SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

 

The packaging protects products that are important to us and provides information on using them responsibly and safely. But packaging must also become part of a circular economy.

Packaging Branded Market

custom packaging USA plays a very important role in our modern way of life. Without it, most products would spoil or be damaged before being offered in a store. However, in discussing a sustainable way of life, the packaging is also repeatedly identified as a negative factor when thrown away as waste after being used. This is why companies across all industries are looking for ways to close the loop and minimize the negative environmental impact of packaging while at the same time benefiting from its positive properties.

People with a range of skills are involved. However, packaging designers are the key players in addressing the challenges that sustainable packaging poses. This ranges from improving packaging to making it easier to recycle after using more recycled material in new packaging. The experts develop packaging that protects the products and at the same time makes a better contribution to environmental protection.

On the way to a circular economy: using material over and over again

The biggest problem with packaging is that it tends to waste after a consumer uses a product. That's why smart packaging experts also focus on designs that are optimized for recycling. By (further) developing packaging so that it is easier to recycle and by using more and more recycled material in new packaging, companies can help ensure that materials remain in the value chain for longer.

This idea is at the heart of the circular economy model: the approach is to collect materials after they have been used. Furthermore, they must be processed so that they can be reused or recycled several times. This leads to waste avoidance and a reduction in the environmental impact of packaging - provided that efficient recycling and waste management systems are in place.

Our packaging strategy: strong focus, ambitious goals

At Henkel, we are aware of our responsibility when it comes to packaging. We are thus committed to promoting sustainability and striving to achieve this following some ambitious goals. Our strategy is based on the circular economy concept and focuses on including materials from sustainable sources and closing the cycle with an intelligent design - for the benefit of people and the environment.

Overview of our packaging targets up to 2025

Henkel's packaging will be 100 percent recyclable or reusable. We aim to reduce the number of new plastics from fossil sources in our consumer products by 50 percent. We'll do it by raising the percentage of recycled plastic in use to more than 30%, reducing the number of plastics used, and relying more on bio-based plastics. We want to help prevent waste from being disposed of in the environment. For this reason, we support initiatives to collect waste and in favor of recycling. We invest in innovative solutions and technologies to promote a closed recycling process, and every year we want to reach more than 2 billion consumer contacts with targeted information on recycling.

In addition, it is our goal that 100 percent of the paper and cardboard material used is either made from recycled material or, if fresh fibers are required, comes from sustainable forestry.

Packing visual

* Except products in which components or residues can impair recyclability or contaminate recycling streams.

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New Loctite coating solution

By allowing the replacement of PE with paper for primary and secondary packaging applications ranging from hygiene items to food, the unique heat seal coating offers up new and sustainable design options. And food to industrial hardware bags.

Recyclable toothpaste tubes

 

Our dental care tubes will be fully recyclable by early 2021 and the unique tube manufacturing technology will also reduce the carbon footprint of the products.

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Pro Nature bottles made from recycled plastic

Partnerships along the value chain: stronger together

Our efforts to achieve these goals are implemented through close cooperation with partners from all industries, with whom innovations in packaging development are to be promoted.

New Plastics Economic: The SM Custom Packaging Foundation initiative brings together various stakeholders to shape the future of plastics and provide the impetus for a circular economy.

Alliance to End Plastic Waste: Henkel is a founding member of this initiative to deal with plastic waste. The alliance aims to promote solutions to stop plastic waste in the environment, especially in the ocean.

This project aims to raise awareness of a circulatory system and consists of over 40 members, consisting of dealers, manufacturers, waste disposal companies, packaging manufacturers, and representatives from politics.

USA Plastics Pact: These two regional agreements bring governments and companies together to accelerate the transition to a circular plastics economy and commit to common goals for 2025 that go beyond legislation. Henkel was one of the first to sign up for this agreement.

 SM Custom Packaging, a partnership of more than 130 USA firms and organizations dedicated to developing flexible packaging, which is frequently made up of paper. Several layers of film or foil that is often difficult to separate easier to recycle.

In addition, we work with various organizations that are working on improving the recycling infrastructure. This is particularly necessary for developing countries, where there are often no suitable recycling packaging materials. In this context, in 2017, we were the first global consumer goods company to enter into cooperation with the social enterprise Plastic Bank: The Plastic Bank aims to reduce the accumulation of plastic in the oceans while at the same time creating opportunities for people in poverty. The idea is that the local population can return the collected waste and exchange it for money, goods, or services.

Cooperation with the Plastic Bank

The plastic collected in SM Custom Packaging is sorted and can then be fed into the recycling value chain as Social Plastic The verification of the material by SM Custom Packaging confirms that the collectors have received an above-average price for the plastic waste. The processed Social Plastic can be used in products or their packaging and thus closes the material cycle.

In 2020, 560 tons of Social Plastic was processed at SM Custom Packaging. Since the partnership began in 2017, the total has been more than 760 tons. In addition, Plastic Bank has opened other collection centers in SM Custom Packaging since the start of the cooperation.

In 2019, SM Custom Packaging extended its collaboration with Plastic Bank for a further five years. Following the success of the partnership, which was launched in 2017, SM Custom Packaging will support ongoing projects in USA, the CANADA and contribute to the development of an infrastructure for more than 400 plastic collection points in CANADA. Together, the availability of Social Plastic as a resource for packaging production is to be increased. The establishment of a collection infrastructure in USA will create additional capacities of up to 5,000 tons per year. That corresponds to one billion bottles over a period of five years.

In addition, SM Custom Packaging helped the social enterprise to set up a supply chain to ensure that the collected plastic waste can be processed and recycled so that it can eventually be reintegrated into the value chain. . SM Custom Packaging also assisted the social company in establishing a supply chain that assures that the collected plastic debris can be processed and recycled, allowing it to be reused. Eventually, be reintegrated into the value chain.

 

What's next: become more sustainable.

Packaging is constantly changing, driven by innovative new designs and increasing consumer expectations. This continuous change opens up exciting opportunities to minimize the negative environmental impact of packaging. At custom boxes wholesale, experts are researching ways to make packaging more sustainable. This serves to protect the products that are important to us and contribute to the preservation of our earth.