How can food and beverage businesses reduce packaging footprint? Carbon Smart outlines four key areas in the product design and use stages where businesses can have a meaningful impact

1. The good, bad and ugly in plastic management in the food & beverage industry

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About Carbon Smart
Our mission
Carbon Smart is a global, well-established, independent sustainability consultancy based in London. For us, sustainability is about helping every business become
more sustainable, whatever their focus is. We take on your sustainability challenge as if it was our own, we take the time to navigate through the legislation, the
frameworks, the technologies and the stakeholder expectations to ensure that sustainability for your business is credible, robust and proportionate – we make
sustainability work for you.
Our sustainable packaging leads
Ben Murray – Managing Director
Ben is Carbon Smart’s Managing Director and has over 20 years experience of business efficiency and sustainability consulting. He founded
Carbon Smart on the firm belief that every business can make sustainability work – they may just need help to do so. He oversees the work
of the Carbon Smart team across the business and provides senior level guidance and coaching to executive and C-suite clients. Ben speaks
regularly at sustainability events and provides input into key policy consultations and reviews. Catch Ben presenting at the Packaging
Innovation Forum event in Birmingham on the 28th February!
Jessica Cresswell – Senior Consultant
Jessica is Carbon Smart’s Responsible Supply Chain service line manager and oversees our supply chain projects which include: product
carbon and water footprints, packaging, transport, waste and deforestation projects. Jess has extensively worked with our clients to
understand the impact of their catering and packaging operations, helping them to develop an approach to reduce their impact that is also
practical and makes business sense. Read her latest Edie blog: We have a problem and a lot plastics.

3. The plastic challenge and why you need a sustainable packaging strategy
Introduction

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Plastics have given us a range of sustainability, economic and social benefits
Improved efficiency of buildings
Job creation
Social
Economic
Environmental
Medical advances
Food waste reduction
Product protection
Travel impact reduction
Market share
Storage of clean water

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We produce a lot of it: last year produced 335 million tonnes globally of which 40% was
used for packaging
50% Asia
(29% China)
19%
Europe
4%
L.A.
7%
Middle
East
18%
NAFTA
Packaging
40%
Building and construction
20%
Electrical goods
6%
Automotive
10%
Agriculture
3%
Other (medical, sports
etc.)
21%
Plastic demand by sector (%)

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But the majority of our plastic waste is going to landfill or entering the natural
environment
Recycled
9%
Incineration
12%
Landfills or natural environment
79%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Chart Title
Waste
Total plastic production (billion tonnes)
Total plastic waste production (billion tonnes)
Disposal methods breakdown (%)

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Landfill disposal and wildlife littering come with environment risk
• Plastics are leaching into our environment. It is estimated that 12 million tonnes of plastic is entering our oceans every year – that’s the equivalent of a
rubbish truck full every minute
• Furthermore, poor landfill management practices can lead to harmful substances entering the environment
Environmental risks
Water securityTransport of non-native and invasive
speciesIngestion
Human health

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Governments are now responding
China bans the import of plastic waste UK government pledges to
stop all avoidable plastics by
2042
The European Union pledges to make all
plastic packaging recyclable by 2030 and
have pledged €100m (£89m) to finance
innovation in this space
The Daily Telegraph

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To get ahead of the curve business should develop a sustainable packaging strategy, which
will come with a number of benefits
Future proof your business - getting
ahead of likely future regulation.
Keep up with competitors – do not
allow your business to be left behind
Reduce costs - Reducing the amount of
plastics you use or at least the amount of
virgin materials by switching to recycled
plastics can help your business reduce
costs
Unlock your chance to innovate
– setting ambitious targets will
help our business grow in new
ways.
Strengthen brand reputational – There
is perception amongst businesses that
we must address the plastic waste issue
Appeal to your customers and
workforce - This is most
sustainability-conscious generation
yet and sustainability is becoming
increasingly important.
A sustainable plastic
packaging strategy can help
your business to…

10. How can your business improve its packaging footprint?

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There are four key areas in the product design and use stages where you can have a
meaningful impact
Source Reduction Recycled Content Recyclability and
Materials Use
Boosting Materials
Recycling
Concept from As You Sow’s 2015 report: Waste and Opportunity 2015: https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/consumer-goods-packaging-report.pdf

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Source reduction: review how you can reduce the amount of packaging used or phase-out
single use plastics completely
Light weighting
materials
Designing
products to not
need packaging
Reusable
containers for
home or store
deliveries
Bulk selling &
refilling options
Encourage the
use reusable
items / phase
out single use
Source reduction Recycled content Recyclability Boost recycling
Concentrated
products

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Introducing recycled content in your packaging is a simple way to reduce the amount of
virgin materials used whilst minimising your environmental impact
Food grade r-PET
• Regulation has approved r-PET for food contact
• r-PET is used in both beverage and food packaging products
Clean Tech
• Clean Tech are the only site in the UK (Lincolnshire) which produces food grade
recycled PET from plastic bottles
• Output: 40,000 tonnes r-PET products per year
Why should you use r-PET?
• Lower carbon footprint than virgin pet – for every tonne of r-PET produced 1.5
tonnes of CO₂e is saved
• Reduce dependency on virgin materials
• Safe to be used in food and beverage packaging
• It is recyclable
• Converting waste into valuable resources
• Major drink brands are championing bottles with a recycled content and are setting a
new standard where recycled content is routinely used
Source reduction Recycled content Recyclability Boost recycling

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Recyclability and Materials Use: Design and produce packaging that can be easily recycled
by your customers
Use widely
recycled
plastics
Easy
dismantlable
packaging
products for
customers to
separate
recyclable
materials
Recycling
labelling
Source reduction Recycled content Recyclability Boost recycling
Simplifying
packaging –
moving towards
single type of
plastics

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Boosting Recycling: support your customers and community to recycle more
Establish
recycling
initiatives in
communities
Committing to
recycle same
amount of
plastic bottles
as they produce
by 2030
On-site
recycling
programmes
for customers
to recycle
Packaging
take-back
programmes
Source reduction Recycled content Recyclability Boost recycling
Source reduction Recycled content Recyclability Boost recycling

16. Next steps for your business

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Establish packaging
objectives
Confirm objectives and
establish targets
Review all other
product packaging
Review own brand
packaging
• Establish the level of
ambition of the business
• Establish key priorities
• Establish broad
objectives to review in
terms of feasibility
• Review and fine
tune your overall
objectives
• Establish targets
based on
opportunities
identified
• Establish material
packaging
• Engage with suppliers and
understand their packaging
development plans
• Identify collaboration
opportunities to meet your
packaging’s objectives
• Establish material
packaging of operations
• Review against the four
pillar framework
• Establish opportunities
for improvement
• Review how products
are arrive at your and
your customers sites
• Identify opportunities
for improvement
• Develop action plan
with your partners
To establish a sustainable packaging strategy, your business should consider the
following five-step approach
Review transport
packaging

18. 3rd floor Farringdon House,
105-107 Farringdon Road,
London EC1R 3BU
+44 (0) 207 048 0450
Ben.murray@carbonsmart.co.uk
Jessica.Cresswell@carbonsmart.co.uk
www.carbonsmart.co.uk
Copyright Carbon Smart Ltd