The Wisconsin Paper Council's Weekly News Brief
Headlines for the Week of December 6, 2021
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It’s the Box That Matters. The Growth of Sustainable Packaging in Consumer Goods
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Walking up and down the grocery isle or ordering a pizza for Saturday movie night, we are bombarded with messages such as “new & improved”, “advanced formula”, “organic”, “hot”, while our focus is on what’s in the box, we forget that the box itself is transforming. In an often-rare collaboration it’s both Consumers and Government that are driving industry change. Plastics, styrofoam, and excessive packaging are being eliminated with consumers demanding, wanting and willing to pay more for sustainable packaging. More than half (54%) take sustainable packaging into consideration when selecting a product. Leading the dynamic shift is 83% of millennials and Gen Z’s reporting that they are willing to pay more for it.[1]
Over the past 3 years both national and state governments in the US and Canada have adopted plastic-bans and new sustainable requirements. In recent years, eight states in the US have banned single use plastic bags California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon and Vermont. Of the eight, this year, both Maine and Oregon have enacted extended producer fee legislation.[2] In Canada, the banning of single use plastics legislation and enforcement is in play and the government is currently reviewing details around producer responsibilities.[3]
Spurred by the growth of take-a-way services over the past few years, the quick serve restaurant (QSR) were the early adopters in the shift to viable, alternative replacement packaging. This transformation has now expanded towards the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) space and not just boutique brands. (FMCG) are products that have a huge demand such as processed fresh and frozen foods, beverages, cosmetics, toiletries, health products, consumer electronics, etc. These companies are the latest in the re-think of the sustainable packaging movement.
The surge in demand has resulted Brand owners updating their sustainability policies by implementing sustainable material mandates including total plastics reduction goals as much as 26%.[4] As an example, innovative Eco-friendly packaging design is one of Coca-Cola’s core principles in its World Without Waste Strategy. Announced in 2020, Coke, along with Heineken and Pepsi are replacing plastic rings which held bottles and cans together in 6 packs with sustainable paperboard products. This major supply chain shift will save upwards of 517 annualized tons of plastic into landfills in Europe alone.[5]
The redesign of this packaging isn’t just a matter of swapping materials, but to truly deliver upon their sustainable commitments these organizations must look at the full lifecycle of their packaging. This shows how FMCG brand owners and retailers should consider much closer collaboration with upstream players such as paper and other substrate manufactures, whereby full transparency of raw materials are taken into account.
Each player has a necessary role to play and must work in concert together. Chemical companies and paper manufacturers are developing new water-based coatings, expanding pulping technologies and innovating with more durable, yet lighter weight base paper products and which are fully sustainable and can keep food fresh and protected. While it’s the structural designers that must ensure packaging security, integrity and shelf performance; brand owners, paper mills, packaging converters and copackers must work together. Proper assessment, mapping, planning and benchmarking, can foster the integration of innovation across the entire product portfolio to close the loop moving forward.
This wholistic approach is a comprehensive rethink of their entire supply chains – forcing all elements of the value chain into new and unfamiliar territories including growing consumer awareness about packaging. To accomplish measurable effective change, a much closer collaboration between upstream and downstream supply chain players will be required. These initiatives properly executed, will further drive awareness by consumers who use their purchasing power to drive much-needed change.
- Manning L.; Consumer demand for sustainable packaging holds despite pandemic, FOODDIVE, 4/27/2021
- State Plastic Bag Legislation, National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 2/8/2021
- Recycling Council of Ontario, Canada
- Feber D.; Nordigarden D.; Granskog A.; Ponkshe S.; Berg P.:The drive toward sustainability in packaging—beyond the quick wins, McKinsey & Company, 1/30/2020
- Steffan, L; Top Brands Are Replacing Plastic With Paperboard, Intelligent Living, 8/31/2020
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Manufacturers Cut 17 Million Metric Tons of Greenhouse Emissions with Help from EPA’s ENERGY STAR® program |
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) celebrates the 580 manufacturing plants that achieved the energy savings goals set out by EPA 10 years ago to drive energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Through the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry, manufacturing plants agreed to reduce energy intensity by 10 percent within five years. These 580 plants nearly doubled this goal.
On average, plants that met this challenge reduced their energy intensity by 19 percent within an average of two years. More than 100 plants have taken the challenge twice in a row, achieving reductions of more than 10 percent each time. Together, these plants have prevented more than 17 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering our atmosphere and saved more than $443 million in energy costs.
“Tackling the climate crisis requires everyone coming together to reduce pollution, and our industry partners have shown that we can accomplish this while improving energy efficiency and achieving millions in cost savings in the process,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Companies that have met the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry have demonstrated the business case for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through efficiency, and we encourage more companies to accept the challenge and help America transition to a clean energy future.”
EPA works in partnership with manufacturers to accept the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry and pledge to reduce their plant’s energy intensity through improved energy management. As an element of the ENERGY STAR industrial program, the challenge drives energy savings in individual plants by motivating employees and raising the visibility of energy management activities, often through low- and no-cost operational measures. Since 2010, more than 150 manufacturing companies have taken the pledge on behalf of more than 1,800 manufacturing plants. Participating plants can be found in nearly every state and more than 60 countries around the world. Plants represent dozens of industrial sectors, including automobile manufacturing, paper milling, bread and roll bakeries, pharmaceuticals, cement, glass, electronics, and textiles.
About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations—including nearly 40 percent of the Fortune 500®—rely on their partnership with EPA to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Together, since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners have helped American families and businesses save 5 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity, avoid more than $450 billion in energy costs, and achieve 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions, all through voluntary action.
For more information on the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry, visit:
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AF&PA Responds to House Passage of the Build Back Better Framework |
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The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock issued the following statement in response to the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of the Build Back Better Act framework.
“AF&PA cannot support the corporate tax increases put forth in the Build Back Better Act. These tax increases would significantly impact U.S. manufacturing jobs and undermine our nation’s economic recovery. We urge policymakers to recognize that our country is struggling under the worst inflation seen in three decades.
“Such short-sighted policies will have longer-term effects on U.S. manufacturing jobs, which includes the more than 950,000 hard-working people in the forest products industry. AF&PA calls on the U.S. Senate to vote ‘no’ on this legislation.”
The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) serves to advance U.S. paper and wood products manufacturers through fact-based public policy and marketplace advocacy. The forest products industry is circular by nature. AF&PA member companies make essential products from renewable and recycle resources, generate renewable bioenergy and are committed to continuous improvement through the industry’s sustainability initiative—Better Practices, Better Planet 2030: Sustainable Products for a Sustainable Future.
The forest products industry accounts for approximately four percent of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufactures nearly $300 billion in products annually and employs approximately 950,000 people. The industry meets a payroll of approximately $60 billion annually and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 45 states.
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