Sustainable Packaging – A $244 Billion Dollar Business

Published on Tuesday, Mar 11 2014

Sustainable packaging is relatively new but massively important, and arecent report has predicted that there will be big advances in the subject over the next decade; boosting it to a $244 billion market by 2018. This is due to consumer demand, government legislation and technological advances.
 
The report – The Future of Sustainable Packaging to 2018 – looks at what we can expect and then goes on to forecast demand for sustainable packaging on a worldwide level, as companies look to be smarter and more adaptive with what they produce.
 
Sustainable packaging programmes driven by the wish to be greener are being furthered by an affluent and health-conscious middle-class population which is increasing. Companies are looking to appeal to the consciences of these consumers.

Sustainable packaging trends:

•         Package downsizing
•         Increases in recycling and waste recovery
•         Increases in the use of recycled content
•         Increases in renewably sourced material
•         Packaging and logistical efficiency improvements

Recycled Materials

Paper packaging is the most popular recycled material, followed by metal, glass and plastic. While demand for recycled plastics is strong, there are many challenges, like a lack of infrastructure for collection and sorting and additional compliance requirements related to food and drug content.

Innovations in Packaging

There have been a number of recent innovations in packaging, with more and more companies optimising their packaging for recycling and reuse – while also retaining and improving quality (known as up-cycling).
Worthy of note in particular is paper manufacturer James Cropper, who unveiled an innovative recycling process where husks of cocoa beans get turned into paper – enabling them to utilise the otherwise wasted skins of millions of tons worth of cocoa beans.

What makes a sustainable package?

•          It’s beneficial, safe and healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle
•          Meets market criteria for performance and cost
•         It’s sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewable energy
•         It maximizes the use of renewable or recycled source materials
•         It’s manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices
•         It’s made from materials healthy in all probable end of life scenarios
•         It’s physically designed to optimize materials and energy
•         It’s effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial cradle to cradle cycles

Conclusions

Expect sustainable packaging to continue to grow in importance over the next decade as companies endeavour to look for new and innovative ways of getting customers to buy in to their services and leverage themselves in their market place.

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