The best packaging is different every time

Photo: Jasmin Sessler/Unsplash

Why innovation in packaging matters more than beliefs and why packaging-free doesn't always have to be sustainable.

It depends on the individual case. Rarely is this answer more true than when it comes to the question of the ideal sustainable packaging. Not even the position: 'The most sustainable way is to completely do without packaging' proves to be universally valid. 'I was in the Soviet Union in 1984. A large amount of food was lost there because it was not packaged and therefore could not be transported. I think we should celebrate packaging much more', says Michael Braungart, professor of Eco-Design at Leuphana University Lüneburg and Erasmus University Rotterdam, for example. As the developer of the so-called cradle-to-cradle principle, Braungart is one of the masterminds behind the circular economy, in which flows of goods and materials are managed in such a way, that in the end no waste remains in the sense of zero waste.

Many experts emphasize that the abandonment of packaging does not necessarily mean a better ecological balance. This is also the case for Victoria Krauter, Professor at the Department of Packaging and Resource Management at the FH Campus Wien and Head of the Competence Center for Sustainable Packaging Solutions of the City of Vienna: 'On one hand, the production of packaging consumes resources, on the other hand, correctly chosen packaging can prevent the waste of resources because it protects products such as food from spoiling. You have to find the right balance between these poles for each specific use, for each specific case. Even for one and the same product, different solutions can make sense, depending on the initial situation.' PACOON Managing Director Peter Désilets is aware of the relevance of the respective initial situation: 'That's why I always answer the questions about the most sustainable packaging with the comparison that one and the same car is also not the best solution for everyone – whether young and single, a family of 6 or craftsman. So the optimal packaging always has to be evaluated differently for the individual company and its sustainability goals, production conditions, sales channels and countries.'

Can cucumbers also be unpackaged?

Using the, only supposedly simple, example of cucumber, this means: As long as the cucumber is produced regionally, doing without packaging is indeed environmentally friendly, plastic-free and the best option. After all, without long transport routes and intermediate storage, the cucumber will probably be consumed within the three or four days it is fresh and firm. If it comes from further away, on the other hand, a thin plastic film may be the better solution, because it extends shelf life and ensures that the cucumber doesn't spoil and have to be thrown away unused - which would cause three to four times more ecological damage than the production and disposal of the film. But studies also show that a slightly thicker skin would significantly extend the shelf life of the cucumber without the chewing sensation being perceived negatively by the consumer. This is where the EU standard has put a stop to more sustainable, natural packaging and specifies a thin skin, which in many cases inevitably leads to a film solution.

The Mainz-based Society for Marketing Research has also calculated for other food such as cheese or meat that the ecological benefits of packaging clearly outweigh the ecological costs, because significantly less has to be thrown away with packaged goods. At 1.5–2%, the CO2 footprint of packaging in an average European household is also rather small compared with the 15% generated by food. However, the data situation is still confusing, depending on the application, and the single source of truth does not exist, as PACOON Managing Director Désilets knows: 'In the packaging market, we are constantly living from compromises, the one hundred percent solution does not exist. At the same time, the desire for a clear indicator that makes the decision easier is becoming stronger and stronger. However, this is still a major challenge at the moment, not least because we are still in the process of properly understanding all the interrelationships.'

In other areas, too, the benefits of intelligently selected packaging outweigh the ecological burdens. For example, protective packaging made of corrugated board accounts for 0.11% of a laptop's product carbon footprint. If just one out of nine hundred laptops were to break down in a distribution without packaging – which is hardly conceivable, if only for psychological reasons – it would be more expensive in ecological terms than the production of the 899 other packages.

Better innovation than pleas

This does not mean, of course, that packaging cannot be made even better, even more sensible, as Michael Braungart emphasizes. However, technological inventiveness will enable us to make much faster and more progress than appealing to consumers' guilty consciences, no matter how insistently, he says, and illustrates this with the discussion about plastics: “Up to now, the plastics and toxins problem has always been treated as a moral issue. Yet it's an issue of innovation: it's about developing better materials.“

Momentum through legislation

The professionals at PACOON have been intensively involved with sustainable packaging since 2008, probably as the first packaging agency in the German-speaking world. Often, the PACOON team was smiled at events when they kept asking the question about sustainability or recycling quality. But especially in the last few years since 2018, the number of innovations in the packaging market has increased dramatically. “We have the impression that the developments ran in parallel, but the demand from industry and retail was low. With the new laws, EU regulations, increased focus on sustainability and climate change, there has been a lot of momentum in the market. Customer inquiries are increasing exponentially every year and projects are becoming much more complex. Those who three or four years ago were looking for information and wanted to analyze their packages are now approaching us with clear concept development projects,“ says Désilets.

The projects are becoming more holistic, not just simple material exchanges, but consideration of the entire supply chain is required. In the meantime, not a week goes by without one or two companies requesting, whereas three to four years ago it was one company per month. "It's also not predominantly our current customers from the graphic design units, but many new contacts on recommendation, through our thirty to forty presentations per year, from visits to trade fairs or through Internet research," says Désilets – and says about the prerequisites for successful cooperation: “It's important to us that the companies analyze themselves, define their goals, recognize the great potential through innovations and also take into account communication to the buyer or consumer. That's where we as graphic designers also offer full service if the packaging should communicate properly.“

Blueberries from South America

Even better packaging that is best adapted to the specific requirements – that is also the path that Victoria Krauter considers to be the right one. On the meta level, however, which now has little to do with packaging, she says one could certainly ask other questions, such as whether blueberries from South America are really indispensable in winter. “However, as soon as someone makes the decision to buy this product,“ she says, “appropriate packaging that provides mechanical protection and a pad to soak up liquid, for example, is justified. After all, this packaging guarantees that a food product that has consumed resources and caused emissions will reach its destination in one piece.“

“But perhaps this is precisely why the current momentum of new reusable packaging concepts offers the potential to solve the balancing act between single-use packaging waste, which is almost unmanageable, and unpackaged products in a whole new way,“ Désilets said.

The best packaging is different every time

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