"Packaging development is more than "putting a box around a product"

"Packaging development is more than "putting a box around a product"

The age-old marketing model, which favored investments in mass media, creativity on ad hoc basis, and an uncertain return on spending is long gone. Today, the use of technology, process and metrics dominate and drive any successful marketing campaign and this trend will continue in the future. 




In recent times, package design and development has become an integral part of the entire new product development mechanism. Previously, the packaging technologist was the last one to be involved in any product development process. New computer based management tools have brought in this sea changes as people involved in this now understand the importance of packaging and its impact on the end users. 

The packaging development process takes off with the Identification of all the requirements for the product to be developed. Followings are few things that are considered at this stage:

• Structural design
• Marketing
• Shelf life of the product
• Quality assurance
• Logistics
• Legal matters
• Regulatory matters
• Graphic design
• End-use of the product
• Environmental considerations

Just like the development cycle of products, the packaging development cycle also started putting emphasis on the incorporation of downstream processes like process planning, production planning and maintenance. This includes not only primary processes, but also addresses other aspects, such as life cycle analysis, cost estimation and various performance indicators.

While distinctly correlated to the product development cycle, the packaging development cycle is not obviously comparable. It at least requires special attention. The life cycles of the product and the packaging can differ enormous. In some cases the packaging/product combination is only relevant until the beginning of the usage phase of the product. 

An example of this is the box used for transportation of bicycles. Adversely, a plastic bottle for sauces is used until the bottle is empty. When the packaging is designed for multi-usage, the life cycle of the packaging is even much longer than the life cycle of the product. This is for example the case for a refillable crate and bottle system.


The packaging development aspect chain

Additionally, the ratio between the added value of the packaging and the added value of the product can be extremely dissimilar. Aiming at the optimal value for this ratio, an integrated approach for the development of product/packaging combinations is required. If an integrated method is applied in designing the product/packaging combination, the best agreeable solution for all the stakeholders in the product/packaging chain is achieved. 

The primary function of any package originally addressed containing the product, and protecting it from the ambient environment. On the one hand this can imply protecting the product against the environment, to enhance the products life time and conserve its content. On the other hand it can imply the protection of the environment against the packaged product (e.g. for harmful or toxic content). In either case, packaging provides possibilities to facilitate the transport of the packaged content. 

In current, everyday practice, packaging is usually developed from these primary functions, combined with a range of aspects that relate to the secondary functions of a package. These secondary functions of packaging originate from all the stakeholders that have an interest in the packaging chain. Stakeholders in the packaging industry are firstly stakeholders in the packaging industry itself, but can also be found in the producing sector, the distribution and retailing industry, the government and among product users. Looking at the wide range of stakeholders involved in the packaging chain gives insight in the range of interests, possibly requiring specific packaging functions or demands and constraints for the packaging. Consequently, the secondary functions of packaging address a wide range of fields like information and communication also know as communicative artefact's, sales, marketing, distribution, design, etc. This entirety can be seen as the macro environment of the package.

Use transit and collation packaging effectively

Introduction

Transit and collation packaging is any packaging used to hold and protect items during transit. It covers bags, boxes and drums, filler materials, shrink-wrap and stretch-wrap, pallets, layer pads, and slip sheets.

Good packaging plays a crucial role in protecting products, from raw materials to manufactured goods and perishable foods. Inadequate packaging can lead to product damage, customer returns and waste - not only of the product itself, but also of the energy and materials used in its manufacture and transport. You should look at how you can reduce or even eliminate packaging, and how you can reuse and recycle packaging that can't be avoided. You should consider product design at the same time - so that improvements to packaging design don't adversely affect the product's overall environmental impact.

Using transit and collation packaging effectively can save your business money, help you to comply with legislation and improve your reputation with stakeholders such as customers, investors and the public.

This guide explains how you can use a systematic approach to reduce the amount of transit and collation packaging your business uses, and the waste that it creates. It looks at the different options you should consider to ensure packaging is reduced, reused and recycled.

Use a systematic approach to effective packaging

Using a systematic approach is likely to be the most effective way of making your transit-packaging use more efficient.

Step one: win support and the initial review

To ensure that your efforts are taken seriously, you need to convince senior management that your business would benefit from keeping packaging to a minimum.

You may want to carry out an initial review to gather evidence. You could do this, for example, by walking round your site to identify areas of waste and opportunities for improvement. You could estimate the savings associated with a few of the more promising improvements.

Step two: appoint a co-ordinator

It is useful to have one overall project co-ordinator or 'champion' to lead the work, such as your logistics manager or environmental manager. You should also get the right people involved. This could include:

• procurement and purchasing staff
• environmental and waste-management staff
• manufacturing and logistics managers
• marketing and product-development staff
• key external organisations such as packaging and material suppliers
• customers

Step three: gather information on packaging use and disposal

Gathering information can help you to identify areas of significant waste and comply with legislation. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations require businesses to gather accurate data on the weight of packaging that they 'handle'. This means that you need to think about all the packaging associated with supply, including display, collation and transit packaging. You should also consider imported packaging for which you were the end-user.

Step four: analyse data and identify areas for improvement

You should use key performance indicators (KPIs) to help you compare packaging use. KPIs for packaging management include:

• packaging cost per item, eg pence/item or £/tonne
• packaging waste per item, eg kilogram/item or kilogram/tonne

As well as analysing the data, it is useful to convert each waste quantity into a financial value that takes account of both material and disposal costs. This can help you to make the case for improvements.

Step five: prioritise improvement options

Once you have identified where there may be scope for improvement, you should consider the options and rank them in order of priority. Think about each improvement option in terms of its cost to the business, its likely benefit or savings and the level of difficulty in implementing it.

Giving priority to the easier and low-cost measures will achieve quick results. This will help to motivate everyone concerned. However, longer term solutions may provide you with the highest overall cost savings.

Step six: produce an action plan

Once you have considered the various options, you should prepare an action plan that describes what will be done, who will do it and when. Your plan should contain simple, measurable, achievable, realistic targets within appropriate timescales.

Step seven: implement the action plan

Implementation may involve all sorts of measures, from packaging redesign to introducing reusable systems.

It is important to get everyone involved in implementing the plan, from the managing director down to those, for example, who collect and separate packaging materials.

Step eight: review progress

Once the action plan is in place, you should review progress against targets regularly - perhaps every six months initially, and then on an annual basis.

Reduce packaging use

Reducing your use of transit and collation packaging is usually the most cost-effective option and the best for the environment. In some cases, you can avoid the need for packaging, eg by a change in working practices or introducing a new item of equipment. Areas to focus on include:

• Avoiding extra layers - poor practices result in goods being packaged in too many layers. For example, goods are sometimes wrapped in multiple layers, where at least one layer is redundant.
• Improving cleanliness in the workplace and throughout the distribution chain reduces the risk of product and packaging contamination.
• Improving product handling - eg through staff training and improved equipment - reduces the risk of product damage and the need for packaging.
• Just-in-time delivery can mean that the product spends less time in the warehouse and is at less risk of contamination and physical damage.
• Bulk delivery - in many cases, you can get materials delivered in bulk, thereby avoiding the need for packaging. This is particularly the case with liquids and powders where bulk delivery can eliminate the need for drums and other containers.
• Change the product itself - in some cases, a minor redesign of a product (eg a slight change to a dimension or a material) may allow you to significantly reduce the packaging used to protect it.
• Alternative on-site handling and distribution - for example, you can pipe liquids and powders around the site, while you can move certain light objects around site pneumatically.
• Alternatives to pallets - you can handle quite heavy loads using slip sheets and push-pull units or, where the load is particularly light, by hand.
• Optimise one stage of packaging - for example, redesigning a product's shelf-ready packaging to make it stronger could mean you can reduce the packaging needed to protect it during transport.

Rationalise your packaging system

While it may not necessarily reduce the amount of packaging, rationalising your packaging supply can bring significant cost benefits.

If your business has a large product range with relatively little size and shape variation, standardisingyour packaging can have major benefits. Using standard types and sizes of packaging for a range of different products can help with economies of scale, flexibility and reduced warehousing needs. It also enables continuity through the supply chain and the ability to swap out broken or damaged packaging more easily. For example, a standard drum taking a standard replacement lid may reduce the cost of returning it over long distances.

If your business has a small but varied product range, bespoke packaging may be the best approach. This enables you to design the packaging to match your requirements perfectly.

Assess the opportunities to reuse packaging

After eliminating and reducing your use of transit and collation packaging, the next best option is normally to reuse it as many times as possible. The more standardised your packaging, the easier it should be to reuse.

Design issues

• Make your containers lightweight as well as durable. For example, corrugated plastic or double/triple-wall coated board can act as alternatives to solid plastic or wooden crates.
• Using single-piece containers as modular containers may be more expensive and less robust.
• Design containers that are adaptable. For example, you could use different moulded liners with standard boxes to accommodate various products.
• Reinforce old containers - using better materials, edge strengthening, lamination, etc.
• Design containers that are easy to open and reclose or secure without risk of injury or damage to the packaging, eg with interlocking lid tabs.
• Design containers that are easy to fill and empty. For example, some automotive suppliers use plastic tote boxes with a folding side to allow easy access.
• Use containers that can be collapsed and stacked for easy storage and return.
• Make sure labels are easy to remove and attach.
• Ensure containers are easy to clean or wash, eg avoid seams, nooks and crannies, and make sure it is easy to fit and remove seals.
• Where possible, specify the use of recycled materials in reusable systems such as plastic crates.
• Try to reduce the contamination of used packaging to make it easier to reuse and to reduce disposal costs.

Assessing the costs and benefits of a reuse scheme

A packaging reuse scheme will only be cost-effective if its annual operating costs are less than those of your current one-trip packaging system, and the annual cost savings give an acceptable payback.

One-off 'up-front' costs include:

• the initial purchase of reusable containers
• modifications to handling and transport facilities
• additional costs of the tracking system, eg software packages, bar code labelling/reading equipment, electronic chips and detectors

You may be able to reduce these initial costs by leasing the containers rather than buying them, or by using a slightly less sturdy design.

Potential cost savings include reduced raw material and waste disposal costs, reduced handling and storage and reduced costs of complying with the packaging waste regulations.

For more information on the sorts of packaging you can use and managing reuse, see the pages in this guide on types of reusable packaging and how tomanage a reusable packaging system.

Manage a reusable packaging system

Systems that reuse transit packaging will only save you money if the containers are actually reused and the system is operated efficiently. This means keeping the number of units to a minimum and recovering the packaging quickly.

Managing the scheme

With large schemes, it may be cost-effective to have a dedicated manager with no other duties. You may also wish to consider asking a specialist third party to manage the scheme. This can sometimes be more cost-effective than doing it in-house.

Number of units required

It is important you work out the correct number of containers required, especially as at any given time some of them will be in transit, at customer or supplier premises or being prepared for reuse. The longer the delay, the greater the total number you will need to maintain the flow of goods.

Transport and logistics

Ideally, you should collect reusable packaging as you deliver and then backhaul it. This is straightforward if only one delivery is being made, but when several deliveries are made in one trip, the recovered packaging has to be carried onwards to the next delivery.

Other potential issues to resolve when operating your own packaging reuse scheme include:

• limited influence with your customers in ensuring the timely return of containers
• complicated arrangements when it's necessary to collect a small number of containers or irregular consignments from several sites

Scale of the scheme

Small-scale schemes can work well when you have a limited number of suppliers and/or customers, and where they are concentrated regionally.

Large-scale packaging reuse schemes are generally more efficient than smaller ones. These larger schemes offer two main advantages:

• you can negotiate better prices for larger container orders and tend to have more influence over the prompt return of containers
• having more site locations, journeys and containers involved makes it easier and cheaper to smooth out local variations and maintain packaging stocks at the level required to match demand

Tracking and timely return of containers

One of the key issues in any scheme is to track containers and make sure they are returned promptly by suppliers and customers. One option is to draw up a formal contract spelling out each party's responsibilities. If you feel that this approach could sour your relationship with your customer, opt for a more informal 'gentlemen's agreement' - but remember that such agreements are hard to enforce.

It is also important to have some sort of tracking system that allows you to identify the number of containers at each possible location.

Container cleaning and refurbishment

Make sure that reusable packaging is separated, cleaned, checked for damage and refurbished as appropriate before each reuse.

Use one-trip packaging efficiently

If you cannot reuse packaging, you should use optimised one-trip packaging. Optimising the level of packaging involves both good packaging design and good working practices.

When using boxes and corrugated cases for packaging, you should ask yourself:

• Is a box really necessary? In some cases, shrink-wrap can be more efficient.
• Is the box designed as well as it could be? For example, could you make the box smaller if the product was re-oriented or less filler material was used?
• Is the box space fully utilised? If the headspace is greater than five or six centimetres, you should probably use a smaller box.

When using drums and intermediate bulk containers, you should ask yourself:

• Have you considered alternatives to steel drums? Consider using plastic drums, intermediate bulk containers or corrugated drums.
• Are your drums of the optimum design? Ensure that the drums you use are as lightweight as possible and consider whether or not they will be reused.

When using collation packs, you should ask yourself:

• Are collation trays necessary? In many cases, businesses find that shrink-wrap alone is adequate.
• Can larger denominations or different formats be used? Putting more items into a box, for example, can save packaging material.

When using fill materials, you should ask yourself:

• Can you eliminate or reduce the need for fill material by altering the container's design? You may be able to use filler material just in the lateral spaces and eliminate headspace filler.
• Is the best filler material being specified and used? Paper and used corrugated board may offer an adequate and cheaper alternative.

When using box closures, you should ask yourself:

• Can you avoid using staples? Staples often cause the box to be torn, reducing the possibility of reuse, and make it more difficult to recycle.
• Is it really necessary to use adhesive tape as a closure? If contamination is unlikely to be a problem, you may be able to close a corrugated box simply by interlocking the flaps.
• Is strapping a better option? Plastic strapping or banding is often the better option where a box has a separate or detachable lid and/or base.

When using shrink-wrap, stretch-wrap and plastic bags for packaging, you should ask yourself:

• Could you use a different thickness of material? Many businesses find that they can reduce the grade of material used without any reduction in product protection.
• Could you use a different polymer to provide the same level of protection at lower cost and weight?
• Could you apply stretch (pallet) wrap automatically? Automatic or semi-automatic pallet wrappers can help to reduce the use of stretch-wrap.

When using pallet loads, you should consider:

• Is the pallet area fully utilised? Palletisation software can help you to optimise the load.
• Is the load stabilised efficiently? In some cases, shrink-wrap or strapping/banding may be a better choice than stretch-wrap.
• Is the pallet of the optimum design? Lightweight, one-trip wooden pallets are available that weigh up to ten kilograms less than a regular pallet.

Reuse one-trip packaging

Although dedicated reusable systems generally offer the best solution, one-trip packaging can sometimes be made multi-purpose or reused several times.

New corrugated and plastic transit cases are now available that double as in-store display cases, with the lids and sides acting as the display framework with the products visible inside. A number of large retail chains now use such transit packaging, sometimes with a pallet-style base or wheeled base. It is also known as 'shelf-ready packaging'.

You may be able to sell your waste corrugated cases to a cardboard box merchant for reuse rather than to a paper/board merchant for recycling. This will maximise your revenue. Similarly, you may be able to send used drums for reconditioning and sell wooden pallets to a pallet merchant.

If you cannot reuse or sell it, you may be able todonate used packaging to other businesses or to schools or nurseries.

Although it will not raise revenue, this approach will at least reduce the volume of your general waste and your disposal costs. You must, however, make sure you observe the waste duty of care. See our guide onyour waste responsibilities.

Making a little effort to separate packaging materialsand keep them clean can increase the opportunities for reuse or recycling. Separating used packaging before it becomes mixed in the skip will help to reduce contamination.

Consider setting up an on-site system for preparing drums, intermediate bulk containers and other liquid containers for reuse. Some businesses benefit significantly from the on-site drainage, washing, relabelling and reuse of drums and other containers.

If the design of the packaging is inhibiting reuse, consider redesigning it. For example, you may be able to encourage the reuse of corrugated cases by eliminating staples. Review options for whether packaging designed for one trip can be reused for another purpose or by another organisation. See our guide on how to reduce your environmental impact by good packaging design.

Recycle transit and collation packaging

If you can find the right merchant recycler or waste-exchange business, most clean packaging materials can be either sold or removed free of charge. To improve your recycling activities, you should:

• Separate wastes effectively at the source. This will reduce contamination - eg from tape, labels, staples and chemicals. Many businesses use colour-coded boxes to allow easy separation of materials. You should make sure that these boxes are close to the waste-producing process and make staff aware of where they are.
• Empty and/or clean packaging carefully. This will improve the chances of the packaging being taken for reconditioning or recycling. In some cases, this can make packaging ordinary waste rather than hazardous waste. For more information on dealing with hazardous waste, see our guide onmanaging your hazardous waste.
• Avoid using mixed materials, eg metal or plastic closures on a cardboard box. This should make it easier to carry out recycling. As a general rule, single material designs are desirable, even down to the type of polymer used - eg polypropylene and polyethylene.
• Clearly mark the packaging. Indicating what types of material are used in the packaging allows materials to be separated more easily from mixed waste streams. Plastics, for example, can be embossed with the appropriate symbol to eliminate the need for a separate label.
• Consider whether you can compost the packaging. For example, paper and board can be mixed with garden waste to produce quality compost. Your local authority or waste management contractor may be able to take packaging waste for composting.
• Clean contaminated packaging materials. This can help to increase their value. Careful storage in covered and clearly labelled skips and bins can help to ensure that materials do not become mixed or contaminated by other materials, water or food (which can attract vermin). Wet paper loads may be rejected by recyclers because they are difficult to handle.
• Bulk up loads. Recycling may not be economical for sites with low quantities of materials. However, you can increase tonnages by bringing material from several sites through back-haulage in vehicles used for delivery to a central point. Larger tonnages in one place are far more attractive to recyclers.
• Check your packaging is being recycled. You should request information from your contractor which proves that your waste is being recycled and not sent to landfill.

You should make sure you handle materials for recycling properly. If you deal with waste from other businesses you may need authorisation to do so. See our guide on your waste responsibilities.

Reduce packaging disposal costs

Ideally, you should recondition or recycle waste packaging wherever possible. However, even if it has been reused, packaging will ultimately have to be disposed of. There are a number of measures that you can take to minimise your waste disposal costs:

• Separate hazardous packaging waste properly. Mixing hazardous waste with non-hazardous waste makes the whole load hazardous and increases costs dramatically. For more information, see our guide on managing your hazardous waste.
• Use the best skips. Ask your waste management contractor if you can rent covered front-end loader (FEL) or larger rear-end loader (REL) units rather than ordinary open skips. FELs and RELs can be emptied into a waste collection compactor vehicle, which is cheaper than having whole skips removed and replaced.
• Use your waste containers effectively. Skips are often used inefficiently and emptied when only partially full. This increases your waste disposal costs as the number of collections and transport costs are a key element of pricing.
• Use the largest containers you can. Assuming that there are no health or environmental risks associated with longer storage (eg odour and leakage), it is generally best to use the largest skips possible.
• Consider buying or leasing volume reduction equipment. Shredders, balers, compactors, roll packers and drum crushers can reduce the volume of general and compressible waste to about 20 per cent of its original volume.
• Get the best waste contractor deal. Waste removal costs can vary greatly between waste management businesses so you should shop around for the most appropriate deal.
• Get good data from your contractor. Ask your contractor to provide waste disposal data by weight to help you monitor and minimise packaging waste.
• Purchase and operate high-value equipment jointly with other businesses. This could be beneficial if you only have small volumes of waste.
• Consider energy recovery. Options include a small energy-from-waste plant or a combined heat and power plant. Large businesses can bring together waste from all their sites to make this feasible, while smaller businesses could collaborate.

If you don't transport your waste packaging materials yourself, you must use a licensed waste carrier. You can read about waste carrier registration on the NetRegs website- Opens in a new window.

Here's how our business cut costs by reusing packaging

Atmel is part of a global organisation that designs and manufactures smart-card chips for security applications, such as for credit cards and passports. The manufacturing process carried out at the East Kilbride site is the final stage of a production cycle of products originating from other sites. Waste packaging was a significant contributor to the volume of waste in the business' skips.

What we did

Atmel looked to improve environmental performance at the site and achieved ISO 14001 accreditation in 2005. The environmental objectives included:

• reducing waste to landfill by increasing reuse and recycling
• reducing total solid waste from the site

Reused secondary packaging materials

Primary packaging (plastic tubs containing the silicon wafers) remained the same throughout this project. The savings established were made on secondary packaging.

Previous secondary packaging used only new materials - wafer boxes, antistatic plastic bags, bubble wrap, protective shipment foams and a cardboard outer box.

Reuse of secondary packaging materials was possible for 20 per cent of Atmel customers. Quality restrictions and customer requirements restricted packaging reuse for the remaining 80 per cent.

Secured customer buy-in

Realising that a few key customers had the most significant impact on the packaging reuse programme, Atmel's environmental team approached these to discuss the changes in packaging.

The agreement was for the reuse of good-quality unmarked boxes to protect the product during transit and storage.

Motivation and communication

Atmel measured the progress on environmental improvements regularly, and reuse figures and savings were communicated to staff via the notice board.

What the benefits were

The benefits to Atmel included:

• packaging waste reduction of 2.4 tonnes a year to landfill
• packaging purchase cost savings of over £3,500 a year
• a 60 per cent reduction in waste disposal costs, saving £5,000 a year

Sustainable Packaging Initiatives Are a Viable Cost-Reduction Solution in a Downward Economy

Sustainable Packaging Initiatives Are a Viable Cost-Reduction Solution in a Downward Economy

A key misconception is the belief that higher costs are intrinsically associated with sustainability efforts.

The environment was a very hot topic last year. In fact "going green" and "carbon footprint" were two of the 10 most overused words of 2008, according to Lake Superior State University's annual list. No industry or business sector is immune to the demand by consumers for products and services that are more eco-friendly, environmentally free and biodegradable.  With the recent emphasis on climate change and the affects of human activities on the environment, combined with the resulting regulations and requirements, sustainability has become an intrinsic component of operational strategies. However, while sustainability remains a key market driver, it exists amidst a myriad of meaningless catchphrases and jargon that have no measurable definition, driving manufacturers to ask themselves; what does it REALLY mean to be green? 

Credible participants in the sustainability movement take a holistic approach to the process, follow the cradle-to-cradle concept and dismiss trendy words like green and eco-friendly. This holistic methodology focuses on reducing all greenhouse gases (GHG), rather than just the dominant element of carbon. Today, most companies focus on carbon, primarily because CO₂ makes up approximately 93% of all GHG emissions in the U.S., according to the EPA. However, over time carbon's prominence as an industry focus in the movement is likely to dwindle, making it important to understand the difference. 

It is clear that sustainability is top of mind across all industries and that packaging is a key driver.  According to a recent study by AMR Research, 76% of sustainability efforts are focused on reducing packaging waste.

In the world of sustainable packaging, there is no more respected expert than the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). In a 2007 survey by the SPC and Packaging Digest magazine, 73% of 1,255 respondents who are involved in packaging reported that their companies had increased the emphasis on sustainable packaging with most of the attention on minimizing the carbon footprint through creative transportation, alternative fuels, and sustainable packaging efforts.

A key misconception is the belief that higher costs are intrinsically associated with sustainability efforts. The holistic approach affords visibility into the entire product lifecycle, from manufacturing and packaging, to delivery, recycling or disposition. When sustainable improvements are considered from this perspective, most organizations will realize a cost savings and positive impact on the bottom line.

In fact, a global leader in computer hardware and accessories was able to realize a savings of more than $500,000 in packaging and eliminated 99,183 pounds of packaging on 4.3 million products shipped. 

The first step in an overall sustainable program is to analyze product packaging and supply chain processes to develop a model that reduces packaging size and minimizes operational and logistics activities that contribute to GHG emissions.

Packaging Design Assessment

As a rule, quality packaging design follows a 4D Methodology of Ergonomics, Cost, Sustainability and Logistics. When embarking on a redesign, manufacturers should first assess the sustainability of their current packaging to use as a baseline. Packaging-specific software programs such as Cape, ArtiosCAD, and Solidworks, can be used to design the most efficient package. Tools such as the Wal-Mart Packaging Modeling tool, the still-beta SPC Comparative Packaging Assessment (COMPASS) and other industry standard tools, further measure and analyze the amount of impact the packaging has on the environment.

More compact packaging will result in a reduced material cost. By simplifying the packaging process with fewer pieces, you can extend the savings with less labor. The amount of warehouse space required is reduced, further impacting logistics costs. The domino effect continues through redesigning pallet configuration and shipping more product per pallet.

Ben Sligar, a global packaging engineer for ModusLink Global Solutions -- a provider of supply chain management solutions -- and a member of the Wal-Mart Packaging Sustainable Value Network and SPC, maintains that manufacturers can look to sustainable packaging redesign as a true driver of cost efficiency. "We've seen cost savings in almost every project, by using recycled materials and increasing the product to package ratio.  For example, by moving clients to a trapped paperboard blister design and away from traditional clamshells that are not consumer friendly, we are able to reduce the amount of plastic and package size while increasing pallet density. In 2008 ModusLink converted more than 100 million clamshells to trapped blisters and we see the trend continuing."

Sustainable Materials

Understanding material patents, specialized material types, and their various sources is a critical element to a sustainability program. There are countless misnomers regarding what is recyclable or what truly is environmentally friendly. Most consumers believe that if a product is made out of a tree that it can be recycled and that plastics are bad for the environment, but that may not always be true. Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is a highly recyclable form of plastic if in a narrow neck form. Some foam and pulp products are not compostable. Not all fiberboards are 100% recyclable. There are a wide array of sustainable packaging materials available, including molded paper fiber, PaperFoam, recycled content plastics and papers and up and coming bio-polymers. The key is knowing the difference between them. And the energy required to create each material significantly influences the overall environmental impact. It's a good idea to check with local recycling centers to see what is recyclable in the region of operations.

Network Optimization

Once the package design analysis is complete, the entire supply chain should be optimized for when and where to perform packaging and fulfillment and for the lowest total GHG emissions. Network optimization can identify alternative supply chain models that leverage leading practices such as packaging postponement and deferred configuration. Reviewing the end-to-end supply chain illustrates how each part of the supply chain affects GHG emissions and helps to determine ways to optimize for GHGs that positively impact all other costs in the supply chain.

Packaging postponement entails an analysis of supply chain costs and the trade-offs among them, including materials, conversion, inventory and logistics. It is critical to measure each trade-off, including carbon emissions for logistics and all GHG emissions for operational activities. Operational emissions are typically based on megawatt hours and are derived by the geography's portfolio of energy consumption.

Manufacturers that are not currently examining their packaging programs are in danger of being left off the retail shelf. Wal-Mart is striving to achieve a 5% packaging reduction by 2013 and as of February 2008, requires all suppliers to enter its packaging information into the Wal-Mart Retail Link Scorecard. Further, Wal-Mart has promised to become "packaging neutral" by 2025, which means that, through recycling, reusing or perhaps even composting, Wal-Mart will try to recover as much material as was used in the packaging that flows through its stores.

As consumers become savvier to the green washing techniques employed by some manufacturers, and the retail industry demands clearly identifiable sustainable products, manufacturers will be required to join the sustainable movement. When these sustainable packaging projects are approached in a comprehensive manner and by professional resources, they frequently yield their own financial as well as environmental benefits.  Beware the provider that is advocating its own particular shade of 'green' as it may not be the most suited to your products or your business objectives. Product independent advice usually yields the best results.  What better way to compete in a world of green announcements than to be assured that your actions stand up to your 'green conscience' as well as external scrutiny?

Ryan Humphrey is the Director of Professional Services at ModusLink. ModusLink Global Solutions, Inc. is a provider of global supply chain business process management.