By Maxine Perella,
The adoption of sustainable packaging strategies such as material minimization and light weighting may be doing more harm than good, experts have warned.
According to latest thinking in this field, issues of product protection and durability need to come to the fore so packaging methods can reduce both environmental impact and risk of product damage.
This means thinking beyond finding the latest sustainable material, as different materials have different properties and what might work for one product may not benefit another.
Talking to Reuters, environmental packaging advocate Joan Pierce maintains that figuring out the right kind of packaging isn’t a one-time effort for businesses.
“You can’t say that there is one material that’s better than another. You have to pick the material that’s right for your product. Focus on continuous improvement. If you do that, you’re going to be way ahead,” she advised.
This view is echoed by Dow Chemical’s global sustainability leader Jeff Wooster, who points out that cutting back on too much packaging will damage a product, representing wasted energy and natural resource loss.
“We need to think of product protection as a part of sustainability. If we waste the product … we have certainly done more harm than good,” he said.
To see the full article from Edie, click here.
