By Sustainable Life Media

June 11th, 2009 - What is the current state of sustainable packaging and what are the key challenges going forward? How can companies leverage sustainable packaging in a recession? Erin Malec of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition moderated a discussion at SB’09 between Brad Rogers from Frito Lay, Laurens van de Vijver from Tetra Pak, and Tony Kingsbury from the Dow Chemical Company and the Haas Center for Responsible Business.

Four years ago the SPC developed a vision of "sustainable packaging" and has a one page definition for reference posted on its website. Malec explained briefly that the coalition envisions that packaging can:

1. Be beneficial, safe & healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle
2. Meet market criteria for performance and cost
3. Be sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewable energy
4. Maximize the use of renewable or recycled source materials
5. Be manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices
6. Be made from materials healthy in all probable end of life scenarios
7. Be physically designed to optimize materials and energy
8. Be effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial cradle to cradle cycles.

She laughed, and said that basically nothing yet on the global market is sustainable by these measures. The large goal is to deal effectively with the complexities of working with supply chain partners, and designing for the lifecycle of the package.

How has the downturn affected the way you do business?

Kingsbury said that although demand has gone way down, the sustainability initiatives have suffered the least. Recessionary pressure brings out what truly is economically sustainable. For example, old manufacturing facilities that are energy hogs get shut down in favor of leaner facilities. Rodgers said their vision is “performance with purpose” and that the recession puts the pressure on to consider what packaging might offer the consumer besides protecting the product. Vijver agreed, saying the “package should say more than it costs.”

Is it hard to balance good sustainability initiatives and immediate ROI pressures?

The consensus answer seemed to be that while an interruption in cash flow might delay certain projects, it is by no means a call to halt. Kingsbury explained that while sure, capital is tight, “the value chain has been asking for this stuff” so DOW’s polyethelene-from-sugar-cane project has been delayed but is still moving forward.

What is driving each of you to invest in sustainable packaging? What is your motivation?

Rogers explained that Frito Lay has saved money by reorganizing how their drivers’ use and reuse shipping crate materials until they’re worn out. Kingsbury repeated that the value chain and internal commitment to sustainability are a motivating factor in sustainable redesign.

How has the Walmart packaging scorecard influenced you?

Vijver said "the scorecard put things on the agenda that hadn’t been out there before." Furthermore, with the Obama administration’s movement on renewable energy and carbon emissions, companies can talk to Americans in new way. Kingsbury stated that expanding the debate is good for packaging. Not just about energy, the scorecard brought relevance to the lifecycle redesigns.

How do you communicate to consumers?

Rogers noted that Frito Lay has gone ahead and put their progress on the Sunchips label, stating that it is a first step, and not the solution. This transparency is very important. The idea is to keep the message simple, and then list the website to make details available. Only talk after you DO though, he warns, or else the public will become more skeptical of your green claims. Communicate but don’t overstate.

How are collaboration and social factors affecting your companies’ decisions?

Rogers explained that developing the PLA Sunchips bag meant going all the way up the production chain and developing active collaboration at many points along the production line. In general, in tough times there is the temptation and pressure to find a super low cost supplier and not ask too many questions about where it came from, what the worker conditions were and so on, which is what makes transparency so important. If you are transparent, then you have an equal internal pressure to avoid that temporary "good" from the dollar standpoint, because it will bite you in the end. In this age of connectivity, people will find out eventually, so you’re better off taking control from the beginning.

What do you see as biggest opportunity in sustainable packaging for people to capitalize on today?

Vijver said that consumers don’t need as much packaging as they think they do. Reducing packaging is an important sustainability move and can cut costs for companies too. Kingsbury also emphasized dematerialization and source reducing because too much of a good thing becomes bad. For example, there is not enough land in the world to simply grow enough PLA plastics to replace all current plastic use. He says he is looking forward to the gradual introduction of new materials over a long period of time. Rogers also emphasized that the amount of packaging materials used on the products, in marketing, and in transportation is not sustainable. Over the next few years he sees creative answers on the horizon to address the question "what is a package?"