Roadmap to sustainable packaging design

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ROADMAP TO SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING DESIGN PROF. DR. IR. ROLAND TEN KLOOSTER

Packaging and Sustainability – starting points

Packaging is part of the chain and it fulfills an

important function

Loads in the chain are often unknown

Every packaging is sustainable because it protects the

product: lever function

Not one packaging is sustainable because every

packaging uses scarce sources (oil, gas)

Roadmap to Sustainable Packaging Design

Sustainability - approach

The best packaging is no packaging

This means: if you need a packaging, use it, but do it

as good as possible

Needed: insight in functions

Take care: the knowledge field of packaging is rather

unknown

Strategic choices have to be made and responsibility

has to be taken

Roadmap to Sustainable Packaging Design 4

Energy consumption – daily life (source Incpen)

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Need for food – energy consumption - chain analysis

(Incpen)

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Need for bread – energy consumption - chain analysis

(Incpen)

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Need for bread – energy consumption - chain analysis

(Incpen)


Need for ice – chain analysis

Carbon Foot Print Ben & Jerry's (Website B&J - 2008)

Sourcing of ingredients

(chocolate, fruit, cereals)

Energy needed for cooling

Dairy supply chain

Transport finished product

Packaging

Rest


LCA’s are tools

Some remarks

It’s all about the P from Planet

How about People and Profit?

Figures are not always right

Parts of the chain are rather unknown

Use phase is skipped

Human energy is not taken into account

Many LCA’s are not according to ISO


Sources for optimizing – viewpoint sustainability

Sustainable Packaging Coalition (Jedlička, W., 2009, pp 189-196).

Natural Step Framework (Jedlička, W., 2009, pp 197-200).

O2 International network for sustainable design, 5Rs (Jedlička, W., 2009, pp 200-

203).

Wall-Mart, 7Rs (Jedlička, W., 2009, pp 204-205).

Cradle to Cradle (Jedlička, W., 2009, pp 205-212).

EUROPEN (EUROPEN, May 2009).

Ecodesign, 10 golden rules (Lagerstedt, J., Luttrop, C., 2006).

Ecodesign checklist (Brezet, H., van Hemel, C., 1997).

Ecodesignweb (Lofthouse, V.A., August 2008).

Ecodesign handbook (Fuad-Luke, A., 2004)

Judith van Voorthuizen / Lenneke Koopmans / Jos de Lange / RtK

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Sustainability - approach

Three stages

Start up: Strategic choices have to be made

Development: In the design stage design choices are

being made about materials, dimensions, etc.

Life cycle: Finally is has to be executed

Roadmap to Sustainable Packaging Design Roadmap to Sustainable Packaging Design

STARTUP DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE


STARTUP

Did you design a packaging with an understanding of the market it will be

sold in, and meet the consumer choice and expectation?

Benchmark existing packaging on the market.

Make a strategic choice based on the functions a packaging should and

can fulfil. Use the scheme of packaging functionalities.

Did you design a packaging that fulfils its functions efficiently?

Look at the triangle theory.


CHECKLIST 1

Product functionalities

Business Management

Design related

Functionalities of use

Packaging functionalities

Objective:

To be able to use

the product

Packaging costs Process costs

Way of use

Psychological

Design (styling)

Informing

Distributing

Conserving/

Protecting

More tactically based More strategically based

Societal

Politics

Regional/global

DESIGN


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DESIGN PROTECTING/CONSERVING

Proper packaging

design is statically

defined

Product

Vulnerability, type, taste, ingredients, components, etc.

Packaging

Material, thickness, shape, colour, structure, etc.

Kind of protection

Falling height, shelf life, temperature range, etc.



MAY FALL FROM 1,5 M WITHOUT PACKAGING


Roadmap to Sustainable Packaging Design Roadmap to Sustainable Packaging Design

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PROTECTING/CONSERVING

Proper packaging

design is statically

defined

Product

Vulnerability, type, taste, ingredients, components, etc.

Packaging

Material, thickness, shape, colour, structure, etc.

Protection

Falling height, shelf life, temperature range, etc.


Did you design packaging and product together to minimise the impact of

both?

Design methods: pv-combi

Use LCA tools if needed

Indicative: on base of weight, CO2 emissions, amount of MJ, amount of

waste, etc.


CHECKLIST 1

Did you design for modularity, combine functions or share use?

Functional specification, function hierarchy, idea generation techniques,

morphological mapping with functions

Did you design a packaging with the right sizes, which provides an

appropriate amount for the function?

Is the amount of product fitting for the market? Has research proven this?

Did you think in services (rent), not in products?

Define the function of the product. Ask yourself if the function can be

executed without a physical product.


CHECKLIST 1

Did you consider the use of refills/consumables?

A formula can proof if it makes sense to make a packaging reusable.

Aspects to take into account are: average travelling distance, energy for

cleaning/making the packaging reusable (think about new labels, new

caps, etc.), trip time, total investments

Did you select components with a classic styling for returnable

packaging?

Economic shelf life of products that are styled classic is longer.

Participation in a pool can be a solution as well.


CHECKLIST 1

Items to take into account

Transport distance

Cleaning energy

Cycle time

Pool dimension – number of items

Inter stack ability

Investments

Design and engineering


REUSABILITY

Did you eliminate or optimise primary or transport packaging through

design?

See the pallet as a system

Consider the combination of primary and secondary packaging


CHECKLIST 1

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Be sure choices on strategic level about packaging are being made

Try to optimize the way packaging fulfills its function

The briefing should be clear about this:

Design a packaging that …


BRIEFING




DEVELOPMENT


DEVELOPMENT


DEVELOPMENT


DEVELOPMENT

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Choice of materials Did you select materials with the lowest

environmental impact, while offering maximum performance for the

required task?

Lowest impact versus maximum performance

Consider differences in weight

Look for best practices as well

Did you select reusable, biodegradable or compostable materials?

Remind that all materials are reusable but the process to make them

reusable within the requirements set by the packaging function can be

complex. Many additives, colorants and inks contain toxic matter. This

makes reuse for food application in many occasions not possible.


CHECKLIST 2

Did you select materials with maximum recycling potential, which can be

recycled without quality loss (recycling or up cycling)?

Metals and glass can be recycled easily without quality loss. For paper

and board and plastics recycling means down cycling because fibres and

molecule chains are shortened because of the recycling process.

Did you select sustainably managed renewable or (continuously) recycled

source materials instead of primary materials?

Ask the material supplier after the percentage of recycled content in the

packaging material. Especially for secondary packaging the percentage

can be high (corrugated carton board, solid board, plastic crates). For

metals and glass the percentage of recycled material can be high. Metal

packaging can be made out of 100% recycled content, for glass the

quality for critical applications goes down if it is more than 50%.


CHECKLIST 2

Did you select materials with lower production energy levels, like

materials with a high recycled content?

The energy content of materials is expressed in MJ/kg (or GJ/ton). There

are key figures per material but for individual companies, differences can

be large. Take processing to packaging (box, bottle, can, cup, etc.) into

account and relate them to weight and compare the amount of MJ per

option.


CHECKLIST 2

Did you select safe and healthy materials and avoid hazardous/toxic

substances? If toxins are unavoidable, did you minimise the amounts and

use closed loops?

Toxic materials influence a LCA for a great deal. Try to determine if toxic

materials are being used. Especially watch additives, colorants and inks.

Many bright colours contain toxic matter.

Did you optimise all remaining problematic ingredients or materials?

Use as less as possible. Did you do testing or did you look for research

reports on this subject to minimize the amount?


CHECKLIST 2

Recall in 2009

because of 4 methyl-

benzophenone from

high gloss UV

lacquer


2002


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Did you optimize the number of materials being used?

Did you optimize the seize, weight, thickness of chosen materials?

Did you design for disassembly and recyclability? Are components easily

separable, especially hazardous components?

Did you design graphics to increase recycling rates?

Did you replace metals or metal layers for barriers with materials that

require less energy and pollution?

Did you maximise material strength, create minimal structures by using

compression, tension and triangulation?


CHECKLIST 2

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CONSTRUCTION

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OPTIMAL DIMENSIONS

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DIMENSIONS

Did you label material type, source and recycle fraction?

Did you invest in materials to reduce maintenance and prolong life? Did

you select the best suppliers, and check with them in the design process?

Did you select a supplier that practices green chemistry?

Did you use materials extracted from nature, because they tend to be

low-embodied-energy materials? Techno sphere materials have much

higher embodied-energy values.


CHECKLIST 2


DEVELOPMENT

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DEVELOPMENT

Did you optimize distribution of the packed product?

Did you fully use the surface of the pallet?

Did you use the collomodule system?

Did you do an analysis of the load in the chain on the product and/or

packaging?

Did you choose the best construction of the secondary packaging?

Did you choose the best materials for the secondary packaging?


CHECKLIST 3

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OPTIMAL PALLET LOAD

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DEVELOPMENT


DEVELOPMENT

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Did you consider the graphic design in relation to the printing technique of

all the items?

Colors are very critical, depending on the printing process. Check and

double check this before printing. Print a test series.

Did you consider the graphic design in relation to the packaging process?

Labeling or folding can cause a packaging which is not very nice because

small details can influence the image of the packaging. Be sure the

packaging design has been checked with the chosen materials and

construction.


CHECKLIST 4

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COLOURS OF SLEEVES AND CAPS

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INFLUENCE OF GRAPHICS

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INFLUENCE OF GRAPHICS

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Barcode fully accross the bottom



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LIFE CYCLE

Did you optimize the packaging for use in the chain?

Do you separate the different materials?

Do you collect data about damage?

Do you recycle there were it is possible?

Do you inform customers about the made choices?


CHECKLIST 5

Did you consider the technical as well as the aesthetic lifetime of the

packaging?

Did you promote long life through possibilities for maintenance, repair,

upgrading? Did you prearrange this by labelling, manuals, form and

material use?

Did you reuse materials/components (recycling is mostly down cycling)?

Did you recover the material efficiently? Did you create well defined plans

for the disposal of the packaging (for returnables as well)?

Did you design a take-back program for packages to increase recycling

rates? Did you give an incentive to return the packaging: rebates,

recognition, and rewards?


CHECKLIST 5

Did you characterise energy, water, and resource consumption, and their

sources? Did you identify the contents of all components at 100 ppm

level?

Did you minimise the ecological footprint of the packaging and minimise

the energy, water, and resource consumption?

Did you select renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels?

Did you select local materials and recourses (lower transport energy)?

Did you meet the emission standards and improve post-production air

and water quality to be as good or better than pre-production?

Did you increase energy efficiency within processes and ecosystems?


CHECKLIST 5

Did you minimise the number of production and assembly steps?

Did you minimise the number of parts and joining elements?

Did you select the most environment friendly production processes (e.g.

clean production technologies, minimise waste, air and water pollution)?

Did you select collomodule system dimensions for most efficient use of

transport space?

Did you select a reusable or recyclable transport packaging?

Did you select the most environmental friendly transport type and did you

consider the return journey as well?

Did you reduce the transport weight and/or volume?

Did you reduce the transport distance?


CHECKLIST 5

Are all packaging components suitable for the proposed disposal type,

including inks, surface treatments, additives, fillers, adhesives, and

more?

Did you prevent overdesign: close the loop? Closed-loop recycling

significantly reduces environmental impacts.

Did you communicate disassembly instructions clearly?

Did you test the package to confirm biodegradability, including all

components (add-ons, printing) and did you check the infrastructure for

composting?


CHECKLIST 6

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Did you examine the economic health, environmental restoration, social

equity?

Did you collect data about sustainable development, manage the

sustainable development, and publish the results in the public domain?

Did you meet the market criteria for performance and cost?

Did you examine the impacts on people in the supply chain?

Did you confirm if the supplier labour and trade practices match with

company?


CHECKLIST 7

Design the packaging in stages

Strategic choices are starting points

Be sure the product is protected/conserved well enough

Make a balance between different options (calculations

Optimize for distribution

Then make the final decisions about printing techniques and colours

Make appointments in the chain

Check if commitments will be fulfilled


HOW TO MAKE A COMPROMISE?

Packaging is a profession

May be investment in knowledge about packaging and packaging design

(engineering) processes is the most sustainable solution


CONCLUDING REMARKS

THANK YOUR FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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