Sustainability and Environmental Impact
With initiatives like the Walmart Scorecard in the United States and the European Union's Packaging Directive, delivering sustainable packaging is now an integral part of today’s globally competitive market.
Sustainability is a relatively new addition to environmental considerations for packaging designs. It requires more analysis and documentation to look at the package design, choice of materials, processing, and life cycle.
This is not just the vague “green movement” that many businesses and companies have been trying to capitalize on. Companies implementing these eco-friendly actions are reducing their carbon footprint, using recycled material, and reusing package components. They often encourage suppliers, contract packagers, and distributors to do likewise.
SPS has been at the forefront of this movement since its inception. We have worked with companies to develop sustainable packaging and environmentally friendly processes. In general, the broad goals of sustainable packaging are:
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Functional – product protection, safety, functionality
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Cost-Effective – if it is too expensive, customers are unlikely to consider it
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Custodial – support long-term human and ecological health
Specific factors for the sustainable design of packaging may include:
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Source Reduction – reduced packaging materials and layers of packaging, film down-gauging, Lean Wrap principles
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Logistics Efficiency – cube utilization, reduced tare weight, efficient transportation
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Recycled Content – is it available and functional to the product use cycle
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Recyclability – use of materials which are frequently or easily recycled and the reduction of non-recyclable materials
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Reusability – repeated reuse of package or reuse for other purposes
Get to know SPS. You’ll understand why we are the Whole Package!
