The Second Sustainable Packaging Forum Draws Many Designers Eager to Learn

The second annual Sustainable Packaging Forum was held September 26-28 in St. Paul, MN. Among the 350 attendees were over 70 brand-owners and retailers. Many participants, including Fruit of the Loom, Best Buy, and distillery Brown-Forman, said they are now fitting sustainable packaging policies into corporate-wide product and distribution efforts. Many came seeking clearer direction on how sustainable packaging can be defined within the larger umbrella of sustainability and how far a company must go to change its internal thought processes.

Tyler Elm, Wal-Mart's senior director of corporate strategy and business sustainability, challenged the company's supply base to explore sustainable packaging as a linchpin to drive profits and reduce costs. He claimed sustainability is "a business strategy that seeks to derive economic value with the pursuit of social and environmental outcomes." He backed up his words as he revealed Wal-Mart's strategy to offer an online sustainable packaging "Scorecard" that would rank suppliers on a variety of algorithm-based metrics and reward Wal-Mart buyers with bonuses for generating supplier cost savings from sustainable packaging solutions.

A show of hands during Elm's presentation revealed about half of the audience was already engaged in packaging initiatives with the retailer. Some of those companies will need to redouble efforts with Wal-Mart to remain preferred suppliers. Elm outlined the company's plan to launch its online sustainable packaging scorecard with 2,000 private-brand suppliers in November and roll it out to all Wal-Mart suppliers by February, 2007. By 2008, the company will begin tracking scores on a variety of sustainability metrics.

Panelist Paul Earl-Torniainen, senior packaging engineer/leader with Minneapolis-based General Mills, stressed that it is a fallacy to believe that sustainability is a key in most consumers' purchasing. He said that companies should focus attention on such projects as upstream environmental impact, designing products with reduced or recycled materials, and on working with the supply chain.

Executives from organizations where sustainable business practices are already embedded in the corporate culture boldly made the point that sustainability is a corporate approach that must permeate all operations not just the pursuit of such limited goals as exploring the use of bioresins or engaging in recycling. That theme was echoed repeatedly throughout the event, underlining a goal by the conference organizers to increase awareness throughout the packaging industry that sustainability and sustainable packaging are two very different elements and must be embraced by package suppliers, brand-owners, and retailers across all functional areas in a tactical and strategic total-systems approach.

Anne Johnson, executive director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, remarked that "There are no magic bullets when it comes to sustainable packaging." Other top packaging professionals seconded her statement by agreeing that efforts toward sustainability require real work but would result in significant reward. Johnson said the first steps in developing sustainability strategies are education and information. That idea was backed by a panel of eight professionals who shared their thoughts on the forces of change shaping the future of sustainability and sustainable packaging.

Kirstin Ritchie, director, environmental claims, for Scientific Certification Systems, Emeryville, CA, pointed out that there is a serious problem with the marketing of many so-called environmentally friendly or sustainable products that could be solved by following a simple maxim: "If you don't have validated data or recognized certifications, don't make the claim." She declared that a growing list of materials and packages are making wildly exaggerated, inaccurate, or blatantly false claims that fly in the face of U.S. Federal Trade Commission guidelines. Ritchie noted that many of the worst offenders have come from those who claim to be to among the most sustainable companies.

Ritchie emphasized that because a structure includes recycled content does not make it environmentally preferable. She also helped those in attendance understand that using renewable-resource based materials or environmentally friendly feedstocks does not guarantee biodegradability or compostability. Another problem is claiming one package's material or structure is more environmentally preferable to that of a competitive material or structure, or that one is "the most sustainable." Ritchie pointed out that if environmental claims are made loosely or without merit, the company could risk enmity from consumers and the FTC. "Environmental claims are not considered free speech," Ritchie said. "The facts must support the claim."