What Effect Does Sustainable Packaging Have on the Environment?

Customers, businesses, and even governments have started to recognize how important it is to use sustainable packaging in recent years. There's no denying that conventional packaging is much more damaging to our environment, especially in light of the growing e-commerce market's desire for additional packing.

A solution is required for the compounding issue of energy-intensive manufacturing processes, the discharge of hazardous chemicals, and the growing quantity of packaging trash that ends up in landfills or is dumped into the ocean. Furthermore, even if using sustainable packaging is a positive move, more must be done. Although environmentally friendly packaging seems to have less of an effect on the environment, there are still effects that may not be immediately apparent.

Even though more environmentally friendly solutions are now possible because to newly created technology and inventions, consumers, businesses, and governmental organizations still need to work together to see significant progress. Although using a variety of sustainable solutions and sustainable packaging is an excellent place to start, the solution cannot end there. We will examine the environmental effects that sustainable packaging can still have on the world in order to substantiate this claim.

How Does Sustainable Packaging Work?

The term "sustainable packaging" describes a package's components that should have the least possible negative effects on the environment throughout creation, manufacture, usage, and disposal.

Put another way, environmentally friendly packaging must be sustainable in order to avoid exacerbating the negative effects of conventional packaging.

According to the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), a package must meet eight requirements in order to be classified as sustainable:

Throughout its life cycle, it is advantageous, secure, and healthful for both people and communities.

Meets price and performance standards set by the market.

Renewable energy is used in its sourcing, production, transportation, and recycling processes.

Maximizes the utilization of recyclable or renewable resources.

Best practices and clean production technology are used in its manufacturing.

All along its life cycle, eco-friendly components are used in its construction.

Its physical layout maximizes the use of resources and energy.

It is efficiently collected and put to use in an industrial circular economy that is both biological.

While these standards provide a useful framework for defining sustainable packaging, many of the solutions that are already on the market for sustainable packaging don't necessarily satisfy all of the requirements listed above. No, this does not imply that companies should stop using sustainable packaging, since it is still more environmentally friendly than conventional packaging.

Companies need to be aware of these flaws and take extra steps to guarantee that their sustainable packaging solution is implemented successfully. Because sustainable packaging can't always accomplish its goals on its own. Governments, corporations, and consumers must all take the right steps, educate the public, and provide their whole support.

Let's take a closer look in light of this.

The Real Deal on Eco-Friendly Plastic Packaging

Since plastic is one of the things we encounter on a regular basis, let's begin by contrasting conventional and bioplastic plastic.

Every year, our civilization produces more than 430 million tons of plastic. Of which two thirds are single-use or disposable items that are either carelessly dumped in landfills, where they will take hundreds of years to decompose completely, or thrown into the ocean. Far Nevertheless, hazardous compounds left by plastics will damage the ecosystem far more.

However, the packaging business is the world's greatest producer of single-use plastic garbage, accounting for around 36% of the 430 million tons of plastic generated. Furthermore, one of the world's most energy-intensive industrial processes produces plastic, which fuels the fire with even more pollutants. Burning fossil fuels, such as crude oil, at high temperatures and adding additives to convert it into a polymer is how plastic is created.

In 2019, this process alone produced 1.8 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, or 3.4% of the total emissions worldwide.

Given your knowledge of the severe harm that conventional plastics are inflicting to the environment, how do bioplastics compare? Bioplastic resources, such as vegetable fats, plant starches, or wood fibers, are renewable biomass sources as opposed to the fossil fuel resources utilized in conventional plastics.

PLA (polylactic acids) and PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) are the two types of bioplastics. Fermenting materials like cornstarch or sugar cane yields PLA. In comparison to ordinary plastic, it is more brittle and does not withstand heat well. It is often used in food packaging, apparel, cosmetics, and home furnishings. Bacteria produce and store PHA when they ferment lipids or sugars. It is often used in food packaging, agricultural items, and medical equipment since it can endure higher temperatures than PLA.

Although bioplastics are still a big step forward from conventional plastics and satisfy the SPC requirement of obtaining raw materials from sustainable sources, there are still a lot of disadvantages.

To begin with, the production of bioplastic still requires a significant amount of energy. Although it requires less energy than conventional plastic, it is still energy-intensive! Bioplastic production requires a lot of energy and water.

Second, not all bioplastics degrade naturally and need specialized facilities that are constantly in short supply or difficult to install. Like their conventional counterparts, bioplastics may harm the environment if they end up in a landfill. If bioplastics are disposed of incorrectly, they may also contaminate other recyclable plastics and behave like conventional plastic in the ocean. Furthermore, even if under the correct circumstances bioplastics may produce less carbon emissions than plastic, they still need systemic change, infrastructure, and proactive initiative—all of which are now lacking. Later on, more on this.

Bioplastics may lessen their overall negative impacts on the environment, but they still have significant drawbacks. As we've previously said, sustainable packaging is really a first step toward a solution.

Analysing Additional Eco-Friendly Packaging Options

Other sustainable choices also have an impact on the environment, in addition to bioplastics.

Glass Containers

Glass is one resource that, with the right infrastructure and controlled sourcing, may be used indefinitely. It lasts a long time, is highly recyclable, and uses less energy in recycling than in manufacturing.

But much as with bioplastic, it's not a long-term fix. The truth is that producing glass requires a lot of energy and materials as well. In fact, it needs a lot more resources than plastic and has to scrape up a lot of sand from coastal environments. Similar to plastic, glass is often not recycled properly, completing its life cycle in a landfill or as trash, where it may take a million years for it to break down!

Once again, using glass is a great method to lessen your influence on the environment, but we can't just switch to this packaging and call it a day.

Aluminum Containers

Another endlessly sustainable resource that is limited by infrastructure and human behavior is aluminum. Because of its endless reusability in a circular economy and its sustainability, aluminum is referred to as the "green metal." Recycling metal has a significant beneficial effect since it saves 95% of the energy needed to produce new aluminum goods! But recycling is a fundamental need for this environmentally beneficial metal to function. The unfortunate fact is that only around 35% of aluminum cans were recycled in 2018.

Once again, for this to be a viable choice, proactive worldwide measures are needed. The energy-intensive process of making aluminum cans emits hazardous pollutants and caustic sludge that might include radioactive materials. When recycled and reused properly, aluminum is a very sustainable material, but there are environmental issues with the production process that must be resolved.

Packaging made of paper and paperboard

Even if modern technology has simplified procedures and removed hazardous waste generated during production, there are still intense chemical and mechanical processes that create dangerous air pollutants like nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. Sustainability is impacted by a number of different variables, even though the United States recycles the largest percentage of solid waste materials—roughly 68% of paper and paperboard—every year.

Worldwide, 42% of all wood collected is used to make paper. Given the growing need for packaging, is this really the most sustainable choice? Although deforestation is already a problem on a worldwide scale, the need for additional paper might make things worse. This brings us to our next topic: even other sustainable alternatives to paper made from trees, such hemp and bamboo, need resources and land in order to produce, gather, and harvest.

The Effects of Eco-Friendly Packaging Made of Paper and Plants

Though it is worth delving further, we just touched on the subject of detrimental land consumption and detrimental environmental consequences on ecosystems using glass and paper packing materials. There are still a lot of variables to consider when it comes to sustainable packaging, so it's important to look at everything to get a whole picture of the state of the environment.

When compared to plastic and other materials that need energy-intensive and sometimes highly polluting production methods, plant-based sustainable packaging might appear like a perfect substitute. Yes, plant-based packaging has advantages just like any other sustainable option. Nonetheless, a lot of individuals have to take the amount of land required to satisfy growing demand into account.

Land is necessary for crops to flourish and is a valuable but limited resource. It's important for people to keep in mind that large areas of land are needed to cultivate commodities like maize, hemp, and bamboo in order to fulfill the increasing demand for packaging from the market. Relying only on plant-based substitutes might be counterproductive given the demanding demands made by other sectors for the same crops.

The health of the soil, the local ecology, and the animals are all negatively impacted by common industrial agricultural techniques such heavy fertilization, the use of pesticides, and monoculture. Furthermore, additional land will need to be set aside in order to fulfill the growing demand for crops.

However, whence is the origin of this land? Do we demolish portions of a city to create space for new farms? No, is the clear response.

Natural Habitats Are Destroyed by Industrial Farms

Natural ecosystems, woods, and any other undeveloped land that is impacted by human activity are transformed into new farmland. The biggest danger to animals worldwide is habitat degradation, and increasing farming is making matters worse. Animals and plants need room to survive, develop, and procreate. There may be a sharp decline in population, perhaps permanent, if this area is threatened and inadequate. The loss of virgin soil is having a major impact on the ecosystem.

Let us consider the use of maize as a source of bioplastics as an example. Although corn is primarily farmed for sustenance, its recent use in the production of PLA bioplastics has increased demand for the grain. A large amount of area is needed for corn fields since corn is a crop that is widely and industrially farmed in North America.

Here is usually done in habitats like the vast plains, prairies, and grasslands, and here is where the issues start. Harmful carbon emissions are naturally stored in and removed from our atmosphere by untouched soil. Soil may store varying quantities of carbon depending on its location, yet it can still absorb around 25% of global emissions from fossil fuels annually.

Nevertheless, the soil has lost between 50 and 70 percent of its previously contained carbon due to the conversion of about half of the area that could sustain plant life to farming. Currently, the soil's stored carbon is exposed due to agricultural practices including tilling, monoculture planting, and heavy fertilizer and pesticide usage, which causes the carbon to burn off in the atmosphere and increase greenhouse gas emissions.

Touted as sustainable resources, sugarcane and bamboo are no different if operations are not regulated, improved, and carried out in an ethical manner.

Over 40 percent of the world's sugarcane is farmed in South America, where satellite photographs show that over 90,000 fires occurred in the Amazon jungle in 2020. The growth of fields and pastures was blamed for a large number of these fires.

Bamboo that grows quickly still has to be watched for. Bamboo is the main food source for pandas and is grown industrially, which depletes our limited land supply by requiring the destruction of endangered forests.

Understand Where Your Sustainable Packaging Materials Come From

Although paper and plant-based packaging are great alternatives to plastic, inadvertent environmental damage must be avoided via biodiversity and awareness raising. Have a conversation with your suppliers to find out the precise source of your supplies.

A major red flag is materials derived from farmlands that overlap or border endangered areas. It could be time to locate a new supplier if your present one refuses to reveal the source of their supplies! However, ethical raw material procurement is just one aspect of awareness, monitoring, and transformation. As we have said, everyone must make a concerted effort.

How to Reduce the Environmental Effects of Producing Eco-Friendly Packaging

Modifications and close observation of the production process are equally necessary to reduce the detrimental effects of sustainable packaging on the environment. As we previously disclosed, a lot of sustainable packaging still involves sophisticated production techniques and high energy use, which might work against environmentally friendly alternatives.

Fossil fuels must be used in order to manufacture sustainable materials like glass, which emits sulfur and nitrogen oxides. Acid rain is created when these pollutants combine with water and sunshine.

Additionally, dangerous particles like lead and arsenic are produced during the melting process of materials to make glass. As was previously established, the manufacturing of aluminum results in a caustic and potentially radioactive sludge. Although it may not be able to completely eliminate the damage caused by producing these items with present technology, there are techniques to lessen and minimize its impacts.

Production organizations may identify the stress areas in their production processes by conducting regular energy and water audits. Despite the fact that manufacturing might be an energy-intensive industry by nature, these audits will assist save costs and improve efficiency. Water audits may assist manufacturers in conserving water and lowering their water use, as well as in reducing effluent.

Manufacturers may further enhance the planet's health by recycling and repurposing garbage. Similar to how paper and paperboard are made, hazardous wastewater may now be reused thanks to technological advancements, removing a risk to the environment throughout the production process! A lot of the time, producers only need a portion of a resource and discard the remainder. Procedures that make use of these squandered resources or eliminate them completely from the production process must be put in place.

Using naturally replenishing renewable resources such as geothermal heat, biomass, sun, wind, rain, and tides is another great option for manufacturers to be environmentally conscious. Nowadays, a lot of governments provide tax benefits and incentives to companies which follow suit!

Lastly, modernizing machinery and equipment will also contribute to increased eco-friendliness. Modern advancements use less energy than older machinery and equipment. Energy usage may be drastically decreased by switching to more modern technology. Automation can further streamline operations and eliminate waste.

The Requirement for Increased Proactivity and Infrastructure

Our last piece of the jigsaw will be how conventional and sustainable packaging are disposed of. The harsh reality is that conventional or sustainable packaging cannot be disposed of properly due to a lack of infrastructure and initiative.

Even if the amount of plastic garbage produced globally has doubled in the previous 20 years, there is still much room for improvement in the recycling rate. Recycling is one of the most environmentally beneficial things you can do, yet just 9% of plastic garbage gets recycled worldwide; the other 22% is mishandled, left as litter, or ends up in the ocean. The remainder are burned or dumped in landfills, which is still not the best option.

In a landfill, plastic takes hundreds of years to decompose and releases harmful chemicals throughout that time. To increase these figures, international collaboration and initiative are needed, but we're simply not there yet. Over 120 nations already have single-use plastics bans and levies in place, but more is required. The majority of rules just impose these levies and prohibitions on plastic bags, which is a tiny portion of the overall environmental effect. Taxes on landfills and incinerators, which would encourage recycling, are also quite uncommon.

However, this is slightly mitigated by burning garbage and turning it into energy. Even if burning rubbish and turning it into energy isn't the most environmentally friendly way to produce energy, it's important to note that more sustainable approaches are emerging in this field.

Waste-to-Energize Systems

Waste-to-energy is the process of turning waste into energy, as the name makes obvious.

Incineration is now the most used method for achieving this, although additional waste-to-energy techniques include:

Gasification is a process that produces syngas by heating garbage to high temperatures without burning or incinerating it.

Utilizing biomass and organic waste, fermentation and distillation provide alternative engine fuels.

Using microorganisms to break down biomass in an oxygen-free environment, anaerobic digestion produces biogas with a high methane content that may be utilized as a fuel source to generate power.

Rubbish-to-energy techniques are just a temporary fix, but they are preferable than disposing of rubbish in landfills without using the energy that can be produced. Waste-to-energy operations disincentives recycling, which is much more ecologically beneficial, and result in large emissions of carbon dioxide, one of the most prominent greenhouse gases.

But since a lot of waste-to-energy facilities are categorized as "renewable energy," governments and ignorant corporations could choose this approach rather than searching for more environmentally friendly alternatives. Therefore, although there is a drive for environmentally friendly packaging, there is also a need for improved waste management practices and infrastructure.

Ultimately, inadequate infrastructure isn't limited to plastic garbage and subpar waste-to-energy conversions.

Even with Sustainable Packaging, Improper Disposal Can Still Cause Harm

The goal of many of the sustainable packaging options on the market today is to lessen the effects of incorrect disposal. But typically, this only works when the circumstances are exactly perfect or the approaches are applied appropriately. For instance, packaging that is biodegradable and compostable is meant to decompose more quickly and, when it does, leave little to no residue of dangerous chemicals behind, but this isn't always the case.

Biodegradable packaging is, by definition, environmentally friendly packaging that decomposes more quickly after disposal. Typically composed of paper, paperboard, or bioplastics, biodegradable packaging should decompose completely. Furthermore, even if a substantial portion of this packaging lives up to its promises, some biodegradable packaging might still leave toxic residues after decomposing in a landfill.