Nevertheless, despite these challenges, FMCG manufacturers and retailers continue to deliver innovations in a bid to achieve their own sustainability commitments for packaging in two specific areas: While these innovations are moving us in the right direction, broad market implementation has yet to break through. If you would like information about this content we will be happy to work with you. First, consumers are highly aware of sustainability issues, with their concerns accelerating, but they remain confused. While PFAS have galvanized attention, they are the tip of the iceberg. of all plastic waste is reprocessedto make new plastics, and the majority is either incinerated or sent to landfill. It could be interesting to look at opportunities that would enable at-home or community composting schemes given the few industrial composting facilities that exist globally. These have applications across primary, secondary and tertiary packaging fromthe shower-friendly paper bottles pioneered by LOral to recycled corrugated boxes and paper void fill. Globally, there is increased demand for recycled plastic materials in not only packaging but also textiles and other applications. To learn more about how we apply our sustainable approach to crafting exceptional packaging,check out our portfolio. For Matt Prindiville, executive director at Upstream, a nonprofit focused on reuse and refill solutions, a more holistic approach means thinking about packaging not as a product, but as more of a service and designing reusable, refillable supply chains. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. It's an exciting phase that we're entering into.". Ecommerce brands, meanwhile, should focus on providing refills in reduced packaging an area where flexible packaging (see section below) can really come into its own and offering free returns so that empty packaging can be sent back. In particular, its a system that can only function within the physical retail environment, which means this style of shopping excludes those people unable to shop in person. Will that momentum continue in 2022? Subscribed to {PRACTICE_NAME} email alerts. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Another good route is to use materials that are easier to recycle and have a longer lifespan than recyclable plastics. "It's widely believed that if a package is recyclable or compostable, it is more sustainable.". Refill strategies are advancing in the beer industry. A particularly austere and eco-friendly approach is offered bythe mono-material pack i.e. "The circular nature of the recycling economy may have the potential to introduce additional chemicals into products," warned a recent EPA study after finding greater amounts of fragrances, flame retardants, solvents, biocides and dyes in products made from recycled materials. Additionally, sustainability in packagingneeds to be managed to reflect regional differences and in conjunction with megatrends. As brands start ditching traditional packaging materials such as glass and plastic, flexible packaging will come to the fore. But, as demonstrated in The Blue Planet documentaries, our love of plastic is harming our home and our love of online shopping is only fuelling this further. How important are sustainable packaging solutions for the cannabis industry?
But as to whether it will incentivize companies to develop more environmentally friendly packaging, Allaway said, "There will be a price signal here, but we don't think it's going to be a very loud signal.". Today, their range includes classic staples like solid soap and bath bombs, as well as innovations like solid shampoo and massage bars but we can expect them to expand the range further in 2022 to eliminate packaging wherever possible. Designing monomaterial packaging solves this issue, ensuring that it is fully recyclable. Can closed loop battery recycling and geothermal lithium help solve the supply crunch? The authors wish to thank Peter Berg, Daniel Eriksson, Abhinav Goel, Anne Grimmelt, Martyna Kulessa, Tapio Melgin, Emily Roeper, Matt Rogers, and Jeremy Wallach for their contributions to this article. Despite the name, microplastics are a big problem, entering into our water systems and food chains surreptitiously causing harm. In the in-store environment, businesses can offer consumers the opportunity to buy reusable glass, aluminum or plastic containers which can be filled with the product of their choice and topped up whenever needed. Reuse and refill targets may be added into state EPR legislation to spur momentum, and the European Commission plans to unveil new reuse refill targets in April as part of its Circular Economy Action Plan, according to Prindiville. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Our US regional supply chains are giving companies a practical and sustainable edge, Keeping it green: understanding sustainable packaging and what goes into it, Getting rid of your cosmetics packaging: a guide to recycling your make-up, Our Gold EcoVadis Rating 2020 is another essential milestone in our sustainability journey. It may be around 50 years old, but Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is here to stay. Unfortunately, theres often a gap between the promises that companies make to their consumers, and the manufacturing processes they utilize behind closed doors in other words, not all products and services are as sustainable as they seem. In addition, coordination across the value chainis complex to scale, with recycling operations fragmented across geographies. The Luxury team in Europe won best Luxury Packaging Provider 2021! The Understanding Packaging (UP) Scorecard, created by a new collaboration of food service companies and environmental NGOs called the Single-Use Material Decelerator will help on that front. Instead, implementation has mainly been seen among a limited range of SKUs and within country-specific pilots. New regulation is expanding on multiple fronts and is becoming ever stricter. To find answers, we conducted extensive interviews and discussions with FMCG companies, retailers, and packaging industry executives and experts in major end-user markets across regions. Buying plastics that are wholly or partially manufactured from recycled content, Avoiding dark colored plastics, which are generally harder to recycle, Avoiding plastic wraps, bags and films wherever possible. Courtesy of Loop. Enter innovative alternatives to paper and card, such as bamboo paper, stone paper, organic cotton, pressed hay, cornstarchand so on. The sustainability benefits of flexible packaging are less to do with the materials used which include paper, aluminum and plastic and more to do with 1) shelf-life, and 2) material, warehousing and transit costs. Packaging gurus HUB Folding Box have joined the GPA Global family! In the coming years, we would also expect that brand owners will address the carbon intensity footprint of the product as well as its packaging in a more transparent way by implementing carbon intensity labels. First movers of such labels are already present in areas such as consumer electronics. This results in reduced transportation costs, a smaller carbon footprint and less pollution overall. A piece of flexible packaging like a resealable pouch is ideal for food products, as it allows for easy and food-safe storage. How railway Norfolk Southern is easing trucking bottlenecks, 7 things to know about carbon removal markets, A long way to go: Meeting 2025 sustainable packaging goals, Truth in Labeling for Recyclable Materials, GreenScreen Certified Standard for Food Service Ware, Safe and Circular Materials Collaborative. The formation of plastic with biological materials, bioplastics are reliant on thinking outside-of-the-box and looking at materials in a new way. In other words, we dont expect 2022 to be the year that we see an end to plastics. Instead, they are working on improving the use of plastics by consolidating the types of plastic used (with a focus on improving recyclability), decreasing new plastic resin usage, and accelerating the use of other recycled materials. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. One challenge is that the majority of innovations to date are typically far less cost effective, efficient, or convenient than incumbent packaging. Thus, technologies or packaging products that offer a relatively lower carbon footprint now or in the future compared with incumbent packaging stand to benefit from the global trend to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and can become differentiators. We also applied the findings from our ten-country survey to capture consumer attitudes around sustainability in packaging. Eco-Logic: our range of luxury packaging with sustainability at the heart of the design, Southern California Graphics (SCG) are the latest addition to the GPA Global team, Incept Sustainability training: keeping our team engaged, The Greenhouse Project: our campaign has provided a lifeline for 84 families in China. Szaky also wants to see the rubber hit the road. Microplastics are emerging as another serious health concern, as they turn up everywhere, in our food, water and air and even in the placenta of unborn babies. The scorecard, currently in beta, is an online tool for evaluating the full suite of environmental and human health impacts of foodware and food packaging. California legislators are "understanding just how far behind we really are, and they want to catch up," said Heidi Sanborn, founding director of the National Stewardship Action Council and chair of Californias Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling. California will audit what is coming into processing facilities and what is getting baled and shipped out. We take a look at the most influential voices in sustainability today, These companies understand that they're not simply focusing on the present; they're also investing in the future by implementing carbon offset schemes, Preventing the climate crisis is the responsibility of all, particularly private sector brands used across global households daily. The good news is, governments around the world are beginning to close the loopholes that allow for this greenwashing. The integration of more than one material means it is difficult to separate into its various components to recycle, meaning they end up in landfill. With this style of shopping, fresh and dried produce is stored loose and packaging-free, and can be taken away in desired quantities by the shopper using a reusable container brought from home, or purchased in-store. An area where we can expect to see flexible packaging really shine is where it overlaps with reusable packaging. Our analysis has identified five major industry-shaping sustainability trends (exhibit). However, it will require a granular approach and deep understanding of actionable solutions to identify attractive themes that are truly scalable. He said hes observed only one company, Tesco, make the "painful" decision to stop selling certain packaging types with high impacts, even though it meant lost revenue. "I think truth in labeling is the absolute crux of the issue as to contamination and the mess in our markets," said Sanborn. In Ontario, for example, 85 percent of the beer sold is reuse refill. In response to this emerging outlook, specific investable themes across the full packaging value chain can be seen. The rise of e-commerce specifically can lead to an increase in reusable and returnable packaging, pivoting from the mostly one-way flow of packaging currently in use. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Minimalism may have had its heyday as an interior design concept in the 1990s and early 2000s, but right now its starting to come into its own within packaging. As more retailers such as McDonald's announced PFAS bans, new tools are emerging to guide them in making safer packaging choices. Some packaging is deceptive. Well also continue to see a big push towards recycled paper products. To be as effective as plastic is at protecting and maintaining the integrity of packaged items, paper and card need to be of a certain thickness and sturdiness that, unfortunately, means they cant be easily recycled ending up in landfill despite our best intentions. Such carbon-intensity labels that create transparency for customers could have a large impact on the packaging value chain and result in a need for packaging redesign and further shift substrate usage to lower-carbon-footprint materials (which may not necessarily be recyclable). Fourth, leading fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies and retailers remain committed to transforming their portfolios, but large-scale market adoption of innovations is slow. Our work with Chinese NGO Sunshine Academy is making a world of difference, Our tangible packaging range is a sensory treat that can make all the difference, GPA Global awarded the Valpak Packaging Certificate 2021, Introducing EcoElement: the new eco-friendly film from Nobelus, A guide to sustainable packaging trends for 2022. New Jersey, for example, introduced a bill last year establishing recycled-content requirements for rigid plastic containers, glass containers, paper and plastic carryout bags, and plastic trash bags. "The tragedy of what's happening in this field is it's all about recyclable to the exclusion of low impact," noted Allaway. Flexible packaging is packaging that eschews the rigid structure of boxes, bottles and tubs in favor of bag and pouch formats. Designed in order to replace fossil-fuel-based plastics, bioplastics arent necessarily biodegradable but they do help ease the carbon footprint somewhat, so while they wont resolve climate change, they will help to alleviate the burden. A similar approach has been embraced by certain grocery chains, including TheClean Kilo (Birmingham, UK)andPrecycle (Brooklyn, US). To accelerate progress, Upstream is releasing software next year that will enable food service companies to plug in the existing single use products that they're procuring, get some baseline cost and environmental data on those products and compare them to reusable products. Increase usage of recycled content in packaging. "This new standard can really help retailers, manufacturers and formulators ensure the safety of alternatives when transitioning away from PFAS, phthalates or other chemicals of high concern," said Mike Schade, director of the Mind the Store campaign. To get started with addressing investable theme opportunities, we suggest a few material questions: Sustainable packaging is a rapidly evolving area. "[There's also] the need for more transparency around data so that we can all go in a direction that aligns with operational reality to retailers and preferences for customers.". In other words, 2022 is going to be a massive year for sustainability across all sectors. ground-breaking legislation about product labeling, creating incredibly durable building materials, a new tax based on its content of recycled material. Develop next-generation lightweighting. To counteract this issue, antimicrobial packaging was created a novel development in the packaging sustainability campaign. In other words? Multiple attractive investment themes are available to achieve large-scale improvements toward more environmentally friendly packaging with an attractive growth profile. Trends such as the shift to e-commerce, rapidly changing consumer preferences with high price sensitivity, consumers focused on health and wellness, and digitalization are here to stay. The benefits of molded pulp are that its fully compostable and biodegradable, uses renewable tree-free sources, and achieves a smooth, lightweight and easily customizable finish. Eco-friendly and sustainable have both become climate change buzzwords in recent years, increasingly used by brands in campaigns to promote their climate-saving credentials, The main issue with this is that many of these brands are slipping in these buzzwords to make themselves look good, without really altering their practices or supply chains to reflect their eco ethos. Reuse pioneers Algramo and Loop continued to expand in 2021. Given different regulatory regimes and consumer behaviors, regional differences might indeed change the business outlook, with packaging solutions facing significant variation in terms of consumers willingness to pay for sustainable solutions. For consumers looking to reduce their use of plastics, top tips include: In addition to finding better ways to use and recycle plastics, 2022 will also be a year in which plastic alternatives surge in popularity and, perhaps, even become the norm. Maine and Oregon take different approaches, but both laws require companies that sell packaged goods in their states to join a producer responsibility organization (PRO), pay membership fees and report the quantity and types of packaged products they sell. Similarly, the regulation strength differs by country and region, just as much as recycling infrastructure does. This article was a collaborative effort by David Feber, Anna Granskog, Felix Grnewald, Oskar Lingqvist, and Daniel Nordigrden, representing views from McKinseys Paper, Forest Products & Packaging Practice. In fact, there are many contexts where a plastic container may be the more sustainable choice when compared to a non-plastic container, once you factor in manufacturing costs, recyclability and functional aspects like food safety and shelf-life. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. This concerns packaging and raw materials that are more conducive to recycling or enabling technologies that improve recyclability. In the UK from April 2022, plastic packaging imported to or produced in the UK will be subject toa new tax based on its content of recycled material anything less than 30% means the manufacturer will have to pay up. A popular alternative to plastics in packaging, paper and card have become core to the sustainability-in-packaging movement. Often, we limit our thinking about packaging simply to the waste it produces and how to reduce it without giving a thought to the other products used, such as the inks used to create the brand design and information. Against this backdrop of increased pressure from regulations and consumers, we see several specific investable themes relevant to the sustainable-packaging agenda. Many cosmetics companies are already utilizing flexible pouches to enable the refill of rigid bottles and tubs. Top 10 energy sources: what are they and who has the most? Consumer demands for safer packaging (and other consumer goods) will likely grow as scientists link these pollutants to harms from brain cancer to reduced fertility. Great news, right? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Alas, no. Previous research has shown that packaging material can account for more CO2than the actual product contained. This complexity cannot be overestimated and requires in-depth analysis. Beyond plastic bans, plastic taxes have started to be introduced in Europe, with recovery schemes to be developed on a national level. Five key trends are emerging that will shape sustainable packaging and related investable themes over the next few years. Similar legislation is being introduced in New Jersey, and Sanborn expects New York to follow suit. Development in this area is constant and is set to expand further in 2022. At the same time, regulatory focuses and approachesvary considerably by region and diverge even further when looking at country, county, and city-level regulations.