It goes without saying that Sustainability in Packaging Europe proved to be a brilliant event, providing the opportunity for ‘responsible’ packaging professionals to share knowledge and opinions on the relationship between our industry and the environment.
I was joined by Cheryl Lam from Walmart, who are one of our client partners using e-halo, during my talk on the ‘managing sustainability everyday’. Cheryl highlighted the importance of being able to access data points for their packaging with a few clicks, allowing Walmart to effectively report on the sustainability credentials of a wide range of own-brand products.
Data seemed be the buzz word of the event, however we heard time and again that the data many organizations had access to just wasn’t of a standard that allowed for real change to be made. We wanted to dig deeper on this topic, during a lunch session we posed the question to our VIP delegates:
When it comes to packaging data, what one improvement would you make?
The results show that the intention is very much there to improve sustainability, however, most organisations need more than just good will:
1. Legislation
Data on legislation was by far the most popular response, which is unsurprising considering the ever increasing number of legislations, laws and initiatives being introduced both in the UK and worldwide. Whilst we agree that this legislation is needed, we also agree it can be difficult to fully understand if you are meeting your compliancy requirements, and if not, how to get there.
e-halo, our proprietary technology, allows organisations to access real-time data about their packaging and create reports on their current sustainability status in relation to relevant legislation their voluntary commitments and business objective. This can save countless hours of manual research; that’s why the world’s biggest e-tailer, as well as the world’s biggest retailer, rely on e-halo.
2. Cost of raw materials
Unfortunately, the increasing cost of raw materials is a burden shared by the entire world population. Then when you consider the increased cost of post-consumer recyclate PCR compared to virgin materials (if you can secure stock), this can become a challenge fighting against sustainable solutions. This is due to a myriad of ecological and economic factors, I think we will be dealing with increasing materials costs for the foreseeable future. The question is not ‘when will this change?’ but ‘how can we effectively manage this?’ Whilst we don’t have a magic wand to correct price increases for materials, we do have a solution that help our clients understand the total cost of goods, including predicting EPR, Plastic Tax and current PRN’s. e-halo, combined with our consultancy team, provides a two-pronged approach to navigating the current climate and finding the best way forward for your organisation.
3. Recycling infrastructure
Every market around the globe has different rules and regulations on what is recycled and how. For that matter, someone living in London will be recycling different materials than someone in Newcastle.
This is a real challenge for global brands, when they can’t communicate recyclability consistently with their customers across Europe, never mind globally.
Collection is so inconsistent; people need to know how to dispose of their rubbish responsibly and the only way this can be achieved is through consistent infrastructures. Thankfully there are some steps being taken, such as the UK government’s commitment to consistent recycling across England, but we need this now. Even deposit return schemes (although this is coming into effect in Scotland next year) are not happening soon enough. When Germany introduced its own programme, it led to recycling rates skyrocketing.
e-halo manages compliance to evolving legislation and recyclability requirements including a comprehensive reporting suite allowing for real-time measurement against your business and sustainability targets.
Underpinning all these is the need for better education at all levels – from governments to brands to consumers. There are too many disconnects and ‘greenwashing’ which are preventing responsible behaviours. Packaging providers and brands need to base their sustainability policies on facts and data, not just perception. That means taking responsibility for – and understanding in real time – what they use, where it goes and how it comes back into use. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a very, very long way to go to deliver a truly circular economy.