ON SECOND THOUGHTS... HAS THE PACKAGING INDUSTRY BEEN HIJACKED BY PLASTICS HATERS? Andrew Manly, Communications Director of AIPIA, the global smart packaging organization, asks whether ‘plastics bashing’ is having a detrimental effect on the sustainability agenda.
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he planet is warming up quickly and this will have dire consequences if we do not do something about it. Yep we got that. We need to cool it down fast and packaging needs to play its part in that important mission. Yep the industry – sort of – gets that too. I say, ‘sort of’ because it seems to me that the agenda for the packaging industry has been almost completely hijacked by the plastics haters. The sector has forgotten the great benefits all forms of plastics packaging, flexible, semi-rigid and rigid, have brought to the industries they serve. The reason we have flexible packaging is because it’s light, easy to manufacture and transport in bulk, use as a highly versatile wrapping to protect a huge range of goods effectively and could, if properly collected, be recycled or turned into energy. No one in the industry is unaware that if it is discarded improperly it becomes a problem and that it needs to play a significant role in improving that. But collection and recycling is everyone’s problem, not just the producers. We use single-use formats because they save a lot of waste. And the science shows that wasted food has far more impact on the environment in terms of energy and water consumption, let alone the disposal hazards. Plus, a single sachet of a rehydration salt in a third world country is easily available and affordable to people who can neither buy in bulk nor store it if they could. Greenpeace want us to ditch plastics packaging almost entirely. They also want us to stop eating proteins such as red meat. There is no rational scientific basis for these views in my opinion. Plastics has attributes no other packaging can offer. Perhaps aluminium is a good alternative in many instances, but environmentalists say the impact on the climate of extracting primary aluminium is too great. My answer to that is: You cannot put everything in paper or board. And aluminium is infinitely 100% recyclable. To point up the skew on the science being perpetrated on the public, it is worth noting that the primary sources of methane globally are not cows, but natural wetlands and rice paddies. Is Greenpeace asking for them to be banned?
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A huge disservice is being done to the packaging sector, as the sustainability issue is effectively shutting out a lot of development of other packaging innovations which can add real benefits for the brand owners and consumers. For example, condition monitoring technology and shelf-life extending film formulations exist which can greatly reduce the estimated 30% of food which is thrown out each year around the world. Developed economies are the worst, as we still believe the Sell By and Use By dates are accurate. Mostly they are not! Ironically, adoption of some of these simple technologies could add significant profit margin to both retailers and food producers, as less food gets wasted along the supply chain and, in my opinion, the lazy practice of discounting food near its expiry date could be much more controlled. There is absolutely no point in ditching plastics in favour of other packaging materials if the environmental impact of switching to glass, or metal, or cartonboard has not been thoroughly assessed in a lifecycle analysis and proven to be beneficial. While l am sure some of this goes on, l am not convinced that many companies are going down that route. Many see it as better to show in their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report that they are doing the ‘right thing’. Whether that is greenwashing or just a reaction to external pressures l leave for others to decide. Of course we need to take the plastics out of the oceans, tidy up our own poor practices and reduce packaging where possible. But let’s tackle this scientifically and address the root causes of waste too – these are poor recycling infrastructures and collection systems, together with a singular lack of public awareness that their little sweetie wrapper matters. What we need is a balanced approach not some hysterical flight to, in many cases, inappropriate solutions. Finally l will stand up as a Grumpy Old Man of packaging and say l HATE paper straws! They go soggy after a few seconds and have a strange taste or feeling on the lips which certainly diminishes the drinking experience for me. I carry a pack of plastic straws in my n pocket and discard them carefully after use.
