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The consortium, part funded by the EU Sixth Framework Programme, comprised 35 European partners from packaging research organizations, academia and industry from 13 countries.
"Fiber-based packaging needs to perform better with new fibers, improved barrier properties and increased interaction with the user. All without adding any non-renewable resources. The purpose is to ensure that fiber-based packaging is a dominant player," said Staffan Erenmalm, a member of the Supervisory Board at STFI-Packforsk, an R&D company covering paper, pulp and packaging, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.
But while his introduction to the conference, which concluded SustainPack, held from May 6-7 in Prague, Czech Republic, set the agenda for the event, it was inevitable that the notion of what is sustainable would still be up for debate.
Taking Stock
"It is difficult to identify priorities as sustainability is all encompassing," said Paul Earl-Torniainen of General Mills Inc., an international marketer and manufacturer of food products based in Golden Valley, Minn.
Materials such as steel, aluminum and PET are made from non-renewable resources but have established recycling streams. Meanwhile, bio-based polymers reduce the use of finite resources such as petroleum, and in turn carbon emissions, but some varieties open up concerns about diverting crops away from food and release methane as they biodegrade. A material advantage at one end of the lifecycle can therefore be offset by a disadvantage elsewhere.
Arno Melchior, global packaging director at Reckitt Benckiser, UK, which specializes in home cleaning, health and personal care products, provided an industry perspective from a non-SustainPack partner. "We have launched a project called Carbon 20, which is to achieve a 20 percent reduction in our carbon footprint," he explained.
"The objective is to use packaging materials for which a recycling stream exists in those countries where we sell our products -- so we do not use biodegradable products at the moment. If there's enough biodegradable material, we need a (national) recycling/composting stream. Consumers need guidance from legislation."
This view was echoed by Cecilia Giardi of R&D Strategic Projects at Novamont, in Novara, Italy, which manufactures Mater Bi, a biodegradable and compostable polymer based on vegetable starches. She said, "How do you build a sustainable base for bio-based plastics? It can only be achieved with a separate waste collection."
She added, "If a normal plastic tray is contaminated with food, it goes to landfill. If you use a bioplastic, then it is homogeneous with the organic food waste as both fractions can be composted."
Making Moves
Earlier this year, Reckitt Benckiser re-launched its Air Wick Freshmatic air freshener in Europe in a cardboard box, moving away from the traditional plastic blister pack. The team behind it optimized the amount of material used by moving the flaps of the box from the top and bottom ends to the sides and developed a hooked design that eliminates the need for a hot melt adhesive to glue the walls together. In turn, the company reduced the size of the box from 400 grams per square meter to 300 grams per square meter, which has saved 3,000 tons of cardboard per year, and diverted 300,000 kilograms of hot melt glue per year away from landfill.
However, Melchior added, "Paper has the largest CO2 footprint in the distribution chain. In France, we distribute with our competitors so the lorry is not half empty."
It is therefore a complex life cycle assessment, he argues. "If we do an assessment in Germany and Brazil for the same packaging, I would get different results. Even on the same manufacturing site, I could get different results depending on where the (raw material) supplier is. We need to develop a standard value."
Laying the Foundations
With this in mind, as researchers presented their materials science advances and packaging demonstrators resulting from SustainPack, many delegates questioned the ability for such materials to be industrially processed and the disposal methods required.
Much R&D and complex analysis remains to be done but significant progress has been made. Kennert Johannson, coordinator of SustainPack from STFI-Packforsk, is optimistic about the future of the research.
He says, "If we develop a material that has good and competitive properties, I think there will also be methods developed to take care of them. We have had recyclability tests for the materials and so far found it is possible to recycle them. Coming from a Nordic country, we see incineration with energy recovery as equally important."
