Packaging and the environment

Although concern for the environment goes back many years (1965 in the USA, 1973 for the European Community's first action program), it was the Arche Summit in Paris in 1989 that marked the start of a great international ecological crusade, in which packaging often plays the role of revealer, sometimes scapegoat.

Revealing, because packaging, an indicator of the standard of living in industrialized countries, is seen by some as the fateful corollary of a civilization of mass consumption.

A scapegoat, because although packaging is visually and effectively a pollutant, it actually accounts for only 2% of the waste produced in Europe (between 1.4% and 3.5% depending on the country).

From an environmental point of view, packaging presents two major constraints:

• Firstly, it is produced from terrestrial resources (raw materials and energy) which, for the most part, are non-renewable or are becoming increasingly difficult to renew, while the global population explosion and rising living standards are leading to ever-greater demand for packaging;

• What's more, after use, the packaging clutters up nature. If left untreated, it could, in time, cause permanent damage through its volume and the pollution it could itself generate.

But before being harmful, packaging is useful, necessary, indispensable.

Without minimizing or neglecting its influence on the planet's environment, we must remember that it is indispensable to mankind.

Packaging helps reduce waste (food and other products).

In countries with an average per capita consumption of between 150 and 250 kg per year, food losses are estimated at between 1 and 3%; in countries with a per capita consumption of between 50 and 150 kg per year, losses can reach 30%; and according to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), up to 50% of agricultural and food products can disappear in developing countries due to a lack of adequate packaging.

Packaging protects health and enhances safety. By eliminating the risk of microbiological contamination, enabling preservation in suitable environments, guaranteeing asepsis for pharmaceutical and medical products, and increasing safety in the face of dangerous products, packaging enables people to live longer and better.

Packaging optimizes the use of resources. For example, individualized doses avoid wasting products that are not consumed at the time, and which may subsequently deteriorate; industrialized processing (such as of fruit, vegetables or chicken) allows by-products to be used (for animal feed, for example)....