THE ISSUE OF MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PACKAGING
The packaging revolution is underway
Everyone in the ALL4PACK Emballage Paris community is aware of the need for a green transition: 88% consider it to be a priority to use more environmentally friendly packaging.
- The main reasons driving this transition are consumer expectations (69%), benefits in terms of brand image (56%) and changes in legislation (49%).
- Conversely, the obstacles expressed are, unsurprisingly, the cost of use of environmentally friendly materials (63%) followed further behind by the availability (43%) and the quality of materials (37%), obstacles more prevalent among user industries (43%) than among suppliers (27%).
TYPES OF MATERIALS USED
Diversity enhanced by the emergence of new materials:
Paper-cardboard (77%) and plastic (73%) remain the main materials used for packaging. Biomaterials are as yet little used (18%). Nevertheless, when asked about the type of materials used in the coming two years, the ALL4PACK community appears to have a clear vision (only 0.5% of those surveyed responded “Don’t know”).
- The use of biomaterials should increase: 37% of respondents said that they wanted to start using biomaterials in the coming two years.
- Paper and cardboard should also rise significantly: 46% of decision-makers declare they wanted to use more of it.
- A real decline in the use of plastic is expected to occur: 32% are intending to reduce their use of this resource, nonetheless, few plan to stop using it altogether (5%). The use of metal, glass and wood should remain relatively unchanged.
PACKAGING SUPPLIERS/USER INDUSTRIES THE SHARED VISION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE ALL4PACK COMMUNITY
The issue of more responsible packaging
- User industries are virtually unanimous on the importance of using more environmentally friendly packaging materials: 88% of them see this issue as a priority.
- More than 50% of packaging suppliers believe that it is a major priority to use more environmentally friendly materials. French suppliers appear to be leading the way on the subject (100% see this issue as either a priority among others or a major priority).
Explanations and motives
- For user industries, consumer expectations (69%) are the primary reason leading to the use of more environmentally friendly materials, in particular in the food industry (83%). The benefits in terms of image (56%), regulatory changes (49%) and senior management wishes (35%) are the next most-cited reasons, in particular in large companies.
-On the supply side, the same three reasons top the podium, but with different results: at 71%, consumer expectations are the leading reason to adopt more environmentally friendly packaging materials.
Regulatory and legal changes arrive in second place (57%), followed by benefits in terms of image (55%). A great many French respondents consider that the issue of more environmentally friendly packaging material is a priority (average of 74% on the three first items).
Obstacles
-For user industries, the main obstacles to using more environmentally friendly packaging materials is clearly cost (66%), in particular in France (71%). To a lesser extent, availability (43%) and quality of materials (43%) also appear problematic for many companies.
- For suppliers, while the cost of materials is also the main obstacle to using more environmentally friendly packaging materials (57%), followed by the availability of materials (41%), the investment required to use these materials is the third most cited obstacle (29%), in particular for companies with 50 employees or more (40.5%).
Materials used
- For user industries, biomaterials are currently relatively little-used (14.8%). Paper/cardboard (86%) and plastic (75.8%) remain the norm. Glass is today particularly used in the food industry (34.7%).
- On the supply side, there is a still quite low number of producers of packaging made from biomaterials (22.9%), compared with suppliers of plastic packaging (69.9%) and paper/cardboard packaging (62.7%).
Materials of the future
- In the next two years, many user industries expect to reduce the use of plastic (34%) but the material is still unlikely to disappear: 74% of them still expect to use it. The use of biomaterials should in parallel see a strong increase (39% expect to start using them), and that of paper-cardboard should also rise (48% expect to use more). With the exception of plastic, all packaging materials are on the increase in the food sector.
- Among the survey respondents, the number of producers of packaging made from biomaterials is still quite low compared with suppliers of plastic and paper-cardboard packaging. A large number of packaging users expect to reduce their use of plastic (28%) but few will stop using it altogether (3.6%). The use of biomaterials should logically increase (56.6%,), just like the use of paper-cardboard should increase (66.3%) to meet the expectations of user industries. The supply of biomaterials should increase more in the food market, with 64% expecting to use this material in the coming two years (compared with 24% who use it currently).