Nowadays, in developed and competitive consumer-driven worlds, enormous demands are being created for sustainable packaging, stringent food safety protocols, and strict compliance. The manufacturers, on the other hand, are under immense pressure to realign their practices with both environmental sensitivities and consumer preferences. This article investigates in depth the critical necessity of the manufacturers' adjustment to the future development of sustainable packaging solutions, precise food labeling, and food safety.
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The 'packaging waste', which now represents over 40% of total waste production, mainly accelerated since the beginning of eCommerce. Packaging is seen as a protective barrier for the products to reach the customer as a safe and convenient, customized offering from the supplier to the customer. But this customization and convenience are causing the environmental issue of the packaging waste.
As a result, packaging waste multiplies, proliferating even more because of the exponential growth in online shopping; the use of packaging materials worldwide more than triples in just a decade. As part of this increase, the environmental footprints of plastics, cardboard, and other packaging materials contribute deeply to overflowed landfills, marine pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. This has created a multi-faceted waste management challenge with the rise of single-use packaging, particularly in the food sector.
Recycling is one of the most important strategies to manage packaging waste, as compared to the more than 9,000 municipal recycling programs in the US alone. Despite its importance, the same very great issues that the recycling system faces include a lack of municipal programs in some areas and the contamination of recyclable packaging. Their processing facilities are strained and age, with an incapacity to handle burgeoning packaging recovery in volumes. There are great investments required in new technologies and infrastructure that will modernize recycling capabilities.
The processing capacities of the existing recycling infrastructure in most regions fall short of the growth in waste. For instance, where in the U.S., only 32% of waste packaging is processed and recycled, the remaining share of waste goes to landfills or incineration. Large-scale potential for garbage recycling is also made infeasible due to high contamination rates, often over 25%, with the addition of non-recyclables to recyclable items. Place the other way: the recycling process turns out to be complex due to a lack of fixed standards for recycling in each municipality, thus leading to inefficiencies and high costs.
The EPR program represents a new paradigm of waste management—a fiscal transfer from the taxpayers to the producers, those owning the brands, and the manufacturers themselves. They are to be responsible for the entire life cycle of their products, primarily during the post-consumer stages. This is to motivate the design of products more convenient for recycling, to cut down packaging wastes, and, later on, to minimize environmental effects.
EPR is not a statutory requirement alone; it is a global movement that has gained momentum. While it all started in Europe and had initial enforcement there in countries such as Germany and France, today it is spreading across the globe. Canada has adopted EPR in North America, and many US states, including California, Oregon, and Maine, have already enacted their own versions of the legislation. The business effect of EPR will be enormous; it will force businesses to rethink packaging design, material selection, and end-of-life management strategy.
Clearly, consumers' push for sustainable packaging is growing by the day. In the Buying Green Report, it is shown that 74% of consumers are ready to pay a premium for products packed in green packaging. This is no more a passing trend in consumer demand; rather, it speaks of a radical change in the value structure of society toward becoming green. As consumers continue to educate themselves about the environmental impact of their purchasing choices, they gravitate toward brands that mirror these values.
The study added that 67% of all consumers intentionally look for information on the sustainability practices of brands prior to purchase. This shows that transparency and sustainability are not just value-added benefits for a brand but rather blocks in the making of a value proposition. Brands that do not start fitting in at this juncture will lose out to competition with a greater degree of conscience interest in the environment.
At its core, EPR legislation directly affects business enterprises that are involved in the manufacture or packaging of products and that are distributed to consumers through retail or e-commerce channels. Basically, any packaging reaching the consumer's curbside trash or recycling stream falls under EPR jurisdiction. Retailers are liable, as long as they label a product whose packaging enters the consumer waste stream.
EPR is not an issue of business; it is business. It isn't an issue of compliance, it's a new way to think about packaging. Business corporations need to plan the ability to recycle, the parts of their packaging that can be accessed and separated, and the ability to decrease the carbon footprints that it leaves behind. Core to this will be a responsive supply chain - from raw material suppliers to waste management - so that the final packages meet the stringent requirements put in place by EPR law.
Digicomply TrendRadar: Following the Wave of Sustainable Packaging
Digicomply's TrendRadar tracks the mentions of Sustainable Packaging on social media and provides crucial insight into public sentiment. From an average of 341 in , surging to an impressive in , it shows an increase of more than %. This underscores that sustainable packaging has become important public discourse, thus impinging on manufacturers to make ecologically conscious solution priorities.
An overview of sustainable food packaging design:
Among the top considerations for food packaging, sustainability is increasingly important to brands.
A report from marketing insights resource Think With Google found sustainability a high priority for 82% of consumers surveyed. Furthermore, 43% of American consumers view the environmental impact of product packaging as extremely or very important, while 4 to 7 percent of consumers are willing to pay a premium well above 10 percent, according to a report from global consulting firm McKinsey.
Consumers want to know what steps you’re taking to become a more environmentally responsible company.
By embracing sustainable food packaging, you not only foster brand loyalty among eco-friendly buyers, but generate further opportunities to create some PR buzz. It’s not uncommon for brands to be featured in news stories and shared across social media channels for moving away from single-use plastics toward greener alternatives.
Ultimately, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for brands to ignore their ecological impacts, and consumers expect food brands to lead with their sustainability initiatives.
Not doing so can leave a bad taste in their mouths.
To embrace sustainable food packaging is to reduce unnecessary materials, minimize plastics, localize supply chains, and implement sustainable alternatives when appropriate. Sustainable packaging is about leaving a minimal environmental impact, accounting for every stage of the design, printing, and shipping process—as well as once packaging is opened and discarded.
Abiding by right-size packaging principles means your brand uses only enough materials to secure and protect a product. Any more than that is wasteful—and potentially extra costly, given the so-called “air tax” for non-essential air pockets or materials.
Limiting your carbon footprint includes accounting for energy sources throughout every phase of the packaging process, including what’s used to power your warehouses, distances materials are transported, and even the carbon emissions third-party vendors contribute to the atmosphere.
Sustainable food packaging suppliers source printing substrates from responsibly managed forests. To guarantee your materials are derived from sustainable forests, look for certifications by the nonprofit Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
While many industries still rely on plastic for some packaging components, sustainable food packaging tends to rely on paperboard (which is renewable) or other green alternatives, such as substrates consisting of hemp, cotton, and other biodegradable materials. Don’t forget post-consumer recycled materials are another worthwhile alternative to any single-use substrate.
In addition to leaving a more positive environmental impact, sustainable food packaging has many business advantages, as well. Sustainable alternatives tend to have fewer toxins and allergens, which is essential for the food industry, where safe packaging is a high priority.
And perhaps most importantly, with a growing number of consumers looking for environmentally friendly options, implementing sustainable food packaging helps your brand foster strong consumer loyalty. Consumers want a brand to reflect their values and ethical commitments.
Going all in on sustainable food packaging makes it easier for consumers to make the environmentally conscious choice. Their appreciation will certainly manifest in strong brand advocacy for you.
One of the most straightforward ways a brand can achieve more sustainable food packaging is to start with choosing the right materials, accounting for safety as well as sustainability.
While remaining protective, sustainable food packaging materials aim to be renewable, recyclable, and/or have low environmental impact.
Here are just a few of the best materials for sustainable packaging:
Once you’ve determined your desired substrate, you’ll also want to consider whether to include barrier coatings, windowing, and airflow in your overall food packaging design.
Choosing between folding cartons and plastic containers is not easy, economically or environmentally. The most sustainable path isn’t always clear.
Folding cartons and plastic containers have different sources, processes, and impacts on the environment. So, should you use paperboard or plastic for your food packaging?
Plastic comes from petroleum, a non-renewable resource that takes hundreds of years to decompose. Recycling and using plastic wisely is essential to reduce its environmental harm.
Plastic containers are mainly made of polyethylene, a synthetic polymer that can be molded into various shapes and sizes. You may also employ polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyvinyl chloride in your food packaging.
Durable, lightweight, and adaptable, it’s easy to see why plastic remains a major player in food packaging. Plus, it’s economical when produced in large quantities.
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Derived from trees, a renewable resource that can be replanted and regrown, there’s a reason so many sustainable food brands turn to paperboard to protect their products.
However, trees take time to mature and can still be harvested unsustainably if forests are irresponsibly managed, damaging ecosystems. Folding cartons are made of paper, which is the product of pulping wood chips in water (and sometimes chemicals). Paper is then dried into thin sheets.
Once paper has been discarded by consumers, it decomposes and regenerates the soil (presuming it doesn’t contain harmful chemicals and isn’t rotting on top of trash in a landfill somewhere). It’s incredibly green.
Naturally, paper is more renewable than petroleum, but it also requires more energy to produce. (Don’t forget to include carbon emissions in your environmental calculations.)
Plastics take centuries to degrade, but paper has a larger carbon footprint (at least, during manufacturing). Determining their sustainability value becomes more convoluted throughout the life of a folding carton.
At the end of the day, most plastics aren’t recycled, compared to the roughly 68% of paper and paperboard products recycled annually in the United States, per a report by Statista. These plastics are then buried or incinerated, releasing toxic gasses into the atmosphere.
So, yes, plastics are more energy efficient to produce, but their carbon footprint may grow several times larger than paper when measuring its entire life cycle. Plastics are also dramatically lighter in weight compared to paper, meaning the energy needed to ship them is comparatively less.
There are other factors you may evaluate, but given paperboard’s lower carbon footprint and much higher recycling rate, folding cartons are usually the greener option for recyclable food packaging.
It’s worth noting that many materials can’t be recycled infinitely. And while recyclable food packaging can find new life after being discarded by consumers, it doesn’t always end up at the recycling center. All it takes is one apathetic consumer to abbreviate your recyclable food packaging’s life by throwing it in the trash.
In fact, the national recycling rate in the United States is currently a mere 32%, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with a goal of reaching 50% by .
Rates are even more disheartening when you look exclusively at plastics. Between 5-6% of plastics are recycled in the United States, per a report by Beyond Plastics, a nationwide project based at Bennington College dedicated to reducing plastic waste.
So, while you hope your food packaging will be reused or recycled by consumers, much of it eventually reaches a landfill. However, by integrating recycleability into your food packaging design, you increase the chances it will see multiple uses throughout its life, before reaching its final resting place.
Each time it’s recycled means one less piece of food packaging ends up in the landfill.
As you implement sustainable food packaging, be certain your printing and packaging manufacturer maintains SQF certification. This ensures that your supplier meets the highest global health and safety standards, keeping your consumers happy and healthy.
The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) was founded in to deal with the growing food safety problems at the end of the last century. This international program’s goal is to enhance and harmonize food safety systems so they can nourish the expanding global population and develop markets that can provide food safely–no matter where in the world the consumer is located.
Instead of creating its own safety certifications, GFSI approves so-called “certification program owners” (CPOs), autonomous entities that meet its prescribed standards. This includes the Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification.
Manufacturers who get an SQF certification demonstrate that their food processes follow the highest global safety standards. The certification covers industry, customer, and regulatory requirements for all parts of the supply chain, from farm to fork.
The SQF Food Safety Program entails six categories of codes: primary production, food retail, manufacturing, food packaging, storage and distribution, and quality.
An SQF certification is a good indicator when looking for a packaging partner.
It tells you right away that the manufacturer is capable of safely handling your food products, and its packaging is suitable for direct food contact. More importantly, it shows their dedication to quality, because the process to get certification is thorough, careful, and continuous.
If you toured their facility, you’d see signs of safety standards abound—from hair nets to handwashing stations at entrances. The plant must be almost spotless to avoid contamination.
By making SQF certification an essential part of your search for a sustainable food packaging supplier, you can be confident their food packaging solution is not only eco-friendly but enhances branding without compromising safety.
Putting these principles into practice, many brands are finding creative ways to bring sustainable packaging to food. The possibilities are abundant.
When committing to a printing and packaging partner, there are several other questions you should ask regarding sustainable food packaging: How will design affect shelf life? How will packaging support branding? And, what are my design options?
Oliver has built a reputation for helping customers meet their sustainable packaging goals. We help food and beverage brands minimize resource requirements, use only responsibly sourced materials, and maximize opportunities for recovery, recycling, or reuse.
Oliver has been recognized by SFI and FSC, certifying the company’s wood and pulp suppliers support and practice responsible forest management principles.
We also understand that what’s “the most sustainable” varies from customer to customer. You might find, for example, that a hemp-based folding carton is ideal for your short-run job. However, depending on several factors, a traditional paperboard may prove to be a more sustainable and cost-effective choice for larger print jobs.
A lot of analysis goes into determining that. And Oliver will gladly help you identify which is right for you.
With Oliver’s guidance, you’ll find it’s never been easier to deliver food and beverage products to large markets while embracing more environmentally conscious approaches.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of Sustainable Food Packaging Manufacturer. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
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