The Battle for Sustainable Packaging

While the public demands more sustainable packaging, those who have tried to deliver on this demand understand that what may seem like a simple request is actually much more complicated. Those who have taken on these challenges prove not only how big the task can be, but also what it takes to overcome the obstacles and get to a solution that works for customer and brand alike. The following are four lessons learned by some of the leading companies in the organic food industry.

Battling Materials Failure

Materials manufacturers have long known that the wave of the future is in greener materials. Their R&D labs constantly experiment with recycled content, biodegradable substrates, and reclaimable materials that they know brands want and customers demand. Some, like Seventh Generation’s molded pulp detergent container, are a big success. Others fall short in unexpected ways. 

When Guayaki converted their bulk maté packaging from petro-based plastic to Innovia Films’ biodegradable Natureflex, the transition was smooth for their 8oz and 1lb bags, but they experienced major set-backs with their 5lb bags. “The main seal down the center of the bag would burst open under the weight of the product inside,” explains James Farag, Supply Chain Manager for Guayaki. “Also the top of the bag when folded down and heat sealed became very rigid with sharp corners that would puncture other bags that were shipped or stored together.”

Unwilling to throw in the towel, Guayaki tested other compostable film substrates until they finally found a suitable replacement for these stubborn 5lb bags. Unfortunately this ended up being a pyrrhic victory, because during manufacturing this substrate also fell short. Out of a 50,000 unit run, only 10% survived the conversion process. Left with no other options at this time, they had to keep their plastic 5lb bags, but chose to run them at a LEED certified facility using the minimum material thickness feasible.

The battle for sustainable packaging often necessitates this sort of compromise. Organic Valley, for example, dealt with quality problems when testing a new 100% recycled plastic label for their cheese packaging. Once the test samples came in, though, they knew the product was not up to their brand standards. “The colors were not bright, the design was hard to see, and it just did not look good,” explains Mitch Spry, their Packaging Group Leader. Refusing to give up the fight, Mitch and his team ultimately found a compromise — a 30% recycled material — which they’ve been using successfully for two years now. 

Fighting Convention

Sometimes the problem is less about the materials available and more about what is expected or favored by the consumer. Stand-Up Pouches (SUPs) are one such example. Customers like the resealable strip at the top of these pouches but they are made of a different plastic than the rest of the bag then laminated together, making the bag unrecyclable unless the plastics are separated.

“Even if they do get separated, plastic bags are the bane of municipal recycling facilities as they clog up the gears in the sorting machines,” explains Jeanne Cloutier, Director of Operations for Alter Eco, which uses SUPs for their fair trade and organic quinoa, rice and sugar. The company has been hunting for a compostable SUP to meet customer demands and their brand’s sustainability standards. 

Plant-based SUPs are typically fragile though, tearing easily, or aren’t yet viable on a commercial scale. Corn-based PLA is made from an energy intensive GMO crop and finding a flexible sealant layer that isn’t petroleum-based proves difficult as well. The battle has caused Alter Eco to question the basic elements of SUPs. Does it have to be resealable? Or have a window? How can they challenge convention to find a better option for their brand and their customers?

No Quick Solutions

Changing course with packaging can often be like changing the course of an ocean liner. When Tetra Pak hired Continuum, a design and innovation firm, to create a spout for easier drinking, they found a great solution, but it took seven years to research and implement. Every packaging innovation requires either waiting for the development of new materials, or new machinery, or retooling old machinery, or all of the above. 

Organic Valley spent a year and half testing new materials for their butter carton that would work well with their existing machinery. After many manufacturing set-backs, they eventually found a 100% recycled stock that printed to their high-quality standards.

Guayaki is still searching for a compostable solution for their 5lb bags. “We haven't given up,” says James. “We are currently working to see if a different style of pouch making machine could run more effectively with the new substrate, as well as sampling other biodegradable films as they become available.”

Sharing Their Victories

The companies that face these expensive and time-consuming hurdles to bring more sustainable packaging to the market not only improve their own brand, but also help all those in their industry. It’s the innovations that prove viable and successful that are then made available to other businesses, giving them the opportunity to have greener packaging as well. As more companies buy in, the cost for each is lowered. 

Alter Eco is currently using this strategy to find an SUP alternative, rallying the troops by encouraging like-minded companies to join them in demanding the development of a new and better bag structure from suppliers. If Alter Eco is successful in their mission to find a better SUP, millions of packages could suddenly become a benefit to the environment instead of a burden – which is the ultimate goal of the sustainable packaging movement. 

This may be the most important lesson of all — that it’s easier to find success if you don’t go it alone. For sustainable packaging to be a viable, affordable option, brands must share their victories and band together to create greater change. It’s a model that has worked for the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and it’s a model that can work for any sustainability goal. While everyone understands that business is competitive, sustainable packaging is uniting brands and industries which understand that depleted resources will not have an isolated effect, but will be felt across an entire economy, and that finding a solution together is just smart business.

// This article was originally posted on The Living Principles.