Sustainable packaging - from entry to successful transition

Photo: Marcell Viragh/Unsplash

10 steps to help your company tackle the shift to more sustainable packaging

1. Knowledge and backing from the top

'Sustainable packaging' is a highly complex subject area. There is no perfect solution, but the solutions are as diverse as the applications. For the implementation of a sustainable packaging strategy, be sure to bring in external knowledge right from the start, involve all affected departments, and organize workshops, training sessions, or webinars on the various aspects. Important: Ensure that you have the backing of top management. Without this, it will be difficult to implement sustainability in your company.

2. Look at the whole balance

Evaluate the current situation conscientiously: analyze the products and packages in terms of their carbon footprint, the overall life cycle assessment, as well as looking at the overall costs of your current packaging portfolio. You need to know the important levers, for more sustainability and for your cost saving potentials. Don't believe in the myth that sustainability is more expensive. Sustainability means reducing waste, and that means saving money. Experience shows that the potential savings over the entire process are well over 10%.

3. Define a framework

Define a clear goal of the transformation towards sustainable packaging and do this based on, for example, the SDG-17 targets.

4. Take care of the right KPIs.

In all your steps, define clearly defined KPIs against which you want to be measured and make your progress visible. Our list of the 10-Rs can help you define the KPIs.

5. Prepare for a marathon

Design new solutions with short-term and long-term goals in mind. Innovations will secure your unique position in the market in the long term, but they may take longer to develop. Short-term goals and measures usually only attract attention in the short term and the effect is of a manageable nature.

6. Pay attention to legislation

Always select materials based on their availability in your key markets and knowledge of current legislation. In addition, if possible, get an overview of foreseeable future legislative changes – we will of course be happy to help with the research.

7. Remember: It's about more than just packaging

Throughout the planning process, be sure to maintain a 360-degree view of the various factors involved in a packaging transition: supply chain, manufacturing, disposal fees, material and supplier flexibility. So look at social, economic and environmental impacts from a single source of truth.

8. Don't look for the off-the-shelf solution

Select the optimal solution that applies to your individual business situation based on your previous analyses and your defined goals. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution.

9. Content matters

Communicate clearly – onpack and offpack. Avoid unclear, exaggerated and unverifiable statements. First of all, you risk incurring costs in the future from new legislation (the EU has already issued requirements for sustainability claims in the coming years) or from new packaging production to avoid being penalized. Secondly, new studies show that consumers want comprehensible statements and do not trust general statements.

10 Learning from reportings

Implementation does not end with the delivery of the packaging to points of sale. Ensure at least an annual reporting on the successes achieved compared to the previously defined KPIs. Also, ensure the appropriate integration of the packaging factor into your sustainability reports. Today's reporting sets the optimization potential for tomorrow. Do not lose the momentum of your successful efforts.

Sustainable packaging - from entry to successful transition

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