Sustainable packaging is getting a lot of attention. But what does it mean, and how can it appeal to consumers?
“Sustainability” is the new buzzword for responsible packaging. The concept received a great boost when Wal-Mart introduced its sustainable packaging initiative last year. Other major retailers are introducing similar initiatives, including Tesco in the United Kingdom.
There are different facets of a package’s ultimate impact on the environment. Some of the most commonly considered ones are source reduction, recyclability, recycled content, carbon footprint and biodegradability. How do each of these facets relate to the others? Which ones are most likely to make significant impacts on consumers? And which ones do food processors see as practical?
Designers, end users and others involved with packaging agree that one of the most significant aspects of today’s “sustainability” approach is the way the different environmental aspects of packaging are intertwined. Bill Franklin, director of the Franklin Associates division of Eastern Research Group based in Lexington, Mass., calls it “life¬cycle analysis.”
“It’s an accounting system that starts with the extraction of resources from the Earth and follows all steps of development through use and end of life,” Franklin says.