Food & Drink Processing & Packaging - Issue 30 2020

Page 16

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


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