Why packaging doesn’t have to equal waste: innovation that solves the circular packaging question

Tony Foster, Sales and Marketing Director of the UK packaging division at DS Smith, recently spoke to the Guardian Sustainable Business Network about circular packaging, and how the packaging industry is innovating to reduce cost and waste. Tony’s comments were included in a feature published online on 1st July 2015, and here they are in more detail below:

• What are the key reasons why packaging has traditionally resulted in waste? What are the future challenges?

I would question whether packaging really has resulted in waste to the extent that is sometimes reported. Over the years, the packaging industry has bought itself a bad reputation – there is a perception that packaging results in waste, reinforced by the sight of litter and plastic bags in the street. The sector has been an obvious target when it comes to making someone responsible.

However this perception simply isn’t true. In fact, packaging waste accounts for a very small percentage of total waste, and many packaging materials, such as cardboard boxes, are entirely recyclable. Let’s not forget as well that good packaging also actually reduces waste because it protects products from being damaged and becoming unusable.

In terms of future challenges, the industry needs to change this misconception. Consumers want to be able to recycle, and we need to get the message across that corrugated packaging in particular is an essential part of a closed loop recycling process that minimises waste, and turns used fibre quickly back in to boxes. In fact we can go from box to box within 14 days.

Great work is already happening in this area – as an industry, our challenge is to get better at sharing this and demonstrating that in fact, packaging is a crucial part of the circular economy.

• Are large companies rethinking their packaging? If so, why and how?

Yes – particularly in the retail industry. Increasingly retailers are under pressure to stock brands that have good sustainability credentials, and good packaging is an important part of this – working hand in hand with the products it contains. As a result, if they want their products to be stocked by the big retailers, manufacturers simply have to ensure their packaging is as sustainable as possible.

We find more and more manufacturers are turning to corrugated packaging as a solution to this. Corrugated packaging is 100 per cent recyclable, so a manufacturer using it on the supermarket shelf will help the retailer to look good, and will impress more environmentally aware sections of the shopping public.

Cost is another issue that is causing companies to rethink their packaging – the landscape for supermarket suppliers in particular is cut throat, with fractions of pence making a difference to profitability. Using sustainable packaging actually helps reduce cost, so circular packaging makes good business as well as environmental sense.

• Does 'end-to-end' and 'cradle-to-cradle' now incorporate packaging as well as the product? Should it?

Yes it does and yes it absolutely should! It’s ambitious to design all the waste out of the packaging process, but it’s possible and it’s something companies should aim for. In relation to this, we shouldn’t be talking about supply chains any more – effective packaging is part of a ‘supply cycle’ process, where materials end up back within packaging within a few days.

The other thing to consider here is the role of packaging – good packaging should ensure it protects the product, gives it as long a life as possible and enables it to move through the supply cycle with minimum impact. So not only should the packaging itself work within a cradle-to-cradle model, it should prolong the life of those products it contains and ensure it arrives with the consumer in a usable condition – furthering its sustainable credentials.

• What are some trends within circular packaging?

Retailers have already done a lot of work in the area of circular packaging, and one trend we have seen in relation to this is the development of the ‘five easies’ of packaging, which are: easy to identify, easy to open, easy to shelve, easy to shop, easy to dispose.

Working to the ‘five easies’ improves stock availability and makes the shopper’s life better, and the natural outcome is less overall waste, both of product and packaging.  

By working with suppliers to ensure they adhere to those five principles, it has promoted the circular packaging agenda and crucially helped retailers to hit their landfill targets.

In relation to this, the product needs to be easy to get through the supply cycle which means it needs to be packed and transported in the most efficient, space-saving way, reducing the number of half-empty lorries on the road. Efficient transportation means fewer trips on the road and lower C02 emissions. So, circular packaging isn’t just down to the material of the box, it has to take in the entire supply cycle. 

• What examples are there of great packaging innovations?

We recently launched a new type of corrugated packaging that supports the circular packaging agenda – it’s the first of its kind on the market and we think it’s pretty innovative. ‘SalesFront’ is a type of retail-ready packaging that sits on the supermarket shelf, and using a specially engineered band pushes products to the front of the shelf as each product is sold.  

As well as helping manufacturers to sell more by increasing visibility on the shelf, it ensures the products are sold in the correct date order, and effectively stops shoppers reaching to the back of the shelf to pull out the items with the longest best before or use by date – helping to reduce supermarket food waste.

Finally, this innovation supports the circular packaging agenda because the entire box and the elasticated band can be managed within the existing corrugated waste stream, making the fibre 100 per cent recyclable. Within just 14 days, those fibres can be back on the supermarket shelf in the form of new packaging.