Pioneers of Packaging
Consumer guide to packaging available:
Sustainability South West's (SSW) consumer guide, 'Packaging…unwrapped!', provides handy hints for both buying products wrapped in better packaging and options for re-using, recycling, or even composting packaging when you've finished with it. The guide also provides ideas on using your consumer power more widely, such as contacting the producers of packaging to let them know your views - below is some background information on industry legislation and codes of practice, that you could mention.
The consumer guide is freely available - just contact SSW for copies or download the 'Packaging...unwrapped!' pdf here.
SSW gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by DEFRA, the Environment Agency, South West Local Government Association and South West Regional Assembly for the production of the consumer guide.
The consumer guide is part of the wider Pioneers of Packaging initiative which promotes sustainable packaging as a practical response to the region's resource efficiency challenge. The calculated eco-footprint for the South West has shown that if the region's consumption patterns were replicated worldwide we would need an extra two planets to sustain us!
About the Pioneering Award Scheme, held in 2005:
SSW's Pioneers of Packaging Awards, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, highlights businesses who are adopting sustainable and innovative approaches to packaging. We hope that by illustrating what can be done, others will be inspired to consider their own approach and take action.
The award applicants
We received a wide range of applications from a variety of sectors including food and drink, retail and the electronics industry. Samples of the applicants' packaging are shown.
And the award winners…
The award winners were announced at the Pioneers of Packaging Awards Ceremony held in Taunton in June 2005, opened by MEP Caroline Jackson. Marks and Spencer were the winners of the Big Business Award who launched a new range of packaging which includes replacing the non-recyclable plastic sandwich packets with cardboard packaging which is sourced predominately from sustainably managed forests in Cumbria. The new sandwich boxes will be replacing an annual volume of 750 tonnes of plastic - equivalent to 1.5 million sandwiches per week. The film lid is made from corn starch which is 100% compostable.
Runner up in the Big Business Award was Yeo Valley Organic from Somerset. Yeo Valley has introduced an innovative two part yoghurt pot which is designed to promote recycling. This packaging is now lighter weight 
and is partly made from recycled cardboard.
In the SME category Clipper, from Beaminster in Dorset, picked up the award for their card tea boxes. The cardboard box is sourced from sustainably managed forests where two trees are planted for each one that is harvested. The packaging is recyclable and the card is 100% biodegradable.
The Runner up for the SME Award was Sharps Brewery, from Rock, near Wadebridge in Cornwall who partnered up with the Eden Project and the Green Glass Company to produce a gift set containing a bottle of 'Eden Ale' alongside a beer glass, itself made from a recycled beer bottle! Designing out bubble wrap, the packaging is made purely out of recycled card and paper. A unique aspect to this packaging is that it is sourced and manufactured in the South West, traveling less than 100 miles from manufacturer to Green Glass to the Eden Project.
The final Category was the Best Regional Innovation and the award went to ValueForm who are developing a welcome alternative to plastic food trays. The product, in development, is 100% biodegradable and is derived from left over leaves and stems in maize crops. Trials will start at the Tetbury based Dutchy Farm at the end of July. After this, the food trays are intended to be used within the UK's largest organic vegetable box scheme run by Riverford Organic based in Devon. There is a raft of sustainability benefits from this product; it is made from a renewable material, takes less energy to manufacture when compared to the plastic trays and can be re-mulched back into packaging or composted at home. The intention is to harvest the maize from farms in the South West, and sourcing raw materials at a local/regional level helps support local economies and communities. It also removes the need to import raw materials and therefore reduces potential for CO 2 emissions released as a result of excessive transportation.
"Over 80% of waste in the South West goes to landfill and we face a huge challenge in meeting our legally bound EU commitments to reduce this. This initiative highlights positive steps being taken to reduce the amount of packaging that ends up in landfills" commented MEP Caroline Jackson who opened the awards
Background information - packaging legislation and codes of practice:
The UK Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations implement European Packaging law. The legislation obliges packers/fillers of packaging to ensure that:
- Packaging volume and weight is minimised
- Packaging is designed to permit recovery after use as a material, energy or by composting
- It is manufactured to minimise the presence of hazardous substances in emissions, ash or leachate when packaging waste is incinerated or landfilled.
The INCPEN Code of Practice for optimising packaging and minimising waste provides practical guidance for companies to help them achieve improved resource use and a high level of safety. It includes guidance on honesty in presentation (i.e. that packaging must not be designed to give a false impression of the nature, quantity and quality of the contents) and information on environmental aspects such as minimising packaging weight and volume. The code states that trade associations covering over 85% of businesses involved in the supply chain for packaged goods commend this Code to their member companies.
Background information to the Pioneers of Packaging Initiative:
Across the UK, the packaging industry employs about 100,000 people, with about 8% of the companies who are obligated under packaging regulations, based in the South West. Packaging is therefore an important industry supporting the economy and jobs in the region. However, there are negative implications which need addressing.
Although packaging represents a small proportion of the overall waste stream; about 10m tonnes of used packaging enters the UK waste stream per year.
Minimising waste that is needlessly sent to landfill is a key challenge, especially when you consider that in some areas of the region, landfill is expected to run out in as soon as three years from now. Some businesses are tackling this issue by adopting more sustainable and innovative approaches to packaging but more could be done!
From a health perspective, poorly designed packaging can lead to a staggering number of accidents. In 1994, an estimated 67,000 accidents involving non-medicine packaging were reported to Accident and Emergency. More recently a 2002 DTI study reported that 88 people had injured themselves using a knife to open the packaging of a new knife!
© 2007 Sustainability South West - UK registered charity, no. 1106125 - info@sustainabilitysouthwest.org.uk.