Inexperienced Ideas: Sustainable packaging predictions for 2012

My green crystal ball
reveals five aspects to keep tabs on.

By Bob Lilienfeld, guest columnist and Editor, The ULS Report

It’s almost the New Year, so it’s time for a little
sustainable packaging prognostication. Here are my predictions regarding key
issues and trends:

Energy Recovery – With Waste Management moving from building
landfills to mining them, energy recovery (i.e, “waste to energy”) from food
scraps, paper and plastic will finally start being broadly accepted. This is
especially good news for the plastics industry, since energy recovery is
technically a form of recycling. It’s also great news for food retailers, since
about 50% of their waste is agricultural. Now, it will hit the recyclable
column and make a huge contribution to their zero waste initiatives.

Biopolymers – Growing awareness that compostability and
biodegradability are largely technical labels, rather than actual recycling
options, will put a damper on biopolymer growth.  There will also be a growing list of states
looking to legislate and regulate the use of these terms. Consumer backlash is
also possible.

Extended Package/Producer Responsibility – With increased
acceptance of energy recovery as a recycling option, EPR pressures should begin
to decline. This is very much in line with the history of the German Green Dot
program. Once energy recovery options were added to less-than-hoped-for results
within traditional recycling methodologies, Klaus Toepfer and the Ministry of
the Environment declared success.

Waste Reduction – As the material-neutral AMERIPEN organization
ramps up its efforts, it will do what the material-focused trade associations
can’t: promote the fact that sustainable packaging — regardless of whether it
is paper, plastic, glass or metal — reduces waste by insuring that the
products it contains are stored, transported, distributed, and consumed
efficiently.

Value Chain Perspective – I wrote about this in a previous
column, touting ITW’s Sustainable Packaging Group as a pioneer in the quest to
deliver large scale, value chain-wide material and energy savings. Look for
other industry leaders, like Sealed Air, to follow. It just makes good business
sense.

Robert
M. Lilienfeld is a Fox TV environmental commentator and Editor of The ULS (Use
Less Stuff) Report, a newsletter dedicated to conserving resources and reducing
waste. Along with Dr. William J. Rathje, he co-authored the book Use Less Stuff:
Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are and the 1995 landmark New York Times Op-Ed
piece entitled Six Enviro-Myths. His
website is
Use-less-stuff.com