Pare down packaging
June 1st 2005

Packaging is as much a part of modern life as traffic jams on the M25 and phone calls trying to sell you double-glazing. But a recent Envirowise survey has found that consumers are as equally unimpressed with over-packaged goods as they are with long delays and annoying phone calls during dinner. In fact, the survey revealed that three quarters of shoppers are not impressed by ‘over the top’and unnecessary packaging and one fifth will actively avoid buying products packaged in this way.

But, of course, packaging is not just a marketing tool. More than cosmetic, packaging has to perform its practical functions in terms of protecting and preserving goods, facilitate the handling and distribution, and presenting information. Inadequate packaging can result in product damage, customer returns and wastage.

So we are agreed that packaging is almost always essential. But unnecessary packaging is not. In fact, our survey found that 86% of consumers believe that unnecessary packaging is harmful to the environment.Consumers, like retailers and manufacturers, are becoming more aware of how packaging has an environmental cost relating to the extravagant use of resources, the emission of pollutants and landfill.These considerations alone make it desirable for companies to take a fresh look at packaging design.Current legislation increases the necessity for packaging to be designed and managed throughout its life-cycle in an environmentally acceptable way.

Good design has a vital role to play.The Design Council states that more than 80% of the costs and environmental impacts of any product are determined at the design stage. So product and packaging design and their respective life cycle assessment should take place together.

This approach is adopted by Unilever, which is applying ecodesign principles at progressively early stages in packaging development.The company can conduct Life Cycle Assessment on new products,modelling countryspecific and ‘what-if’ scenarios.

Unilever always assesses the product and its packaging together.This is important as the biggest impacts generally relate to the product. For example, although the move from washing powder to tablets had some negative packaging implications, it proved to be beneficial overall by significantly reducing product use per wash by eliminating over-dosing.

Eliminating packaging altogether is rarely an option.However, it is often possible to dispense with unnecessary layers, such as box plus bag/tube, collation trays plus shrink wrap. In a simple example, the cardboard sleeve for a cheese slicer was replaced with a self-adhesive label.This made the packaging 50g lighter than before and reduced the overall packaging weight by 97%.

Labels themselves can sometimes be replaced by embossing or direct printing on paper, polypropylene polystyrene.A leaflet in a carton can be swapped for printing on the inside of the box or sleeve, such as on certain 405g yoghurt pot sleeves.

Unnecessary space should be eliminated in containers, and the need for fillers and padding should be prevented wherever possible, improving carton designs.Air can even be used as the packing medium where the product is fragile, for example in crisp packets.

‘Lightweighting’ can also be efficient means of reducing packaging, generally with related cost savings. Success is reflected in the following statistics: • the average weight of glass containers has been reduced by about 30% since 1980 • the thickness of supermarket carrier bags has been reduced by an average of 45% during the last 15 years • during the 1990s, juice cartons were made about 15% lighter and the aluminium foil layer 30% thinner.

Packaging design should include considering energy use at every stage, not overlooking transport efficiency and the opportunities to use recycled and renewable materials. Now is an excellent time for packaging designers, technologists and specifiers to take a fresh look at packaging designs.The results can be cheaper and less damaging to the environment. For example, a well-known drinks company has saved around £2.3 million a year since 1995 by redesigning its soft-drinks can. Reshaping the can by reducing the end diameter reduced the amount of material used in the top disc and, because there is less scrap metal between adjacent disks, the level of sheet wastage during production.

Packaging design is part of our Designtrack service. An Envirowise design advisor spends a day on site looking at your product and processes.He will identify cost savings, environmental improvements and compliance issues for relevant legislation. By examining the product and its manufacture in depth, he will identify areas where product re-design or material substitution may be appropriate.You can register for a Designtrack visit on the Envirowise web site where you will also find publications on improving packaging designs. See www.envirowise.gov.uk or use the enquiry bar:

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