Consumers are paying more and more attention to the packaging of the products they buy.
Brands are then obliged to review their approaches by offering new, more ecological solutions, facilitating the real involvement of consumers: 70% of European consumers questioned during a study in March 2020[1] say they are actively taking action to reduce their use of plastic packaging. Logically, paper and cardboard are the best-positioned packaging, particularly because they are identified as home compostable (72%), easier to recycle (57%), and more generally as better for the environment (62%). Glass packaging is preferred, particularly because of its potential for reuse (55%) and better product protection (51%).
This awareness is accompanied by a legislative framework: the AGEC law promulgated on February 10, 2020, provides for the end of the marketing of single-use plastic packaging by the end of 2040, via a process over four periods. This major step in the fight against waste will impact all production and distribution sectors. This is an additional motivation, beyond the convictions specific to each manufacturer, to redouble our inventiveness in order to seek out more environmentally friendly innovations.
Focus on suppliers who make green packaging their core business.
Packaging made from recycled materials
• Actipack manufactures packaging for hygiene, beauty, and food products. For the third consecutive year, the company has been awarded the first European label by Polyvia—the MORE label—which recognizes the efforts of plastics manufacturers to promote the circular economy and the integration of recycled plastics into production. Its responsible materials are recycled PET (or R-PET) and bio-sourced PET.
• Pulvorex has in its range of packaging for cosmetics and hygiene, a series available in R-PET and R-HDPE (high density polyethylene) as well as a mono-material range certified COSMOS/Ecocert.
• Sequoia Factory is committed to the manufacture of eco-responsible displays, POS, and promotional items. The materials chosen: wood, recycled cardboard, recycled textile materials, PLA, R-PET, plant fibers, cork, bamboo, compostable or soluble materials.
Bio-sourced and compostable solutions
• Packaging in resealable flexible pouches Adypack are lightweight, portable, and resealable products. Made from 100% film-wrapped kraft paper, they are fully compostable. The pouch is sealed and closes once opened with a fold system. You can store dried fruit, coffee, spices, laundry detergent, tea, etc. in them.
• Carbiolice Carbiolice Ltd. has set itself the mission of addressing one of the major environmental challenges: plastic pollution. By developing biodegradable and compostable plastic solutions, the company offers a valuable alternative with Evanesto®. This innovative solution allows bioplastics to be transformed into compost, even at home. In 200 days, the plant-based plastic disappears, without microparticles and without toxicity for the compost. Carbiolice benefits from the protection of around twenty international patents for its innovation.
• Micropap Vegepap offers high-tech coated papers, Micropap® and Végépap®, the result of many years of research. Limiting the impact on the environment, they are produced using virgin cellulose fibers from PEFC and FSC-certified wood. These two types of paper, coated with vegetable or mineral wax, effectively protect the organoleptic qualities of food products. Compostable, they support the shift towards a circular economy.
• Israeli society Tipa Corp was inspired by nature to create packaging that mimics plastic while remaining completely eco-friendly. This innovative film, made from a blend of compostable polymers, can be processed in machines that use conventional plastics, making it easy for brands to adopt it on an industrial scale. Transparent and printable, it provides just as effective protection for food items.
• Vegeplast is a company specializing in the creation of bio-sourced and biodegradable parts. Its raw material Végémat®, suitable for food contact, is composed of cereals, oilseeds, and fiber plants. Using this innovative material, Vegeplast designs packaging that is biodegradable through composting: trays, cutlery, capsules, etc.
Zero waste and reusable initiatives
To avoid generating waste, even if it's recyclable or compostable, some companies are opting for reusable products. Shopping bags, napkins, bibs, bowl covers, storage baskets, etc. Alterosac manufactures all the useful textile products for everyday life. The items are handmade in its workshop in Haute-Savoie and by a work integration workshop in Ile-de-France. The fabrics used are exclusively linen, hemp, and cotton, GOTS certified by Ecocert.
For a real assessment of recyclability
Once brands have ensured the theoretical recyclability and compostability of their packaging, it is essential to take into account recycling channels so that the packaging is actually recycled and/or composted.
In this sense Citéo, a mission-driven company, is committed to providing businesses with an operational recyclability assessment tool, which allows them to independently assess the level of recyclability of their packaging. This method is based on two essential, and previously unseen, criteria: the operational definition of a recycling sector (making it possible to assess whether the sector actually exists or is developing), and the definition of the recyclability of household packaging. The method was designed to take into account changes in collection, sorting and recycling systems in France. Its ambition: to provide a reference framework for the French market and lay the foundation stone for harmonization at the European level.
These companies are all part of the community Natexpoincluding the next edition will take place from September 18 to 20, 2022 at Eurexpo Lyon.
[1] European Consumer Packaging Preferences in 2020, a study of 5,900 European consumers conducted online in March 2020 by the Toluna Institute, on behalf of Two Sides – https://www.twosides.info/documents/research/2020/packaging/Les-pr%C3%A9f%C3%A9rences-des-consommateurs-europ%C3%A9ens-en-mati%C3%A8re-demballage-en-2020_FR.pdf