Packs that are green and pleasant

22 August 2008



Michael Sturges, Director, STFI-Packforsk Edge, explains the marketing potential for sustainably packaged products


During the past 15 years, those working in the packaging supply chain have continually found themselves at the forefront of environmental discussions. Over this period, the focus and intensity of the debate has shifted, but interest now seems to have reached an all-time zenith. Some topics have come and gone, and then returned. Biodegradable materials and packaging minimisation are good examples of this. Other issues are new, or at least reinventions of older themes. For example, carbon footprinting may be seen as an extension of the energy balances first pursued by Coca Cola in the 1960s or a cut-down version of the life-cycle assessment studies that were popular during the 1990s.

A recent life-cycle analysis of Walker’s Crisps revealed that the packaging accounted for just 15 per cent of the product’s total impact. A similar study for Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate bar found that the packaging contributed just 1 per cent. These results reinforce that which the industry already knows about packaging – its environmental impact is minimal when compared with that of the product it protects. Nonetheless, its high visibility places packaging at the forefront of the current environmental debate. Consumers – and politicians – are unable to unpick the complexities of supply chain efficiency, product protection and extended shelf-life. Unbalanced media reports and campaigns have focused on packaging rather than the real issues, further compounding public perceptions of over-packaging and packaging as waste. This has encouraged such campaign groups as the Women’s Institute to target packaging.

Climate change

The breadth of environmental and sustainability issues to which packaging has to answer has become wider and increasingly confused. However, climate change has particularly captured the public’s imagination. The Al Gore movie An Inconvenient Truth has played a major role in moving climate change up the agenda, as have consumers’ personal experiences of drought and perceived temperature shifts. Although the public are not rushing out to buy low-carbon products, the UK Carbon Trust predicts that a significant proportion of purchasing decisions will take climate impact into account by 2010. Its report Brand Value at Risk from Climate Change outlines the factors that are coming together to generate a ‘tipping point’ in consumer behaviour. These are not unique to the UK, as there are similar scenarios elsewhere in Europe and the USA.

Many businesses have already responded to the potential marketing and public relations opportunities created by this consumer sea change. For retailers, the environment, especially climate change, has become a battleground, with each trying to gain the moral high ground. Bold statements from Chief Executives of such major retailers as Marks & Spencer demonstrate that they are taking this issue seriously - and are expecting their supply chains to do likewise. In fact, Marks & Spencer has specified the toughest benchmark of achieving carbon neutrality by 2012. Wal-Mart’s involvement in the Carbon Disclosure Project (an annual carbon emissions reporting programme for investors) has imparted real momentum to the initiative, with its recent Supply Chain Collaboration Project involving major brand owners.

Tesco is collaborating closely with the Carbon Trust to develop and implement carbon footprint labels across a selected product range. Walker’s Crisps became one of the first brands to carry the Carbon Trust label. A PepSico consumer survey found that carbon labelling has had a positive impact on opinion about Walker’s. Altogether, 44 per cent of consumers (rising to 63 per cent of social influencers) claim that carbon labelling makes them feel more positive about Walker’s. Furthermore, it is not just the UK that is developing carbon labels for consumer goods. In Switzerland, the first products have already been awarded the Climatop label for those having a reduced effect on climate change.

Marketing potential

Furthermore, packaging manufacturers recognise the marketing opportunities of a reduced carbon footprint. In addition to reducing energy intensity and reliance on fossil fuels, many packaging manufacturers are now providing clients with climate declarations on their materials. For example, Cascades Djupafors, the Swedish board manufacturer, has produced a climate declaration for its coated folding boxboard. This outlines the greenhouse gas emissions from producing one tonne of board.

Obviously climate change is important. However, there are other environmental factors to take into account. The Courtauld Commitment encourages packaging weight reduction. Recycled content, recyclability, renewable materials and biopolymers are all themes within the packaging strategies of different retailers and brand-owners. The next major area of concern may be water footprints. Widening the debate to encompass sustainability, rather than just the environment, further adds to the confusion. Information about the product and the environmental impact of packaging material is vying for attention with data about food miles, nutritional value, fair trade and a host of other competing messages.

Consumer education

Consumers say they want more information about the products and packaging they purchase, but how many really read or understand it? Clearly brand owners and retailers must respond to the pressures being placed on them by consumers, the media and government, but there is a real danger that consumer enthusiasm will be replaced by confusion and scepticism. Packaging manufacturers, brand owners and retailers need to take a strong lead, clearly agreeing those values that are important to their business and reinforcing them through their actions. The spotlight remains on packaging rather than ‘sustainable packaging’ as a marketing opportunity. However, it can also be used as a tool to leverage a better understanding of sustainability in its widest context. This represents an opportunity and challenge for the packaging industry. It enables the industry to achieve greater recognition, leaving its mark by leading the way towards a more sustainable, low-carbon economy.


Walker’s Crisps became one of the first brands to carry the Carbon Trust label indicating the carbon footprint of packaging manufacture Raising awareness Marks and Spencer is trying to achieve carbon neutrality by 2012 and is currently emphasising that its sandwich packs can be recycled using closed-loop methods Striving towards carbon neutrality The labelling on the Innocent Smoothies’ bottle indicates that it is manufactured from recycled material, reiterating the natural ethos of the company rPET in the drinks market Reduction of carbon emissions will benefit future generations

Striving towards carbon neutrality Striving towards carbon neutrality
Raising awareness Raising awareness
rPET in the drinks market rPET in the drinks market
Reduction of carbon emissions will benefit future generations Reduction of carbon emissions will benefit future generations


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