The mindset has changed in recent years, and consumers around the world are actively pushing brands and their packaging departments to consider environmental impacts.
Nerida Kelton
By Nerida Kelton, Executive Director of the Australian Institute of Packaging.
The waste hierarchy is a set of priorities for the efficient use of resources. Five measures in line with this goal, known as 5Rs, can make companies better stewards when it comes to aligning sustainable packaging design to take these measures into account.
From the consumer's point of view, the 5Rs are:
- Refuse. Don't buy unwanted items.
- To reduce. Avoid single-use packaging like coffee mugs, shopping bags, and straws whenever possible, and buy products that are sustainable.
- Reuse. Use products multiple times – for example, buy reusable water bottles, storage mugs, reusable and recyclable shopping bags.
- Recycle. Make sure you put your products in the trash bins and buy products that are recyclable. Look for products with the new Australasian Recycling Label to better understand the actual recyclability of the materials.
- Reuse. Buy products made from recycled materials. Buy consciously what you know is made from recycled content – for example shoes, handbags, jewelry.
Packaging technologists are asked to rethink the results of their packaging design across the supply chain from manufacturing to recycling, taking a closed loop and a more circular approach into account. Packaging design can no longer be linear.
When discussing the waste hierarchy from a packaging design perspective, reduction, reuse, and recycling are the three most important steps for significant and long-term change as they are the most effective preventative measures.
Steps achievable for packaging technologists include redesigning the shape and size of a product, reducing the thickness and weight of materials, switching to recyclable materials, and even developing a closed loop system for products. However, adjustments to the packaging design, structure and shape must not affect the ultimate purpose of the packaging, which is to maintain the ability to protect, preserve, contain, communicate and transport a product to the consumer. Packaging must remain functional before structural changes are made to packaging. The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) urges all packaging teams to conduct a life cycle assessment whenever possible before any packaging is changed.
Consumers are also focusing on what happens to packaging at the end of its life. Designers can no longer incorporate a Mobius loop (the triangular symbol made up of three arrows that loop clockwise back onto itself, indicating that a product can be recycled, but not necessarily made from recycled materials) in the packaging without To wonder if it is recycled or landfilled in the country where it is sold. The answer can then dictate a complete redesign of the packaging and use of materials. The availability of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organization's packaging recycling review portal enables this decision-making process for all packaging technologists and designers as it reflects the actual state of the recyclability of all packaging materials in that country.
If the material can be recycled in the country in which it is sold, consumer waste and greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced over the life of the product. Adding 30 percent recycled content to all of your packaging also ensures that we are moving towards a circular economy and taking responsibility for our own packaging waste. These steps in turn lead to the achievement of the national packaging targets for 2025, which brands are diligently working towards.
An effective redesign feature of packaging that consumers are slowly adopting is reuse, where a customer can refill their products with the same packaging. It is important to note that reusable containers have a greater impact on the environment than disposable containers if used improperly.
Whenever possible, packaging technicians should design packaging that allows continuous use and multiple uses for the consumer over an extended period of time. Just as with a reusable beverage container, the more a refillable pack can be used over a longer period of time, the less environmental impact it has.
A recent example of an innovative reuse, replenishment and recycling concept that has taken the product into account throughout the supply chain is Cif ecorefill, the launch of which was recently advertised on Unilever's global website. The new home technology is designed to enable consumers to refill and reuse their Cif spray bottles for life.
Cif has worked to create a powerful no-mess solution that is considered the premier household cleaning brand with this groundbreaking twist-and-click refill design. Cif ecorefill is marketed as “75 percent less plastic” and is attached to the existing Cif Power & Shine bottles. Thanks to its innovative technology, the highly concentrated product is seamlessly dispensed into the bottle that is filled with water at home.
The Ecorefills are 100 percent recyclable after the plastic covers have been removed. By the end of 2020, all Cif Ecorefills and spray bottles should be made from 100 percent recycled plastic. Getting smaller is certainly better because Ecorefills are lightweight and save space. Diluting the product at home is believed to mean 97 percent less water is transported, fewer trucks are on the move, and less greenhouse gas is emitted. (unilever.com/news/pressreleases)
Every day, more and more companies are touting refillable packaging solutions, including those for cosmetics and beauty products, toiletries like shampoo and soaps, cleaning products, and even beverages.
The road to truly sustainable packaging is exciting. We encourage packaging technologists to take this opportunity to redefine their packaging and actively work on better packaging design that takes into account the priorities of reduction, reuse (refill) and recycling. AIP is here to assist you with expert-led, internationally recognized training and education programs and courses offered across Australasia.
About Nerida Kelton MAIP
Nerida Kelton MAIP is Executive Director of the Australian Institute of Packaging and ANZ board member of the World Packaging Organization. She is also a member of the International Packaging Press Organization.
She has been in the packaging industry for more than 22 years, holds a position on the Steering Committee of the National Ministry of Environment and Energy Strategy for Food Waste and is AIP Leader for the Save Food Packaging Consortium project at the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Center. She is committed to helping the packaging industry understand the role of packaging in minimizing food waste and supporting the recognition of brands that develop innovative packaging for safe food. Nerida is also passionate about educating and training packaging professionals in the importance of sustainable and circular packaging design and recognizing best practices in this area.
Via the Australian Institute of Packaging
The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is Australasia's premier packaging education and training professional organization, helping shape the careers of generations of packaging professionals. The AIP covers Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia.
