Sustainability has become the core motto of a lot of consumer goods companies and packaging is the first step towards green initiatives. Substantial amount of all the plastic product globally is used in manufacturing packaging products. Packaging plays a crucial role in the economy as almost all the industry depends on it.
Major brands are putting emphasis to find alternatives to plastic to make their packaging sustainable. For instance, In November 2018, more than 250 companies such as the Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Mars, L’Oreal, Danone had signed an agreement to remove plastic waste and pollution at the source. Surge in e-commerce sales has pushed an increase in package waste. Many global brands across the globe are incorporating sustainable packaging into their supply chains.
Key Companies:-
- PepsiCo
- Nestle
- Colgate Palmolive
- Johnson & Johnson
- Coca-Cola
- Amcor
- Be Green Packaging
- DS Smith
- DuPont
- Evergreen Packaging
- Mondi
- Nampak
- Ball Corp.
- Sealed Air
- Tetra Laval
Recent Development:-
PepsiCo: PepsiCo had taken various initiatives in the past. For instance, In October 2018, as a part of its sustainable plastic vision, PepsiCo had announced its goal to use 25% recycled content in its plastic packaging by 2025. Moreover, the company has goals to achieve 33% recycled PET content by 2025. Moreover, the company has also planned to keep 100% of its packaging to be compostable, biodegradable and recyclable. To achieve its objective, PepsiCo has taken following initiatives:
- PepsiCo and biotech firm Danimer scientific had collaborated to develop biogradable film resin from polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) for the food and beverage company which meets its packaging requirements.
- Also, PepsiCo had announced that by 2020 it will begin incorporating Loop’s plastic which is made up of 100% recycled material into its product packaging.
- Moreover, the company has also signed a multi-year supply agreement with sustainable packaging vendors to get recyclable packaging for their food and beverages.
Nestle – Nestle has created an institute of packaging sciences. The company has put emphasis on the discovery and development of eco-friendly packaging solutions including functional paper and biodegradable materials. Moreover, Nestle had also collaborated with companies such as Danimer scientific technologies to work on the design and manufacturing of bio-based resins for Nestle water business by using PHA polymer Nodax.
For instance, In 2018, Nestle gained access to the resins after the University of Georgia (U.S.A.) confirmed that PHA Polymer Nodax is an effective biodegradable material that can be a great alternative to plastic. Moreover, In 2018, Nestle announced that their partnership will accelerate the company’s packaging to 100% recyclable and reusable by 2025.
Mondi Group – Mondi Group is a leader in the paper and packaging segment. One of the product offerings of the company, Sustainex offers biodegradable, compostable, recyclable packaging materials. Few initiatives taken by the Mondi group:
- Company has created a new fully-recyclable plastic laminate packaging material called Barrier Pack Recyclable. This has been developed for pre-made food pouches and FFS roll stock. Moreover, the company also claims the product has the same performance properties as conventional packaging materials.
- In 2017 Mondi Group had introduced a water-soluble film that is biodegradable and non-inhibitory. Also, the water-soluble film dissolves in water and make the film ideal for single doses of dry materials.
- Moreover, the company had collaborated with Rodenburg Biopolymers and Taghleef Industries and developed a new bio-based chocolate bar wrapper for Mars using polypropylene-based biodegradable film made with Rodenburg bio-resin and printed by Mondi Consumer Goods Packaging.
Colgate Palmolive – The company also offers eco-friendly packaging trends and have offered 100% sustainable packaging for three out of 4 products. The company has also introduced recyclable toothpaste tubes. Moreover, the company has been designing all of these packages to reduce th3e use of natural resources and ultimately, making the packaging recyclable. Colgate has also improved the recycled content of packaging and has reduced the use of PVC in packaging by using polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and paper pulp (fibre).
Johnson & Johnson – The company’s packaging strategy is to make sure that a minimum all product packaging must comply with local packaging regulations. Moreover, the company has been minimizing its product packaging by focusing on various terms such as:
- Using packaging materials with more recycled content
- Reducing material use by decreasing packaging weight & thickness
- Purchasing responsibly sourced packaging materials
- Using packaging materials with more recycled content
Also, Johnson & Johnson made a -public commitment to improve the recyclability of packaging in 5 key markets in the consumer segment as part of their goals.
Coca-Cola- Coca had replaced fossil-fuel ingredients with plant-based between 2009 and 2015, which are biodegradable. Also, the company had manufactured more than 35 bottles which were distributed in 40 countries. The company also plants to get plant-based ingredients from food waste such as fruit peels, tee barks, corn cobs, and stalks.
For instance,
- In 2015, the company unveiled a bottle made of 100% plant ingredients at the World Expo – Milan, in which the major raw material used was cellulose, a biodegradable and transparent organic compound.
- Coca-Cola is also working with its partners to deliver its packaging vision “World without waste” according to which they have promised to recover as many cans and bottles from outside as they manufacture.
Amcor – Amcor is one of the leading packaging companies that have pledged to develop all recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025. Some of the company’s developments:
- In 2019, the company had opened a Sustainability Centre of Excellence in Ghent, Belgium, to coordinate the development of platforms that will be used to manufacture packaging across various segments such as consumer goods, and Amcor’s global accounts.
- In 2018, Amcor had introduced a new LiquiForm molded bottle. Amcor produced the 12 oz PET Boston Round bottle. This is made with 50% post-consumer content, on a proprietary Amcor-built machine which is the industry’s first manufacturing unit to successfully utilize the LiquiForm technology.
- Amcor had also partnered with various packaging companies to achieve their sustainable initiatives such as the company partnered with Plantic Technologies to develop a biodegradable package. Moreover, in 2017, the company had partnered with cleaning products company to produce sustainable pouches.
Tetra Pak – The company’s long-term goal is to keep entire packaging material portfolio made from 100% renewable material, without compromising safety and quality. In 2016, the company’s climate impact reduction targets were approved by the Science-Based Targets (SBT) initiative. Besides this, in 2017, Tetra Pak achieved a 13% reduction in its overall climate impact, despite a 19% increase in packages sold.
Moreover, Tetra Pak has committed to reducing its operational emission to 42% and 58% by 2030 & 2040 respectively, from a 2015 baseline. Few of the key developments of the company:
- Tetrapak has partnered with many companies in last few years. For instance, the company had partnered with Braskem to launch a renewable package. Also, the company had launched Tetra Brik® Aseptic 1000 Edge with Bio-based LightCap™ 30. The company had also launched packaging for ice-cream brand.
- Also, the company had released its Sustainability report which shows how the company’s approach to sustainability has evolved from focusing solely on environmental commitments and actions to evaluate every part of the business and its impact.
Bemis – Bemis Company, Inc. has introduced many initiatives and one of the initiatives is a new bio-based polymer firm introduced for the Lawn & Garden market. Moreover, the new Lawn & Garden package contains up to 90% plant-sourced raw materials comprising 100% sugarcane-derived polyethylene.
Below are some of the major steps taken by the company in last few years:
- In 2014 Bemis launched Curwood® ReNew™ PLA-based films which are high-performance thermoforming films and livestock made from corn, plant-based polymers.
- In 2016 Bemis introduced a new bio-based polymer film packaging material for the Lawn & Garden market from renewable resources.
- In 2017, Bemis Company and Dow Packaging collaborated to produce a fully recyclable trash bag made from post-industrial plastic scrap.
To create the trash bags, Bemis sent post-industrial plastic scraps to Polykar, which used its plastic recycling machines to combine the reclaimed plastics with Dow’s RETAIN™ technology.