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Article
What Is Sustainability?
March 1, 2008 By: Baskar Kotte Paperboard PackagingTo better help customers, the paperboard packaging industry must understand and learn to recognize the benefits of sustainability.
The paperboard packaging industry is under tremendous pressure lately from customers such as Wal-Mart, Target, Kraft Foods, and General Mills to implement the concept of sustainability into packaging.
 Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard Metrics |
Although sustainability is a relatively new buzzword, we as an industry have been subscribing to certain parts of the concept for a while. The key is the ability to maintain your business financially, socially and environmentally. This is certainly not new.
But to effectively implement sustainability, the packaging industry must clearly understand how it connects to customer expectations. After reviewing several customers' expectations, it is apparent that they all have at least some in common:
- 1. Design for recyclability;
- 2. Design for compostability;
- 3. Design for biodegradability;
- 4. Design for better use of space;
- 5. Design for light material usage;
- 6. Reduce waste and packaging content;
- 7. Reduce greenhouse gases;
- 8. Reduce global warming;
- 9. Conserve energy, water, and resources; and
- 10. Use renewable energy.
Simply put, the key connecting words are design, use, conserve, and reduce. Now, let us understand how packaging suppliers can connect these key words to achieve sustainability financially, socially and environmentally.
Business sustainability: It is important to note that the business component is the most critical. Economic/financial sustainability is essential for business existence. However, it can usually enhance the bottom line: Waste reduction in all areas of business applying lean principles of waste invariably lead to profit maximization and sustainability.
 Wal-Mart's 7 Rs |
The packaging industry has been using lean principles for a while. Lean operations focus on eight types of waste, which comprehensively connects to sustainability:
1. Excessive inventory
2. Overprocessing
3. Overproduction
4. Excessive movement
5. Excessive waiting
6. Defects/rework
7. Non-value added transportation
8. Inaccurate information
Social responsibility: The second component of sustainability promotes a consciousness for pollution prevention. For example, do not pollute water, air and land. Reduce landfill waste.
The packaging industry and other industries are increasingly becoming aware of this social responsibility, and most are finding that conforming to local, state and federal regulatory requirements with respect to social responsibility is not that difficult.
Environmental sustainability: This third component of sustainability overlaps with social sustainability to a certain extent. Pollution prevention of air, water and land, conservation of natural resources and energy, and reducing landfill waste are all part of the focus. Setting objectives and targets to address these elements of environmental sustainability is the key for successful implementation. The packaging scorecards from packaging customers, for example, effectively connect the objectives and targets of environmental sustainability.
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Success, by Design
Design is where the rubber meets the road for packaging facilities. All sustainability activities eventually lead to a designer's ability to reduce excessive packaging and maximize cube utilization without sacrificing functionality.
The designer's focal areas include: recyclability; compostability; biodegradability; better use of space; and light material usage.
Cube utilization is one of the components of the Wal-Mart scorecard. Effective use of trailer space during transportation, or the space-effective fit of product within the container, are both examples of this.
Scorecards are becoming the accepted way of monitoring how well packaging facilities are implementing sustainability initiatives. Several major buyers of packaging have developed — or are in the process of developing — these scorecards. Connecting customer-designated scorecards to fit to a board converter's needs in a broad perspective is the noteworthy element in sustainability implementation.
In summary, implementation of sustainability is not a wasted effort. Sustainability has three components: business sustainability (economic/financial), social responsibility and environmental sustainability. As indicated in the sustainability concept chart on this page, one without the others will be ineffective. All processes are to be involved.
