Sustainable solutions: Going green in food and beverage packaging

Across the globe, the trend of 'going green' continues to grow. Since the rise of the LOHAS concept in the early 2000, sustainable living has spread to all aspects of society including agriculture, power, buildings, and even to interior design and development like the recent popularity of the Tiny House Movement.

In Asia, many countries have risen to the challenge with different country-specific initiatives such as Singapore's 'Saving Gaia' and its Green Label Scheme (Hong Kong has its own version), Indonesia's Ekolabel, Taiwan's Green Mark, and China's Environmental Labeling Program.

This phenomenon in Asia is expected to see continued growth as more countries recognise the importance of incorporating green growth strategies and environmental considerations into their national development plans to foster sustainability¹.

These governmental efforts have, in turn, furthered the rise of green consumerism in Asia as consumers are now more aware of the impact their purchases have on the environment, leading many to ascribe greater value to sustainably-produced products.

Green packaging, green Singapore

In Singapore's effort to recognise the scarcity of natural resources as well as higher levels of air pollution from the annual haze in recent years, the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015 (SSB 2015) was developed by the National Environment Agency (NEA).

The SSB 2015 aims to overcome resource constraints by advocating a greener economy through conscious efforts to reduce pollution and improve the global environmental climate from within.

Businesses have a part to play in this national vision by adopting green technologies and designs through the prudent use of our limited resources in products ranging from automobiles and home appliances to daily consumables.

Food and beverage packaging industry is no exception to these growing concerns and initiatives towards sustainability. In 2013, Singapore managed to successfully recycle approximately 60% out of 7.85 million tons of waste generated².

Businesses have also demonstrated their commitment towards reducing packaging waste by volunteering to be a part of the Singapore Packaging Agreement (SPA). Over 160 signatories across different sectors have pledged to reduce packaging waste to one-third of domestic waste.

In 2014, the signatories cumulatively reduced about 20,000 tons of packaging waste and saved more than S$44 million. To continue the good progress, the second phase of SPA – which was originally valid until June 2015 – has been extended for another 5 years until 2020³.

As part of the nation's waste management effort, the SPA and SSB 2015 together intend to extract more value from waste, giving a new lease of life for materials that are recyclable⁴.

When considering the sustainability of a product, a number of factors come into play, including its carbon footprint as well as how it is produced, shipped, and packaged, the latter of which is sometimes deemed by consumers as 'wasteful'. After all, once foods or beverages are consumed, the packaging itself is discarded.

Yet, the primary concern in the industry is actually the spoilage and waste of food itself. As the International Food Information Council estimated, as much as 40% of available food products spoil before they reach hungry mouths in developing countries.

But when you consider packaging's primary roles – to protect and preserve food – it becomes clear that it already aids the nation's waste management effort by preventing the immense amount of potential food waste.

On top of this, by putting only a little more effort and responsibility into making the packaging itself sustainable, food and beverage packaging would be contributing to the environment on both sides – reduced food waste and also recyclable packaging.

The primary stages of implementing sustainable production and packaging can occasionally incur additional costs and this can deter businesses that are cost-sensitive from adopting the use of green packaging to contribute in waste elimination.

However, green concepts can effectively improve the efficiency of a business, actually saving production costs in the long run. Particularly in the food and beverage businesses, by using 100% recyclable packaging materials such as metal cans, manufacturers are not only able to save costs on the raw material itself but also the energy costs of making new packaging from scratch.

Taking part in the green movement not only benefits society and the manufacturing process, but ultimately responds to the growing demand of sustainable products from the consumers in Singapore. Having an environmentally-responsible image will be received positively by domestic consumers and leads to repeated purchases.

Knowing the consumers

A recent Nielsen survey revealed that the escalating cost of living in Singapore over the past year has shaped consumers, making them increasingly price-sensitive, with over 62% of Singaporeans observing caution in household expenses⁵. Many have developed a strong inclination towards making value-for-money purchases, with 43% opting for affordable grocery brands.

However, other studies have also indicated that eco-conscious consumers are wielding their purchasing power by choosing environmentally responsible products over others if available: in Singapore, despite heightened price-sensitivity, 72% of consumers claimed that they are willing to pay price premiums of up to 11% on average for green-certified items⁶.

In response, product manufacturers are proactively applying for green label certifications and external validation for their environmental efforts such as Energy Star, Safer Choice, and Fairtrade labels to give domestic consumers the true "value" for their purchases.

With greater measures being taken by the public and private sectors to safeguard the nation's environmental climate, Singapore has witnessed a shift from an environmentally apathetic consumer base to one that understands how consumer action can impact the environment without requiring motivation from monetary incentive to recycle⁷.

Consumers are now able to check relevant information regarding the environmental impact of each product and brand by means of recycling logos, green labels, QR codes, and also annual sustainability reports by companies.

At the same time, more consumers are looking into organic and green product sections in grocery stores every day. Just as shoppers look for energy efficiency index labels when buying a washing machine or refrigerator, it is common to spot consumers in supermarkets reading labels and looking for environmental certifications on product packaging.

The true definition of recyclable packaging

The key to green packaging is to use materials that can be easily recycled themselves because while many types of packaging claim to be sustainable, the exact content of the packaging material – or how it can be efficiently recycled – is often not revealed to the public.

It will be helpful for consumers to make purchase decisions if brands and manufacturers emphasise the sustainability of their product packaging more so that the information is transparent and easily found. It is also important for consumers to be educated about what the true definition of 'recyclable' packaging is – being able to return to store shelves as exactly the same product as it was before without any loss in the quality of the material.

There are also other areas where manufacturers could go further, such as responsible sourcing of raw materials, or reducing the amount of additional labeling and packaging, which can hinder the recycling process.

The concept of recycling and making environmental-friendly purchases was once considered a luxury, but the saying no longer rings true, especially since developing nations in Asia have become rapidly urbanised in the past decade.

Developed Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan, and Korea are already in line with the global environmental standards in many ways – from green consumerism to sustainable manufacturing processes.

With greater commitment from the government in place – from the SSB 2015 to new metal recovery facilities – organisations and individuals in Singapore are strongly pushing the purchase and use of green products. In turn, these initiatives from various sectors drives brands to use environmentally-friendly packaging materials to enable responsible economic development that prevents the fast depletion of Singapore's limited resources.

¹ https://www.asiafoundation.org/in-asia/2015/02/11/trends-that-will-shape-asias-economic-future-part-2/
² https://www.mewr.gov.sg/ssb/files/ssb-c04.pdf
³ https://www.nea.gov.sg/energy-waste/3rs/singapore-packaging-agreement
⁴ https://www.greenbusiness.sg/2014/07/27/singapores-first-dedicated-facility-to-recover-metals-from-incineration-bottom-ash-to-be-built-press-release/
⁵ https://www.nielsen.com/sg/en/press-room/2015/singapore-consumer-confidence-index-dropped-one-point-in-second-quarter-2015.html
⁶ https://www.tuv-sud-psb.sg/opportunities.aspx
⁷ https://www.euromonitor.com/consumer-lifestyles-in-singapore/report