SMITHERS MAPS OUT SUSTAINABLE STRATEGY

A new Smithers report has mapped out a 10-year strategic journey needed to bring about greater sustainability in packaging, as sustainability has emerged as the defining market driver for the packaging industry across the decade.

Smithers says legislative mandates on plastic formats, brand owner corporate sustainability commitments, and consumer enthusiasm are all combining to force fundamental change on a global industry which will be worth a trillion dollars this year.

The report, titled The Future of Sustainable Packaging: Long Term Strategic Forecasts to 2032, stated that these same factors will ultimately reward innovation at nearly every phase of packaging sourcing, manufacture, use, disposal and recovery over the next decade.

It identified that as a degree of maturity reaches the market, some of the easiest carbon saving steps have already been taken. It said that, if further sustainability gains are to be realised over the next decade, new technologies will need to be investigated, and existing approaches refined.

In terms of refinement, the report first covers recyclability, which it said will benefit primarily from the evolution of better automated sorting equipment, paired with advanced image processing in material recovery facilities, especially for plastics.

“This will simultaneously stimulate more interest in sorting friendly marking, labelling and packaging designs, as well as the development of more mono-material or other plastic formats that are easier to process after recovery,” said the report.

Wider use of recycled content, especially post-consumer recycled (PCR) polymer resins, is highlighted to be a major priority for many FMCG brands and their packaging partners, and improved recyclability will increase both the volume and quality of PCR materials available on the market.

“This will be further enhanced by the wider deployment of in-store or other dedicated collection schemes for harder to recycle formats, and the full commercialisation of chemical advanced recycling plants converting mixed plastic inputs into resins, which can be used in a new generation of packaging,” said the report.

Renewable sourcing of packaging materials is also a key consideration, covering the wider use of PCR, as well as recovered pulp, metal and glass materials. There is also a parallel interest in converting a wider range of non-edible biomass sources, such as agricultural waste, into useable packaging materials.

The report also stated that in 2022, many brand are looking to embrace reuse and refill format packaging, which, although still in an early stage, has the potential to significantly reduce the number of packages produced annually.

Though, as the report said, the fundamental change this requires in both brand owner and consumer thinking means this will have a more limited impact in the short term, and be limited to certain regions and product groups.

Finally, the report said there will also be work to further develop the potential of biodegradable plastics and other materials for those end-use segments where recovery or reuse is not a plausible option.

Each of the segments highlighted provides the potential for genuine carbon savings, according to Smithers, and their adoption will be shaped not just by commercial concerns, but also by a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.

Smithers’ analysis tracks how these will interact with business decisions along the packaging supply chains, including the impact of taxes and prohibitions on certain materials, requirements for minimum content of PCR stocks, packaging design requirements to encourage recyclability, and ultimately, the implementation of comprehensive extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes.