World Sustainability Day, held annually on the last Wednesday of October, serves as a global reminder to raise awareness and inspire action for a sustainable future. Today spotlights the critical environmental challenges from climate change to resource depletion and for those of us in the packaging industry, the message is clear – our impact is significant and we MUST take responsibility now!
In this latest post, Gaynor Denton-Bray shares reflections on where we stand with CO₂ emissions, the packaging industry’s role, and how we can move forward faster and smarter.
Has global action to date, made an impact on driving down CO₂ emissions?
CO₂ is a greenhouse gas essential for life, trapping heat from sunlight and warming our planet. But as emissions rise, the balance tips, driving global warming and threatening sustainability for the environment and business. Despite international efforts like The Paris Agreement and COP events, emissions continue to climb as NASA’s earth indicator graph starkly illustrates.
Source: https://science.nasa.gov/earth/explore/earth-indicators/carbon-dioxide/
This demonstrates that attempts to drive down CO₂ emissions to date aren’t even scratching the surface. It is the responsibility of everyone to minimize their impact both from a professional and personal perspective. Activity really does need to be ramped up, and quickly.
Packaging’s role – owning our impact
There are many industries that have a major impact on the contribution to global CO₂ emissions and although packaging isn’t the largest, we do have to take responsibility for our part in this. These emissions are embedded in our value chains and operations – the activities WE control.
It’s complex
With competing requirements and the rising costs of meeting consumer expectations, regulatory compliance and responding to influential trends, finding the right balance between cost and sustainability has become an ongoing challenge for businesses.
It doesn’t have to be – sustainability and balancing cost actually can go hand-in-hand. Now is the right time to re-evaluate sustainability through a new lens, not only for the good of our planet, but sustaining our businesses and for human health. The reality is that action now will also save money in the future as regulations evolve and stringency increases.
It’s time to accelerate our efforts to minimize this impact. From operational activities to material selection, every decision matters.
Sustainability must be considered from the outset of new projects, but we also need to address and rectify past choices made without a full understanding of their environmental consequences.
Rethinking our approach to material selection
When developing new packaging or delivering packaging improvement projects, we always advise our clients at Aura that decisions regarding packaging materials must be grounded in accurate data. There is no universally “preferred” packaging material when developing a product and its packaging, or when delivering packaging improvement projects, even bio-based solutions have a CO₂ footprint. The best material is one that fulfills packaging’s fundamental purposes and delivers the product in its desired condition, while being sized appropriately to avoid excess resource use and packaging waste. If the optimal material choice isn’t clear, data must guide our choices. Whether that is in the form of confirming a reduction in resource reliance using accurate packaging specification data comparison or carbon footprinting. Data is invaluable in confirming that our decisions consider environmental impact and educate consumers along the way.
Consumers – awareness and action
We all have access to the internet so as consumers we have the ability to research everything and as a result, consumers today are more aware of the impact of packaging on the environment. However, with the power of the internet comes greenwashing, and deciphering the truth can be challenging, even for seasoned packaging professionals. I have researched many packaging solutions and global brands, and witnessed an array of sustainability claims which only provide a positive slant on sustainability, omitting key impact data, as well as misleading terms to drive positive perception.
Data-driven changes, with transparent and publishable improvements support re-education and clarity, are key to building knowledge and trust with consumers particularly as a growing minority of consumers now demand increased sustainability in packaging and are willing to switch brand based on packaging choices. We recently commissioned consumer research on consumer trust regarding packaging sustainability and found that in the US, 12.8% of consumers have changed brands purely based on packaging concerns.
The cost of sustainability
Is the cost of sustainable packaging a concern?
While it may seem higher when viewed in isolation, the total cost of goods often tells a different story. Sustainable choices can drive efficiencies and financial improvements when we view the total cost of goods, making them not just environmentally responsible but economically sensible – less resource – less processing – less transportation – less waste – lower fees -less impact equals more sustainable. We have to think differently, and we have the tools to do it, but without data to back it all up, we are flying blind. To make truly sustainable and financially viable packaging choices, we must collect robust granular packaging data and analyze the results. Only then will we know the best route to take.
World Sustainability Day is a call to action for the packaging industry. By embracing data-driven decisions, prioritizing sustainability from design to delivery and engaging consumers with transparency, we can lead the way toward a more sustainable future. At Aura, packaging sustainability is our mission and purpose. We support our clients every day, minimizing their environmental impact and capitalizing on the benefits of sustainable choices.
So, wherever you are on your journey to sustainable packaging solutions, Aura can help. From valuable future insights and strategic planning workshops to life-cycle analysis, packaging development and data capture through our software solution, e-halo, we have the solution.
Please get in touch if you would like to know more about how we support World Sustainability Day, every single day.
