Balancing packaging safety, security and sustainability post COVID-19 Comment from Nigel Flowers, Managing Director, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag UK Around the world, health has taken priority over sustainability. As we begin to cautiously emerge from the pandemic, Nigel Flowers, Managing Director of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag examines how brands can move forward with their sustainable packaging initiatives and discusses the consumer behaviours and attitudes towards single use packaging that may stick around in the foreseeable future. In the early days of the COVID-19, sentiments towards sustainability diminished. Although this was anticipated to be a short-term shift, concerns around hygiene, sanitation, crossinfection and the protection of health took priority. Initiatives like bring your own containers and resusable coffee cups were suspended. Substrate choices veered back to the ‘perceived’ enemy plastic. The big question facing packaging producers now is how much consumers in the future will be prepared to trade off product safety, security and hygiene against sustainability and whether there
the market has been moving more
machine and tooling give the optimum
towards novelty solutions that improve
blend of speed, quality and consistency.
performance, functionality and shelf impact.
NEW EXPECTATIONS Until March, eschewing plastic was
is a middle ground. Most companies operating in this
the campaign of the day. The tide was
For several decades now light-weighting
competitive arena produce millions of
turning. And I’m in no doubt that public
and consumer convenience have given
packaging containers, caps and closures
rallying for circular packaging will resume
packaging manufacturers the strong
every year. Volume, raw material waste
in the next six months. Attitudes and
commercial incentive to do more with
and precision are fundamental to each
actions will inevitably shift again.
less. No strangers to responding to
packaging manufacturers’ financial
demographic and lifestyle changes and
viability, with many facilities operating
What this pandemic has clearly illustrated
balancing a wide range of variables,
20+ machines to meet supplier demand.
however, is the context in which decisions about packaging need to be made.
including cost, increased strength, recycle rates and functional requirements,
To successfully succeed in the thin
Exploiting people’s fears about reinfection
lightweight formats have become the
walling arena, injection moulders need
and sanitation should not be used as an
industry norm. Especially in food and
to examine every potential application to
argument to revert or redefine legislation.
medical packaging. More recently,
ensure that the selection of materials,
Understandably, the UK’s ban on plastic
16 FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk