Is Sustainable Packaging Bad For The Environment? Statistics, Trends & Facts

"Reduce, reuse, recycle" are the actual three words of love our planet Earth wants to hear. And we think we're contributing to this mission as we drop that paper coffee cup in the recycling bin. Yet the cold, hard fact is that only 1 in 400 paper cups are recycled in the UK each year! 

Therefore, this raises the question: "Is sustainable packaging truly effective in reducing waste?" Or is sustainable packaging bad for the environment at the end of the day? There's only one way to know, and it's a deep research. Let's dive in. 

Sustainable packaging uses materials and methods which minimise environmental impact throughout the product's lifecycle. The 3 key aspects of sustainable packaging include:

While these three aspects theoretically allow many packaging materials to meet the sustainability criteria, the reality may not be as clear. In fact, many corporations use recyclability and sustainability of packaging as marketing tactics, often without delivering on their promises.

Some companies also state that their products are sustainable because they either contain or are made of recycled plastics, forgetting to mention that those plastics are as toxic for the environment as their "eco-unfriendly" alternatives. 

All that can hardly be called sustainable, of course. But what can, you may ask?

True sustainability generally refers to practices and systems that can be maintained indefinitely without depleting resources or causing environmental harm. This concept typically encompasses the environmental, economic, social, and technological aspects. 

From this perspective, sustainable packaging should be designed for durability and reusability. This will eliminate or drastically reduce the need for frequent replacements and minimise waste. This process is called upcycling. 

Therefore, using renewable (wood), infinitely recyclable (aluminium and steel), and natural, biodegradable materials like banana leaves as packaging materials can offer unique and true sustainability benefits. 

There are a number of sustainable packaging material types available. Choosing a certain material often depends on the specific product requirements, local recycling infrastructure, and overall goals of the company. 

There are also innovative packaging materials emerging to the industry, such as milk protein (casein), coconut husks, and limestone-based materials. Casein-based films are proven to be 500 times better than plastics or starch at barriering food from oxygen. They are also biodegradable, sustainable, and edible.

Coconut husks are high in lignin, a natural enduring and sturdy polymer which can be considered a plastics alternative. Derived from coconut shells, it can assist in reducing waste from coconut processing as they can be used as disposable or resusable bowls.

Limestone-based materials are a base for LIMEX, which is a recyclable alternative to plastic. Made with 60% of limestone and 40% of polyolefin, LIMEX reduces the reliance on petroleum-based plastics by up to 33%. 

The environmental impact of sustainable packaging stretches beyond its production and disposal. While there are certainly environmental benefits, some challenges and trade-offs are coming along. 

Manufacturing sustainable packaging typically uses renewable resources such as plant-based materials. These are bioplastics (starch, cellulose, PLA), bamboo, bagasse, hemp, and mycelium (the root structure of mushrooms). This results in several core advantages:

There's a process called lifecycle analysis (LCA) that assesses the environmental impact of packaging, from raw materials to end-of-life disposal. LCA usually involves 5 main phases:

Key LCA metrics include:

Let's take a paper cup's lifecycle to better understand the process. 

Trees are taken down from forests, and wood is turned into pulp in paper mills. By using chemistry (cationic starch, PAM derivatives, or synthetic strength resins and such) to increase fibre strength, less raw material can be required.

Paperboard is made from pulp. Chemical recycling processes guarantee the materials' stiffness, strength, and water-repellent qualities. Boards are designed to be produced at high speeds—up to hundreds of tonnes every day.

Forming cups is done with the help of fast-converting devices (about 330 cups per minute). Chemistry allows for the essential stiffness and elasticity in low-weight boards. The exact application of pressure and heat forms cups. Cups are printed and coated to make them resistant to liquids. Designs for branding and marketing are used.

Distributed cups are given to food service businesses. A single-use application for hot or cold beverages offers thermal insulation, hygienic conditions, and safety.

In an ideal world, these cups get recycled. They're collected, sorted, and put through a process that strips away inks and coatings. The plastic lining is filtered out, and the remaining fibres are given a new lease on life, often reincarnating as materials for non-food products.

Of course, not all cups meet this eco-friendly fate. Some might end up being burned for energy, while others – if they're of a special compostable variety – could nourish the soil in industrial composting facilities. Unfortunately, many still find their way to landfills, a less-than-ideal end to their journey.

As a rule, sustainable packaging is less toxic than traditional packaging. However, it's crucial to understand that not all sustainable packaging is non-toxic. The materials used, production processes, and end-of-life management all influence the toxicity of the packaging material. 

Compostable and bio-based materials, in fact, might contain toxic substances that pose environmental and health risks.

For example, compostable plastic packaging, often called an eco-friendly alternative to plastic, sadly contains toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS), also known as "forever chemicals." While these chemicals are good at repelling water and grease in food packaging, they are also linked to serious health problems, including cancer, liver problems, thyroid issues, birth defects, kidney disease, and decreased immunity. 

A peer-reviewed study found that PFAS chemicals can migrate to food and drinks when they break off from the packaging. 

Another study revealed that the degradation of compostable plastics boosts their toxicity. When exposed to the sun, compostable and biodegradable plastics showed increased toxicity compared to conventional plastics. This means that the degradation and composting of biodegradable plastics can also form harmful compounds, such as dicarboxylic acid and toxic leachates, which are released then into the environment. 

As for paper and cardboard, research by the Swedish Chemicals Agency found that 80% of paper and cardboard food packaging contained toxic chemicals such as endocrine disruptors like DEHP, DBP, and BPA.

Hazardous substances were found in bio-based food contact materials (FCMs), which are made from plant biomass, despite their eco-friendly image. These chemicals can originate from various sources, including raw materials, production processes, or even during use. 

The presence of polluted soils, pesticides, and additives in the production chain can significantly increase the number and diversity of substances in the final product. Concerningly, many products marketed as "eco-friendly" or "natural" have been discovered to contain plastic coatings, pesticide residues, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and phthalates.

Many legal requirements and certifications are in place to guarantee the security and non-toxicity of sustainable packaging:

Of course you can! However, recyclability depends on the specific materials used and the local recycling infrastructure, as not all regions have the infrastructure to recycle all types of sustainable packaging.

On top of that, multi-layer or composite materials (e.g., laminates) are often difficult to recycle due to the challenge of separating different materials. Only pure PE film can currently be recycled and reused to make new packaging film. Recycled PE cannot be used for food packaging due to regulatory restrictions.

With 73% of consumers stating they want to change their purchasing habits to reduce environmental impact, companies are forced to adopt greener practices. Educating consumers about proper disposal and recycling methods is essential to maximise the environmental benefits of sustainable packaging. 

Additionally, transparency in labelling helps consumers make informed choices, fostering a culture of sustainability.

It's also important to note that recyclability rates vary greatly depending on local recycling infrastructure and consumer behaviour. 

For example, Germany, Austria and Slovenia take the lead among the EU countries in recycling. The economic strength and bigger investment in recycling over the past 35 years are the core reasons why Germany and Austria have high recycling rates. 

Slovenia, despite being not as economically strong as the 2 abovementioned countries and joining the EU as late as 2004, achieved impressive recycling rates due to the early adoption of waste management strategies and technological innovation. Ljubljana, the capital, became Europe's first capital to declare becoming a Zero Waste city in 2014. 

Slovenia's waste management educational incentives started in the early 2000s, most probably as part of Slovenia's efforts to join the European Union. In 2002, Ljubljana started setting up roadside bins for separate paper, glass, and packaging collections. This marked the beginning of serious efforts to tackle waste management issues. In 2006, local authorities began collecting biodegradable waste door-to-door.

However, countries like Kosovo, Montenegro, and Romania hold the lowest recycling rates. They have limited infrastructure for collecting, sorting, and processing recyclable materials. Kosovo, in particular, doesn't comply with EU standards by allowing waste disposal in landfills that lack adequate liners, methane capture systems, and recycling facilities. 

In addition, 99% of Kosovo's waste is sent to landfills, and there's no "pay as you throw" system; households pay a fixed monthly fee for waste collection and disposal.

Therefore, while sustainable materials might be widely used and appraised, their eco-friendliness depends on the effectiveness of each country's waste management system. 

It's important to understand that sustainable packaging can be biodegradable, but not all sustainable packaging is biodegradable. Therefore, sustainability and biodegradability are not interchangeable. 

Microorganisms can break down biodegradable packaging made of cornstarch, mushrooms, seaweed, and paper into water, CO2, and biomass, usually within a year.

There's also compostable packaging, which can break down into non-toxic components but needs specific conditions to break down properly. 

On top of that, some sustainable packaging isn't designed to be biodegradable but rather recycled. 

Eco-friendly packaging is made to be as low-impact as possible during its entire life, including when it comes to disposal. Nonetheless, there are appropriate methods for managing and getting rid of various kinds of eco-friendly packaging materials:

Recycling: A lot of eco-friendly packaging materials can be recycled. For detailed details, see your community's recycling regulations. Packaging made of paper and cardboard can frequently be recycled using regular recycling processes. Certain polymers, such as PET and HDPE, are widely recyclable.

Composting: A variety of environmentally friendly packaging materials, particularly those derived from plants, can be broken down into compost. Verify whether the packaging is approved for composting and adhere to any regional composting regulations.

Reuse: A few eco-friendly packaging options are made to be used more than once. Before throwing out containers or bags, think about another use for them.

Making crafts or storing them out of old containers is a great repurposing option to allow the packaging to serve longer.

Returning packaging is an emerging policy companies are adopting to show responsibility for their products' end-of-life use. For example, Lush, a skincare brand, offers incentives for returning empty plastic pots in exchange for free products in its Bring It Back recycling program.

Elevate Packaging provides a biodegradable packaging take-back program. Used compostables can be returned by customers, and a network of partner composters will process them after that. The goal of this initiative is to decrease landfill waste and boost involvement in composting.

Over the course of a year, if consumers opted to drink soda in PET plastic bottles rather than glass ones, it would be comparable to:

Over the course of a year, if people in the UK decide to drink soda in PET plastic bottles rather than aluminium cans, it would be the same as:

A 355 ml aluminium can of normal capacity in comparison to a 500 ml PET plastic water bottle:

Compared to aluminium cans, glass bottles contribute to global warming by approximately 95%.

Emissions from the production of plastic:

Sustainable packaging is good, but can it get even better? Any sustainable alternative shouldn't compromise the full lifecycle impact of a material, including production, transportation, use and end-of-life disposal. Here are some options to consider:

It's worth noticing that reduced packaging usage is one of the best ways to improve sustainability and promote a circular economy. 

However, while seeking more sustainable packaging alternatives requires a good deal of research and critical thinking, reducing packaging consumption is mainly about changing our consumer behaviour and patterns. Therefore, simply using less and being mindful of our choices can significantly reduce waste and conserve resources. 

Other packaging innovations complement these recycling advancements. Active packaging, incorporating oxygen scavengers and moisture absorbers, extends product shelf life, while antimicrobial properties eradicate bacteria. Portion control packaging reduces over-consumption and food waste by dispensing specific amounts. Additionally, developing biodegradable and compostable options expands the range of sustainable materials available.