Page 19 - Packaging News magazine Jul-Aug 2021

July-August 2021 | www.packagingnews.com.au INDUSTRY INSIGHT
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Elements of these strategies, the report says, have the potential to ben- efit flexible packaging, especially those focused on minimising food waste – where the ambient barrier performance of the latest flexibles can help minimise spoilage of perish- able foods in transit.
Smithers predicts sustainability in design, use and end-of-life processing will increasingly define flexible packaging across the next five years. This will create challenges for the whole value chain through to 2026, even as the market adjusts to a space redefined by Covid and short-term disruption in the supply of raw mate- rials during the first half of 2021.
SEVEN STEP APPROACH
In a different report, The Future of Sustainable Flexible Packaging to 2026, Smithers notes that with the emergence of circular economy mod- els, there is a need to shift away from traditional weight reduction consid- erations to other strategies.
Author of this report, Neil Rogers, says, “Public pressure and consumer resentment of pollution from plastic packaging is directing legislation and taxation towards flexible pack- aging. Conversion to alternative packaging forms with better per- ceived environmental credentials has started as circular economy prin- ciples dominate package develop- ment and legislative action alike.”
The report covers actionable approaches, grouped into seven key
business and technology areas across the flexibles value chain, which are:
1Design for recycling, including optimising barrier performance and coatings, switching to high-per-
formance paper grades, and the rapid development of functional polymer mono-material packs.
2Overcoming technical and regula- tory challenges to increase the vol- ume of recycled content used in films and other plastic formats, with a focus on low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
3Innovating to meet the need for reusable flexible formats in both traditional retail and the booming e-commerce segments.
4Improving waste management to boost supplies of high-grade post- consumer resin (PCR), including grades suitable for food contact applications.
5Sustainable sourcing of feedstocks, including PCR, and bio-based ver- sions of existing plastics, substitu- tion from polymer to paper substrates where feasible, and the wider use of recycled pulp in packaging papers.
6Use, where feasible, of biodegrad- able materials. Despite the pre- dicted extension of prohibitions on oxodegradable materials beyond the
EU, there is still scope for PHAs or other plastic alternatives.
7Weight reduction: the economics of flexible packaging will continue to call for thinner substrates, and lifecycle
analyses can highlight the CO2 savings it also gives in distribution compared to heavier rigid packaging materials.
Smithers says R&D in flexible pack- aging is being shaped by various actors and many brands and FMCG companies have committed to mak- ing some or all of their packaging fully recyclable by given dates.
Without a universally accepted defi- nition for ‘recyclable’, and with vast regional differences in legislation, waste infrastructure and consumer preferences, the onus falls on the flex- ible packaging industry to highlight the advantages of its products and communicate how they can contribute to these circular economy goals. ■
The impact and interaction between each of the seven strategies is exam- ined critically in The Future of Sustainable Flexible Packaging to 2026 to provide an essential guide for mate- rial suppliers, converters and packag- ing buyers. Analysis is informed by Smithers comprehensive understand- ing of the packaging industry; and the evolution of regulations, industry ini- tiatives, brand owner priorities and key technology platforms across the next five years. The full report can be purchased at www.smithers.com.