – recycled plastic decking recently caught fire and burned down an ancient archaeological site in Australia.

Global materials research

Durian wood evolved in concert with insect and microbial life in Indonesia that was capable of decomposing it. Combining plastic waste with materials that are part of local ecosystems could ensure that resulting composites are biodegradable within the environments they’re created, wherever that is in the world. Scientists have discovered some aspects of natural systems that can break up and degrade plastics. We used termites and their associated microbes, but moth larvae and plastic-eating bacteria might also work.

Worldwide, sawmills are producing dust and flour from local wood that could be combined with ubiquitous plastic waste. Where emerging markets are likely to be targeted with cheap plastic packaging, scientists could adapt our procedure for making composite materials to local conditions.

These composite materials are promising as safe sinks for plastic waste, but they take time to develop. They’re most useful for countries inundated with plastic waste which lack the capital investment for most technical fixes, and have an even greater problem developing reliable solid waste management infrastructure. Though plastics are a global issue, it is this kind of low-cost, local research that can help solve the plastics crisis where it is felt most acutely.

Deirdre McKay, Reader in Geography and Environmental Politics, Keele University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Sustainable packaging – why rejecting all plastics is not the answer

It must be acknowledged that plastic packaging has many functional purposes. One of these is keeping our food fresh and extending their shelf-lives. This is not just about being able to enjoy eating strawberries – keeping food fresh longer significantly reduces food waste and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Research by Zero Waste Scotland has in fact revealed that food waste contributes more to climate change than plastic waste. Plastic’s physical properties, such as its light-weight and low volume, similarly help reduce carbon emissions, requiring less transportation and fuel.

Is biodegradable plastic all it’s cracked up to be? The appeal is understandable – once the packaging has been used, it can simply be chucked into your home compost, right? The answer is no.

In fact, biodegradable and compostable are not interchangeable terms. Biodegradable simply means that the material breaks down over a defined period of time, and there can be significant differences in the speed and nature of degradation between different biodegradable plastic materials. Biodegradable plastic also does not degrade in a natural environment, and neither is it recyclable, causing problems when wrongly sorted with non-biodegradable plastic in recycling streams. A material is considered compostable in the UK when it meets the BS EN13432 adopted by the British Standards Institution, so that it can compost under industrial conditions that are highly energy-intensive in specialised infrastructure. Some compostable material can be composted at home but not all. Likewise, some biodegradable plastic may meet the definition of compostable.

Being sustainable has no easy answers – it goes beyond simplistic measures, such as whether something is made of plastic or that it is biodegradable. That is why at PakTech, we opt for a holistic approach to sustainability and environmental stewardship. PakTech packaging handles are made from 100 per cent recycled HDPE, are reusable many times over and 100 per cent recyclable. Everything we do is guided by the principles of the circular economy and by using recycled plastic, we use 90 per cent less energy and 100 per cent less petroleum compared with using virgin plastic. Moreover, PakTech handles do not exacerbate the plastic pollution problem: by repurposing used goods such as HDPE milk jugs, they divert discarded plastic away from our land and oceans and back into production and productive use. The design and physical attributes of PakTech handles contribute to sustainable goals as well – their minimalist design and small volume, durability and water-resistance help to reduce overall packaging waste.

Going plastic-free is a short-sighted answer – just because you no longer see plastic packaging in your favourite shops does not mean plastic has disappeared from the earth. It just means it’s sitting around as waste or being incinerated, both of which are antithetical to the principle of circularity. Continuing to rely on single-use packaging, whatever material is being used, does not solve the issue of waste accumulation either.

We must continue to demand from companies and producers the highest sustainability standards, but this must be based on a broader framework and outlook that considers all aspects of environmental protection – and plastics still play an important role in that framework.

Paktech handles your sustainable packaging solutions.

Turning packaging into sustainable business opportunities

Consumer behaviours change with any global crisis, and it seems that Covid-19 has had three major impacts on the plastic that most products are still packaged in. Firstly, people are buying more products wrapped in plastic than ever. Secondly, the huge rise in fast food and delivery services has led to similar increase in single-use plastic waste, when the European Parliament’s future ban on throwaway plastics aims for a completely different outcome. Third, home delivery of groceries has become the norm for many people. And with the majority of deliverable goods being long-life products, you can bet your life that these, too, will involve some degree of plastic packaging.

In the coming years, we’ll see which changes are here to stay – and which companies manage to balance the increased demand for packaging materials with consumer concerns about sustainable packaging, all while adhering to the new regulations governments are sure to pass to combat climate change.

Plastic is an easy target to vilify, and deservedly so. E-commerce has made fossil-based plastic waste one of the biggest ecological problems that we must solve, and plastic’s emission-intense lifecycle and its contribution to climate change is something we simply can’t ignore.

The other side of the coin is that plastic is a phenomenally useful material that makes our lives easier and safer. It has helped to solve food shortage at a global level, protected our products and kept our food fresh. That’s why it’s so prevalent. But the fact that 98 per cent of these plastics are oil-based is now forcing us to look at packaging materials in a completely new way.

Solving sustainability at brand level

The vast majority of packages are created by agencies, and the main focus is usually on the visual design of the product. But if companies make sustainable service design a prerequisite, and designers are offered platforms and tools to make sustainable material choices, we’re on the path to fossil-free packaging innovations.

Leading companies to that path is often motivated by consumer wishes. Brands listen to their customers – but the urgency to solve the plastic problem is not only motivated by ecological brand image questions, it’s also down to legislation. When regulatory forces start to take a closer look at defining terms such as “recyclable”, “green”, and “eco”, many companies may find themselves asking why they didn’t start the work sooner.

The end goal in solving the plastic crisis should be making sure that the packages we use are reusable or recyclable, and that they are made of raw materials besides oil. It should be every company’s goal to limit the amount of plastic that ends up in nature or landfill – and also to ensure that any that does doesn’t cause any harm to marine life or other ecosystems.

The good news is that the materials of the future are no longer in test tubes. They’re in the pilot phase, ready for industrial production. Take Paptic, a company producing sustainable alternatives to plastic, such as recyclable paper bags that can be used tens of times. Or Woodly, which has created plastic products entirely from softwood cellulose, without fossil-based ingredients. These are the solutions of tomorrow, already available today.

The ongoing race of the winning concepts

Demands for sustainability open doors to innovation, and packaging is the perfect canvas. In addition to protecting products and telling us what they contain, the purpose of packaging can evolve into something we’ve never seen before.

With families getting smaller and cities being awake 24/7, new demands arise for healthier, fresh food that is smartly packaged. A lot of the information that normally appears on packaging should be moved from the actual physical wrapper to digital platforms. There, consumers could get product information from global companies in their own language.

Packages are not a necessary evil, but an opportunity. No matter how hated it might be, there’s no denying that plastic has done a lot for humankind in terms of fighting food shortage. The next step can be supporting public health with fossil-free packaging materials. Smart, biodegradable packages can proactively recommend the right kind of personalised diet that supports people’s health.

Packaging holds millions of possibilities – both economic and ecologicical – that we haven’t yet discovered.

We are VTT, one of Europe’s leading R&D organisations. Through scientific and technological means, we turn large global challenges into sustainable growth for businesses and society. We believe that groundbreaking solutions are possible only in ecosystems – this is why we bring companies from all over the globe together and put our vast technical and chemical know-how at their disposal.

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd

EVP Jussi Manninen jussi.manninen@vtt.fi @jjmanninen

Forge the winning concepts of tomorrow with us at vttresearch.com 

Can the solution to the plastic crisis be… plastic? https://youtu.be/0u7vS_MMqfY

Sustainability starts by understanding your brand’s objectives

“Sustainable packaging” can mean different things to different brands, depending on what their product is and the objectives they are trying to achieve. At Alpha Packaging, we typically define something as sustainable if it uses fewer raw materials – either through reduced package weight or through recycled content that replaces virgin material – or is made from renewable resources such as sugar cane or plant-based starches. While there are many ways to achieve a more sustainable packaging solution, not every solution suits every product. When customers ask us which “sustainable option” is best for them, we take them through a series of questions to determine the options that might be right for their products, customers and retail environment.

Most of the sustainable options we offer to customers fall into one of four categories: recycled post-consumer resins (PCR) for both PET and HDPE resins; recyclable packaging made from PET or HDPE; plant-derived (bio-based) resins; and light-weight bottles and jars that use less resin per bottle. To become a sustainable partner to this industry, we’ve had to make a commitment to find FDA-approved sources for all sustainable resins. We’ve also had to refine our own manufacturing standards in order to run 100 per cent recycled content in all of the manufacturing processes we use to serve this market.

It is increasingly common to see PET and HDPE packaging made from 100 per cent post-consumer (recycled) content, which is frequently referred to as PCR (post-consumer resin). There are also a lot of advancements in plant-based resins (also called bioresins), which will ultimately give brands options for safe packaging that is not petroleum-based.

In our customers’ experience, and on our production lines, recycled PET and HDPE perform just as well as virgin resins – although there can be some visual discoloration, particularly with clear or white PET. Some bioresins do not perform as well, depending on the feedstock. For example, corn-based bioresins are more brittle and have poorer water vapour transmission rates than conventional resins, and they also tend to disfigure in high heat. Other bioresins, such as bio-based HDPE made from sugar cane, perform exactly like petroleum-based HDPE but at a higher cost.

To be a leader in sustainability, a packaging manufacturer needs to make sustainable solutions available to a greater number of brands, and needs to take a leadership role in educating brand owners about the right options for their brand. One of those responsibilities is to eliminate misconceptions about materials and processes that sound sustainable but are not. Another responsibility is to help brand owners understand the claims they can make based on the sustainable solution they have chosen.

“Ocean plastics” are a good example, because the recycled materials used to make new bottles have probably never been on the ocean floor. That’s because plastic that has already made its way to the ocean floor is not a good candidate for being responsibly recycled and turned back into food-safe bottles and jars. The concept of “ocean plastic” has evolved substantially: we now talk about “ocean-bound plastic”, plastic that is diverted from winding up in the ocean, and documented as coming from underprivileged communities that previously did not recycle any forms of plastics. A number of organisations have put certification processes in place to make sure these bottles are getting recycled and turned into viable PCR.

Like the industry’s understanding of ocean-bound plastics, every aspect of sustainability is constantly evolving to meet changing regulations and new technologies. Companies are improving the performance of rigid packaging at the same time they are reducing the amount of resin required for each bottle. And new materials are helping blow-moulders play an important role in protecting our environment. The future for sustainable packaging is bright, and it’s easy to participate if you ask the right questions.

by Marny Bielefeldt, Vice President of Marketing, Alpha Packaging

For a white paper on the environmental benefits of post-consumer plastics and a plastic comparison chart, please visit sustainability.alphap.com

This small packaging company is making a significant contribution to sustainability

Chemically-propelled aerosols have been around for years, and they’re a convenience we take for granted. But they’ve also long been a prominent example of environmentally unsustainable packaging, so perhaps it’s time we started to think about how to improve on them.

The Airopack – developed by Dutch company Airopack BV – was originally developed as a sustainable alternative to the aerosol. It combines the functional performance benefits with the sustainability advantage by using air instead of chemical propellants and a lower carbon footprint.

This innovative dispenser is transparent, which enhances consumer brand interaction, offers 360-degree use, delivers a consistent continuous flow via the patented pressure regulator, and delivers an exceptional evacuation rate of 98 per cent. The Airopack is designed to dispense a wide range of formulations, from gels and lotions to sprays and post-foaming materials, and can be found in beauty and personal care, home care, food and industrial applications.

Although Airopack specialises in dispenser technologies, with its fully owned subsidiary Airosolutions NV in Belgium, Airopack can offer a full turn-key product that includes packaging, filling, formula and decorating. Airosolutions has a range of standard available formulations in beauty and personal care that can be tailored to the specific requirements of the customer. It also has several high-quality filling lines that produce, fill and decorate the product.

Several global and regional players have adopted the Airopack dispenser. Gillette launched its male and female shave gel in the Airopack, and Unilever is using it for several of its brands in the hair care and home care category, such as TRESemmé, Love Beauty and Planet, Day 2 and Cleankit. Dutch-based green lifestyle brand DFNS is another prominent user of Airopack technology, which dovetails perfectly with the company’s environmental manifesto.

The global focus on sustainability is increasing without pause, and nearly every major brand has its own clearly defined sustainability goals for the next five years. Reducing plastic use and increasing the recyclability and use of rPET materials are the main drivers in the sustainability agenda of most consumer brand companies.

Airopack recognises that all organisations have a responsibility to contribute to a healthier climate. The carbon footprint of the current air-powered Airopack dispenser is 32 per cent lower than other aerosols, and as it uses air as a propellant, it eliminates the need for the production and transport of chemical propellants. Not only that, but Airopack now has a zero-waste of PET materials within the production area, as PET scrap is brought back to life via crystallizers and back into a preform.

It doesn’t stop there. Airopack is working hard to get to the next level, and all product development activities are now fully dedicated to creating a Class 1 fully recyclable dispenser. The new Airopack Power is the first step in this process, offering a 30 per cent reduction in plastic use, and will become commercially available in Q4 2020. The next step will be the launch of Airopack Ultimo. This unique concept will be another Class 1, fully recyclable dispenser. Ultimo is still under development, but expected to be ready in the second half of 2021. Both the Airopack Power and Ultimo will be constructed from rPET, with PCR materials for the additional components.

“Our ambition at Airopack is, by 2024, for at least 50 per cent of our sales to consist of fully recyclable dispensers,” says Norbert de Jong, CCO of Airopack. “We are a small player in the packaging industry, but we feel it’s our obligation to contribute to a better climate. Recyclability is no longer a buzzword or a trend, it’s here to stay. In our discussions with our customers it’s clear that developing a fully recyclable dispenser is a must. They are no longer prepared to replace non-recyclable packaging with another non-recyclable packaging. If you want to be in the game, you have to live up to your role in the global sustainability roadmap.”

To find out more on Airopack, please visit our website at www.airopack.com

Images provided by Airopack

Closed-loop packaging solutions that aim for a more sustainable future

3R principle : reduce, reuse, recycle

They are currently at a low point in public opinion. But, says Corplex CEO Lucas van der Schalk, plastics – depending on how they are produced and used – can be both useful and beneficial to environmental conservation.

Sustainability shouldn’t be an end point, but a way of life. At Corplex, that means reducing the amount of waste that’s being created to begin with – from the material itself to the amount of air that is shipped – and lowering the carbon footprint for both Corplex and its customers. Only once this has happened can new packaging solutions, that enable us to reuse and recycle materials most effectively, be designed and introduced into a new production cycle. “The simplest way of putting it is that very little waste leaves our sites,” says van der Schalk. “All of our sites are self-contained insofar as they produce the products and convert them into whatever is needed – the final product will then be ready for the customer.”

Changing the concept of recyclability

Corplex doesn’t just recycle its own industrial waste, it also works with customers to help take some of their waste back. “We work with a third-party supplier to take this post-industrial material and turn it into pellets that can also be introduced into our production cycle,” says Lucas. “At Corplex, plastic is a resource that can be recycled many times.”

Closed-loop systems: the key success factor to boost sustainability by reducing carbon footprints

Corplex aims to “close the loop” in the recycling process, reducing waste and material loss, and using fewer raw materials. And with packaging not only customised to the size of your goods, but also optimised to the dimensions of the trucks carrying it – and entirely foldable when empty – your logistics flow can be simplified and your carbon footprint drastically reduced.

“We get a container and develop it in a such a way that we use as much of the air inside it as possible, which is called ‘cubing it out’,” explains van der Schalk. “That container then goes into the truck, which is also cubed out, reducing the amount of empty space being shipped to the customer. The customer takes the product and unpacks it. When the container is empty it collapses – you can put as many as four collapsed containers in the space where one container was.

“This means that only one in four trucks have to return to the supplier. On average we save around 300 tonnes of CO₂ per product per year. Think how many thousands of products go into the car – it’s hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO₂ being saved.”

For more information on Corplex Circular Plastics Solutions, click here.

Listen to the podcast here:

Accredo pioneers movement towards sustainable packaging with award-winning solutions

As sustainability becomes a more prominent issue, Accredo has risen to the challenge of offering to its customers various sustainable packaging solutions by adhering to its core mission of sustainability, in both its manufacturing processes and its products.

Based in Sugar Land, Texas Accredo Packaging is 100% electrical powered by wind energy and  opened its doors in 2009 as the first LEED® Silver-certified manufacturing facility in the flexible packaging industry.

“Before starting Accredo, I had been in the industry for over 20 years,” said founder and CEO Hank Nguyen.  “I knew I wanted to create a different kind of company.  One that wasn’t afraid to invest in reducing our carbon footprint.”

Accredo is committed to recycling, water and energy conservation, and any sustainable initiatives along the manufacturing process. For example, Accredo’s advanced printing technology reduces ink and solvent usage by more than a third, when compared with standard presses.

Accredo has also explored beyond traditional resins to biodegradable and recyclable eco-resins. Its product development team’s efforts led to the  the first fully ASTM certified, industrially compostable zippered pouch, as well as the first fully recyclable barrier (as well as non-barrier) polyethylene (PE) stand-up pouches in the U.S..

The company’s success led to the opening of a sister facility in Vietnam in 2019. Like the Texas campus, Accredo Asia is LEED® Silver-certified by the US Green Building Council.  The state-of-the art facility includes an extensive solar panel array installed on the roof to offset its carbon footprint, and is a further example of Accredo’s commitment to renewable energy.

Environmentally-focused brands have chosen Accredo for its aligned company values. Collaboration with brands such as Gelo hand soaps, which are made from plant-based ingredients, has resulted in the creation of AccredoFlex® Gen2™, a fully recyclable pouch. The all-PE product can be recycled via store drop-off, and is eligible for the Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s How2Recycle label. Even though the pouches comprise of all-PE, they have been recognized for their look and performance, and as a competitive alternative to conventional non-recyclable structures.

“Constant customer collaboration is important to us. Our customers appreciate our expertise as it relates to sustainable packaging solutions, but our outstanding product quality and exceptional customer service are what really set us apart,” said Rex Varn, Executive Vice President of Accredo Packaging.

Accredo’s innovation and sustainability excellence has earned it numerous awards in 2020. The AccredoFlex® Gen2^™packaging alone has won two Gold awards from Flexographic Technical Association, The ReFocus Sustainability Summit’s Design for Recyclability Award and The ReFocus Sustainability Summit’s People’s Choice Award.

“Sustainability is a buzzword you see everywhere,” said Varn. “At Accredo, we really do see sustainability as the core of what we do and what we offer.”

For more information, visit www.accredopackaging.com

by Mandy Craig, Director of Marketing and Sustainability, Accredo  

An environmentally friendly innovation that’s set to revolutionise food packaging

Single-use plastic, a major source of pollution on every corner of the planet, has been vital to the food industry worldwide as it keeps products fresh and protected in the supply chain, on the supermarket shelf and in consumers’ homes.

However, brands are coming under increasing consumer pressure to reduce, remove or replace plastic due to environmental concerns, and while some progress has been made, until now there have been no credible alternatives available. A major change in the way we package food requires the development of a truly innovative product that delivers the same performance as plastic. Without other viable options, brands could not change their packaging due to the risk of supply chain disruption and increased food waste.

World-renowned paper manufacturer Arjowiggins has announced a revolutionary new product called Sylvicta, which is just the sustainable material manufacturers have been waiting for, and which is set to revolutionise the food packaging market.

“A key advantage that plastic brings to food packaging is that it prevents oxygen from getting into contact with the food,” explains Christophe Jordan, Managing Director of the Translucent Paper business at Arjowiggins. “This ensures maximum freshness throughout the supply chain right through to the point of consumption. Our highly skilled and experienced R&D teams have developed a translucent paper, Sylvicta, which also provides a more effective barrier to oxygen than plastic, as well as a barrier to mineral oils and fatty foodstuffs. At last, food brands have an alternative packaging option which will protect food as effectively as plastic, without the negative effects on the environment.”

The following is an illustration of the oxygen barrier provided by Sylvicta compared to plastics:

The name Sylvicta – the blend of the Latin word for forest (sylva) and the historic emblem of the county of Kent, where the paper is manufactured (Invicta) – translates as the “forest that conquers,” a perfect illustration of the role that paper can play in creating green solutions.

Sylvicta is entirely recyclable, compostable, and marine biodegradable, thanks to being manufactured from renewable raw materials supplied from protected forests under the FSC and PEFC schemes. Unlike other such products on the market, the manufacturing process does not use harmful chemicals to achieve its translucency and functionality. Sylvicta is made to the highest standards – it is food-contact approved according to the definitions of the European Food Safety Authority and the Food and Drug Administration (USA).

Innovation through collaboration

Tapping into the wealth of experience available in the industry is key to pushing the boundaries of sustainable packaging solutions. Arjowiggins has done this through collaborations with various players in the packaging supply chain.

“For our translucent barrier paper to be used in the current packaging lines producing pouches, sachets and flow wraps, we need partners to further extend the inherent functionalities of Sylvicta,” Jordan explains. “A perfect example of this is our collaboration with cutting-edge UK converter Sirane, which has worked with us to develop ultra-high barrier packaging options by adding high-moisture protection and heat-sealability properties. We have also worked with other specialised converters to add metallisation to achieve even higher barrier properties. The true innovation is that these are all entirely sustainable solutions.”

These pioneering collaborations open up an endless array of applications – from pouches for dry fruits, bags for salads, sachets for solid soap, sacks for pet food and flow-packs for chocolate bars, all the way through to metallised versions of Sylvicta for butter or margarine packaging. Until now, most of these applications use an unrecyclable, multi-layered packaging incorporating plastics or aluminium foil. With Sylvicta, they can be turned into fully recyclable paper packaging. The product is simply revolutionary.

A prime example of how Sylvicta can enable brands to respond to the increasing consumer concern over non-recyclable packaging is the wedge sandwich pack, recently placed in the spotlight by the BBC’s programme War on Plastic. These sandwich skillets are made from paper board laminated with a plastic film, to preserve freshness and create a window in the packaging.

While recent developments have seen brands creating a window that can be peeled off, in practice the consumer is unlikely to carry out this extra step in the recycling process. A sandwich skillet made with Sylvicta, however, not only offers translucency so that the consumer can still see the sandwich. It can also extend the shelf life, helping to reduce food waste, and can go straight into the paper recycling bin.

Evolving consumer attitudes mean that the public wants to be part of the solution and will embrace certain trade-offs when the protection of the planet is at stake. “Take France,” says Jordan. “Over the last eight years, the vast majority of open fridges in the supermarkets have been replaced by doors requiring extra effort to open – which could have had a negative effect on sales, but has had no apparent impact while achieving massive CO₂ savings. The minor trade-off of paper not having quite the same levels of transparency as plastic is not thought to be a deterring factor for the environmentally conscious consumer.”

Going full-circle on the circular economy

Revolutionary solutions such as Sylvicta are the holy grail of plastic waste solutions, but their effectiveness can only be proven if the industry presses ahead with their adoption.

Before the pandemic some brands, manufacturers and retailers were able to drag their feet in adopting plastic-free alternatives. However, growing public consciousness and rising expectations from stakeholders to reduce plastic waste mean that firms must now move much faster on eradicating single-use plastics from their packaging.

An essential component of this corporate revolution is the true commitment to making a real and lasting positive change, combined with a bold vision and alternative ways of doing things. This includes a willingness to try new materials – especially paper, which is sustainable by nature as it uses (in a large part) wood pulp, a perfectly renewable raw material that contributes to a truly circular model. As Jordan says, “Sylvicta is the perfect alternative to single-use plastics as it can be used across a multitude of packaging applications and can be a real game-changer in the ongoing global movement to reduce plastic usage.” 

Sylvicta meets the desires of the present without compromising the needs of the future. With this revolutionary new product from Arjowiggins, the time is now to take action on plastic waste and choose paper.

---

To find out more about Sylvicta translucent barrier paper by Arjowiggins, go to sylvicta.arjowiggins.com

For further media information, please email Amy Ahmed-Dolphin or Monira Matin, or by calling 0121 517 5177.

Sylvicta is a registered trademark of Arjowiggins

How a sustainable Agile approach can help you stick to the right path

After completing my computer science degree, I started working with Olivetti in the 1980s. That was 20 years after the glorious Ing C Olivetti invented the world’s first personal computer back in 1965 (which very few know about). The Programma 101 changed the widespread perception of computers, then seen as dangerous monster mainframes occupying huge rooms that you would rather stay away from. Instead, now anyone could use a computer just by sitting at a desk. A revolution started, and the rest is history.

I remember, however, that in those days, business change in the industry was slow and strategic planning in enterprise organisations was long-term, spanning at least five years. And to be sustainable, software systems, applications and architectures had to endure for long periods.

Fast-forward to 2020, and everything has dramatically changed. Besides being green, clean and sustainable, what we build today also has to be easily and quickly changed tomorrow. Strategic plans are short-term, and planning and change are continuous. And the future? It shows no sign of slowing down.

I don’t know of any company that is not yet on a journey towards becoming an adaptive delivery organisation in order to adapt to this new norm. They leverage agile delivery teams, learn how to work in new and more modern ways, organise in small, organic teams, automate processes where possible, and sink into their culture new values and principles that enable fast-paced change.

I do know, however, of many companies that, after a while, revert back to old behaviours. Quite often this is because change is seen not as a continual strategy, but a one-time effort. What are the symptoms of this? Organisations give up on modern delivery as soon as they bump into problems – perhaps a reorganisation happens, leaders change, and/or other more urgent business needs temporarily arise, shifting the priorities.

This is why we need to make agile transformations more sustainable and future proof. Making sure the new behaviours learned stick for a long time and are successfully applied to any new rising problem is essential.

Agile done right is definitively a starting point to get there. Agile shouldn’t just be an IT affair – its values, principles and practices must extend to every corner of the business, budgets have to be evolutionary, executives put in the driving seat, and a culture adapted. On top of those changes, four additional drivers make Agile properly sustainable:

• Distributed teams must become a reality. The pandemic has proven that physical colocation can be replaced by digital colocation. Remote working is here to stay, and the idea that it is not productive has been debunked. In fact, during the pandemic mature Agile teams have been even more productive.

• Immersive experiences make lessons stick. Dedicated physical and digital labs where squads, pods or scrum teams are coached on new practices and state-of-the-art technologies by highly skilled and experienced developers, testers and product owners. While they deliver these real product features, they also upskill. The immersive experience is repeated with a planned cadence and increasing learning objectives. Learning is continuous and deep.

• Executive board and CEO goals become aligned with IT delivery and vice versa. CEOs and boardrooms need to be fully aware of their organisation’s delivery capabilities. And IT delivery leaders must take more accountability in meeting CEOs’ and board-level goals and be more business minded.

• Set meaningful and measurable goals across stakeholders with value stream management. Set key objectives and with them the right metrics to measure whether you are getting closer or diverting from the transformation goals. Most successful teams measure business value, quality, progress and efficiency. Value stream management is the people-oriented process and technology that can help you understand where ROI, benefits and costs across your overall investments are happening. Business will keep investing if you can demonstrate the full benefits.

It sounds magic but it is not – and yes, it is hard work.

Learn more about how to adapt sustainable to change with confidence and purpose at Forrester’s Technology & Information Forum (4-6 Nov).

By Diego Lo Giudice, VP & Principal Analyst, Forrester

The last straw for plastic waste

Undoubtedly the war on plastic is one of the hottest topics today, and for a good reason. Sir David Attenborough has almost single-handedly brought awareness to the careless use of disposable plastics. This has led to a change in attitudes among consumers, spawning a movement of seeing plastic as the “enemy”, but is this a result of greenwashing propaganda?

Humans produced an estimated 320 million tonnes of plastic in 2017, according to Surfers Against Sewage, and the WWF says eight million tonnes of it is dumped into oceans every year. But is this just a fashionable issue, and are we making changes for the right reasons? We need more education on the alternatives, and to understand what their environmental impact is in comparison. So instead, is this our chance to stop plastic becoming waste in the first place? The packaging supply chain does recognise the problem and is working very hard to solve it, but how can they work together to focus on delivering solutions for the right reasons.

While single-use plastics such as straws are clearly an issue, almost 50 per cent of all plastic found in the oceans comes from discarded fishing nets. That’s not to say that switching to a paper straw isn’t helpful, but it’s essential to understand what the biggest driver of the plastic problem is.

Deposit return schemes and improving the consistency of recycling for households and businesses do show that change is coming. Waitrose recently extended its bring-your-own-container trial. The feedback from shoppers was overwhelmingly positive and sales had overtaken those of equivalent packaged products. Giving people the choice has given them back the power to make their own conscious decisions, ones not necessarily based on price.

Sian Sutherland, co-founder of campaign group A Plastic Planet, said: “It is no longer acceptable to blame the public for plastic pollution. Brands and retailers simply need to offer their customers a better choice, a new way of shopping that is guilt-free.”

Combating packaging waste through a circular economy of reusing and recycling plastic must be a top priority for government and industry insiders. We’ve seen plastic use is top of the agenda at the moment and is currently a bigger consideration that carbon footprint, but is this a mistake, fueled by public demand?

It’s very encouraging that new laws are being passed to fight plastic litter. Unfortunately, while these laws may reduce the most visible form of plastic pollution, it could be at the expense of other environmental impacts. That’s because, somewhat ironically, disposable plastic bags require fewer resources (land, water, CO2 emissions, etc.) to produce than paper, cotton or reusable plastic bags—by a wide margin.

Brendan Cowey, Director of Staeger Clear Packaging, said: “Plastic is vastly more carbon efficient to produce than any alternatives. It is of paramount importance that we reduce waste of ALL packaging types and of the packaged products themselves. Plastic packaging made from recycled plastic waste is a brilliant sustainable resource which is net positive for the environment, which is why at Staeger we only make packaging from waste that already exists.”

At the last edition of our Packaging Innovations show in Birmingham 20% of visitors said they were looking for sustainable design but 32% said they were looking for bio-degradable plastics. Plastic can still be the material of choice, it’s about where it’s come from and what happens to it after use.

It’s an intricate and challenging problem that will require the whole supply chain, both for packaging and the products inside, to work together and focus on delivering solutions for the right reasons. As it’s become much more apparent that we are fighting a war on waste, not on plastic…

To find out more – click here

By Alessandra Leonard, Marketing Project Manager, Packaging Innovations, Easyfairs

Alina Marm, Head of Circular Economy Hub, CEO, Siegwerk

While packaging has improved standards of living by creating access to safe food and water, reducing food waste and ensuring hygiene in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, it is also a contributor to various ecological crises. According to research published by the PEW Charitable Trust and SYSTEMIQ, only 59 per cent of plastic waste is formally collected, and less than 15 per cent is actually recycled. The world’s plastic waste is expected to double and ocean leakage is expected to triple by 2040.

A system-wide transition to an alternative approach, where packaging waste is eliminated, is urgently needed.

“I think design is at the heart of it,” says Alina Marm, Head of Siegwerk’s Circular Economy Hub. “And when I say design, I’m not only talking about the appearance of the packaging, but also about design within the system, and within the lifespan of that packaging,”

For Siegwerk, this notion of design is predicated on lateral thinking. Rethinking the utility aspect of packaging is the starting point, and requires a re-examination of how packaging design fits its required utility. “Suppose I move into a new apartment, and make a trip to the furniture store,” Marm says. “Once there, I tell the salesperson I need a chair. He leads me to a selection of beautiful chairs. He talks to me about the different woods and leathers, and of course we discuss price. I select a chair and buy it. But not once did the salesperson ask what I wanted to use the chair for. Perhaps I needed something to throw my coat over. Or perhaps I needed somewhere to rest my foot as I tie my shoelaces. Only once the question of utility is raised does it become clear that perhaps a chair is not the best solution at all.”

In the same way, the purpose of packaging will inform its necessary functionalities. This shift can, in turn, enable circular innovations and solutions that still meet the functional needs, by using the three circular packaging levers: reduce, reuse and recycle.

Adaptability to different contexts is critical, because any solution implemented must meet local needs. Relevant questions could include whether a circular infrastructure is available at the point of sale, if the local market is familiar with the recycling of different materials, or if there is a recent history or tradition of reuse models that would be easy to tap into.

Finding effective solutions requires an assessment of the technical feasibility of circular options based on local strengths and weaknesses. Combining these considerations results in a design that best serves the needed utility while offering the most feasible circularity.

Assessing scale is also crucial. Unfortunately, this is often not considered, despite its importance. Where a material or the investment in developing a material might not make sense for a single product, it may be a scalable solution for a product group or even a brand.

To Siegwerk, circularity in a value chain means it’s not a chain at all, but a network requiring new approaches to collaboration. And collaboration becomes particularly important as technical, systemic solutions necessitate the input of various experts within this network.

“The final consideration is speed,” explains Marm. “It’s important to get feedback from the market very quickly. So put it out there. Think about rapid prototyping, for example,”

Siegwerk’s role as an enabler in the value chain is obvious considering that the technical functionality of printing inks and coatings can actively support all three levers of a circular economy: reduction, reuse and recycling.

To facilitate the reduction of plastic packaging, innovative inks, varnishes and barrier coatings offer the opportunity to close the technical performance gaps of certain materials, such as paper, improving their properties and therefore allowing their use for new applications.

For the reuse of packaging, special inks and varnish systems can meet diverse packaging requirements where, for instance, different ink properties are needed for each use cycle. For example, while the best-before date might have to change with each use, the brand name has to be more resistant than it would be for single-use packaging. Here, inks and varnishes play a crucial role to provide reusability with maximum cost-efficiency. A well-known example of this is the German multi-cycle system for certain beverage containers. The bottles are equipped with easily detachable labels that do not discolour during the washing process, while the crates can be equipped with a protective coating to improve the resistance not only of the crate itself but also of its printing.

To allow for recycling, the right selection of inks, lacquers, varnishes and barrier coatings ensures that necessary packaging functionalities are maintained when switching from multi- to mono-plastics. Coatings for example provide barrier properties to allow for a reduction in multiple film layers, layers which may otherwise impede successful recycling, even when composed of the same plastic polymer.

Successful recycling requires ink solutions that do not hinder the recycling process. In this regard designing using certain components such as PVC is crucial.

Innovative ink and coating solutions close technical performance gaps and open up entirely new application possibilities of certain materials such as paper and mono-plastics. They are also able to significantly increase the recyclability of a packaging. Inks and coatings are a crucial part of enabling a circular packaging industry and will be an indispensable part of any future circular packaging solution.

Siegwerk has a strong partner network and integrated know-how along the packaging value chain. Sharing knowledge with other industry players is key for Siegwerk to provide special inks and coatings that enable the development of new circular packaging solutions. It is only through collaborative design that a circular future can be achieved.

For more information, click here.