We can thank Wal-Mart for being a big bully and forcing their suppliers to reduce packaging, thereby reducing shipping costs. If it weren’t for Wal-Mart, we wouldn’t even have concentrated detergent. But what is happening with the packages for products that don’t grace the shelves of the mega store? Is there any way for stores (buyers) to even know what packaging the products are coming in? Is there any way for the consumer to know if the packaging is putting off toxic gases, or was produced by forced child labor in some third-world country?
Here are the problems tracking packaging: First, packaging is produced from a variety of materials such as cardboard, plastics, metals, etc., and similar products may use different packaging. Different sizes of the same products may also use completely different packaging.
Second, packaging doesn’t really come from the maker of the product, it comes from companies called “converters”, so the product manufacturer’s focus is not on the packaging at all. The converters determine the best way to package the product, tying into the product manufacturer’s marketing scheme. Converters do not sell packaging in the consumer marketplace, they sell it to brand owners and retailers who then put their products into the packaging and then into the market. Consumers may look to the retailers and brand owners for information or control of the packaging, but they don’t typically have the answers.
Third, sustainability, toxicity, and fair labor are not usual concerns for a product manufacturer or retailer when they are thinking about packaging. Plus, there has not been any way to track such things. Since packaging is often disposed of after the use or delivery of a product, a common perception is that packaging is largely waste.
So finally we have the Sustainability Packaging Project in the U.S. (and the International Global Packaging Project in France) which have come up with a matrix for rating the sustainability of packaging. It ranks packaging on 8 criteria: Material Use, Energy Use, Water Use, Material Health, Clean Production & Transportation, Cost & Performance, Community Impact and Worker Impact. Each of these criterion are broken down into categories.
The Material Use criterion includes: raw material reduction, material waste, virgin vs. recycled content. It even takes it a step further by defining percentages of post-consumer recycled content vs. post-industrial.
Probably the most unusual criteria for a sustainability matrix are Community Impact and Worker Impact. The Community Impact criterion includes: Product safety and recalls, recycling and reuse, landfills, shelf-life and community investment. The Worker Impact criterion includes: Child labor, forced or compulsory labor, collective bargaining and freedom of association, discrimination, excessive work hours, remuneration, occupational health, safety performance and responsible workplace practices.
As product “converters” begin to produce packaging, they will be individually ranked according to these protocols. Manufacturers, Consumers and Retailers will begin to become aware of the rankings. Eventually, many groups, manufactureres, retailers, and governmental bodies will demand certain ratings for products. This is one of the goals of the Global Packaging Project.
