Written by the team at Flexible Packaging Association, a PSI Partner, this blog examines a flexible packaging through an EPR lens.
Our global society continues to face environmental challenges that are complex and simply too threatening to ignore. Collectively, we’re responsible for undoing—and preventing more of—the damage that lifetimes of pollution and waste mismanagement have caused to our planet, an almost overwhelming task that can feel far out of our grasp. Several methods have been tried—and ultimately failed— leading many of us to wonder if there’s a better way. California is set to try two right now. First, a product ban on plastic e-commerce packaging (AB2026), which is a band-aid that has been tried before (think, plastic bags and straws) and did not solve the problem. Not only do bans not solve the problem, it leads to other negative environmental consequences; in this case increased greenhouse gas emissions from the transport of heavier e-commerce packaging materials and increased waste from breakage and returns of items that were shipped in alternative packaging types that cannot protect the product. Another is SB54, which would be a holistic extended producer responsibility program, covering all packaging types, investing in the modernization of California’s collection, recycling and composting infrastructure, and enabling circularity for packaging. FPA believes the latter is the solution.
Flexible packaging is more durable, light, and protective than many alternative packaging options, which are the hallmarks of sustainability. Flexible packaging is more resource-efficient than many other packaging options because production requires less water and energy, and production and transportation result in less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While other packaging types may be more readily accepted at recycling centers, they offer fewer protections for consumer products, especially food, while ultimately being more expensive and less sustainable to produce. Flexible packaging helps to extend the shelf life of food products—the number one contributor to landfills and GHG emissions—through protection from sunlight, bacteria, odors, moisture, damage from the transportation process, and more. Additionally, flexible packaging optimizes volume and weight to maximize storage and transportation efficiency while reducing the amount of packaging waste in need of end-of-life management. Increasing efficiency and reducing packaging waste results in source reduction—the most effective, environmentally preferred method of addressing excess waste.
Still, there remains a problem—what do we do with flexible packaging waste? A solution does already exist with an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) approach, a policy in which producers’ shoulder some of the financial and operational responsibility to modernize our current recycling and composting systems. A well-crafted EPR system would provide the investment needed to expanded curbside recycling options for families looking to act more sustainably and more packaging material would be collected, processed and available for manufacturers use to incorporate post-consumer recycled content into new packaging. Consumers would also benefit from harmonization of programs across the state and region, instead of the myriad of different local recycling programs that currently exist. Finally, everyone would benefit from fewer carbon emissions and the use of natural resources as we work together to reduce packaging and plastic pollution and preserve our planet for future generations.
Many features of a well-crafted EPR plan are set for inclusion in California’s SB54, which will be debated in the state legislature in the coming weeks. Should SB 54 be signed into law by Governor Newsom, it would represent a significant leap towards responsible, effective plastic waste management while allowing producers and consumers to continue using and not ban an important packaging format—flexible packaging.
This blog represents the views of the Flexible Packaging Association, a Product
Stewardship Institute partner.