Packaging decisions are becoming more complex as brands navigate EPR laws, climate disclosures and evolving sustainability expectations, according to Tetra Pak executives during a recent Consumer Brands Association webinar.
Historically, food and beverage companies based their packaging programs on product protection, shelf life, cost and consumer convenience. While these variables are still important, Tetra Pak executives say that modern packaging decisions require additional metrics like regulatory compliance, recyclability, transportation optimization and carbon footprint.
“Previously, we might look at optimizing one objective at a time, but now we have to optimize for several objectives simultaneously,” said Samantha Kappelman, VP of corporate affairs and public policy for Tetra Pak US and Canada.
Packaging choices are increasingly connected not just to manufacturing and distribution costs but to future compliance expenses as EPR programs are implemented across states, Kappelman noted.
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach that shifts some responsibility for the collection, recycling and end-of-life management of products and packaging from governments and consumers to the producers that put those materials on the market. Thirty-three states, including Washington, DC, have enacted EPR laws covering a variety of materials. Seven states, including California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, Oregon and Washington, have enacted comprehensive EPR laws that extend to paper and packaging.
An inexpensive upfront cost may be more pricey later
Packaging that appears to be less expensive upfront may end up becoming more costly once EPR fees and other regulatory frameworks are factored in. To avoid paying more, brands should increasingly evaluate packaging through a total-cost lens, Kappelman said.
“We have to look at how much does it cost to transport it both to the facility that’s going to fill it, and then away from it, and then look at the carbon footprint,” she elaborated.
What are regulators expecting with recyclability?
Recyclability continues to be a pain point in packaging, as policymakers focus on whether materials can efficiently and successfully move through recycling systems.
Regulators are increasingly asking if virgin and recovered materials can be collected, sorted and recycled at scale, Kappelman explained.
She argued that a material’s technical recyclability is not enough if the infrastructure cannot support it.
“A package’s potential and its actual pathway can differ by location,” she said.
As EPR programs develop, she notes that recycling infrastructure plays a larger role in how packaging is evaluated. Policymakers‘ decisions are increasingly based on packaging formats with established collection and recycling systems, she said.
“Access is meaningful only when the material can actually move through the full system,” Kappelman said.
Resource efficiency broadens beyond ‘lightweighting’
Across the packaging value chain is a broader industry focus on reducing resource demand, including reducing package weight, or lightweighting.
“Source reduction is about way more than simply lightweighting a package,” she said, highlighting how companies are looking at multiple factors to broaden resource management strategies, including material options, package design and transportation efficiency.
One example of the impact of light weight packaging materials on transportation and storage is Tetra Recart’s food carton packages. Recart is a paper-based retortable (i.e. able to withstand high temperature thermal sterilization) carton system. The cartons are an alternative to shelf-stable foods packaged in metal cans, glass jars or plastic pouches.
The cartons are shipped flat in boxes where one truck of Recarts replaces nine trucks of cans for the same quantity, according to Matias Blanco, TetraRecart’s US and Canada business development manager.
While Recart’s laminated lining is technically recyclable, whether it is actually recycled depends on the capabilities of local waste management and recycling infrastructure. Blanco notes that Recart is recyclable in streams that support Tetra Pak’s portfolio.
Other lightweighting methods include thinner glass, metal and plastic container walls and caps, and high-recycled fiber materials to cut enough weight without losing the strength of the packaging.
