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Flexible Packaging, the One to Dethrone Plastics and Glass
#Plastics Plastic packaging ends up in landfill, glass takes a lot of energy to make and aluminum creates plenty of GHG. So, what’s the alternative? Enter flexible packaging.
We’re all very aware of the negative impact that plastics, specifically plastic packaging, have in our life, but let’s look at the numbers again, shall we? Around 91 percent of plastic packaging ends up in landfills, oceans, or elsewhere in our environment, secreting harmful chemicals each day. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an estimated eight million tons of plastic ends up in oceans each year, wreaking havoc on ecosystems, the food chain, and human health.
“Let’s migrate to glass bottles, then” is a common conclusion in the thought process after acknowledging the harm of plastic.
The thing is, making glass –and shipping it– has a very high carbon footprint. Let’s take the case of wine making, for example. The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) estimates that glass bottle production and shipping makes up for 51 percent to 68 percent of wine’s total carbon footprint. Yes, glass is a pretty good material, especially for beverages because of how well it preserves them, but it needs incredibly high heat to be made, and tons of fuel and plastic packaging to be shipped in order to prevent any cracks.
So what’s the next alternative? Aluminium cans are lighter and less delicate, so they don’t need as much packaging to be shipped, but aluminum production creates plenty of greenhouse gases. Enter: flexible packaging. A study conducted by the German-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (ifeu) showed how resource efficient lightweight flexible packaging is. “When comparing the environmental impacts of different types of packaging for pasta sauces and olives in the European market, flexible packaging was found to be the better alternative compared to traditional materials such as glass jars and steel cans. This was due to less energy required in production and transport, ultimately leading to fewer carbon emissions”