Many consumers consider it an environmentally friendly behaviour to avoid food products in packaging. They are worried about the packaging’s impact on our climate. But in fact, packaging only plays a minor role in the big CO2 picture.

Would you prefer a pot of prawns in a packaging with a lesser carbon footprint to a pot of prawns with an average emission of CO2? If yes, you belong to the majority of the consumers. According to a recent survey from AC Nielsen, 75 per cent would choose a product over another if it shows a clear reduction in packaging.

However, there seems to be a misplaced emphasis on packaging, as massive CO2 emissions derive from other parts in a product’s lifecycle. Packaging is just a fraction of the total carbon footprint. Talking about the pot of prawns, there’s the prawn fishing, filling and distribution of products, the point of sales, the consumer’s drive to and from the supermarket and the cooking, just to mention a few. It all contributes to a whole lifecycle carbon footprint. The plastic packaging is indeed a one in a crowd.

Private driving beats packaging
Several players have an influence on the carbon footprint of a product. The most important player, however, is probably the end-user. All indications suggest that the drive by car from home to the supermarket and back has a far more heavy impact on a product’s carbon footprint than the production of the packaging.

Save cheese packaging or cheese
Another important issue is food waste which is a growing problem. We eat a lot in industrialised countries, but there’s also a lot that we don’t eat. Consumers throw away tons of food every year and may not have in mind that food waste produces three times more carbon than packaging. This is an indisputable burden to our climate. Actually, packaging contributes to reduced food waste. If it wasn’t for packaging, we would have to throw away even more food as the shelf life is much longer when the product is properly packed, at the food store and at home.

The CO2 Calculator
We all have to take responsibility and try to contribute to the fight against climate change; this goes for consumers and businesses alike. Superfos is accepting the challenge: Being Europe’s largest manufacturer of injection moulded plastic packaging the company has developed a CO2 calculator to work out the amount of CO2 emissions of each packaging solution. Communication manager Annette Gottsche says about this new tool:

“The CO2 calculator helps us to meet the increasing demands for sustainable behaviour in the entire manufacturing supply chain. The goal is to reach lower CO2 emissions through green innovations. Though our packaging accounts for only a minor percentage of an average product’s total CO2 emission, there is still room for improvement and we are constantly working on them. Precise calculations give us a head start for working on our own emissions and assisting our customers in making the right sustainable decisions.” She continues:

“Our CO2 calculator covers the processes influenced by us, from raw material extraction to our factory gate. All processes are mapped and the users can enter details on choice of raw material, location of production and logistics. It has cross boarder functionality, because the calculation methods take into account that different countries have different regulations and systems for energy and waste management.”

No common standard
In 2009, the CO2 calculator was adjusted to fit the standard PAS2050 and is now certified by Carbon Trust. The standard is a specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services.

”We lean on this independent organisation which was set up by the British government to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy now and develop commercial low carbon technologies for the future. We encourage all our valued competitors in the packaging industry as well as our customers to follow the calculation methods set up by Carbon Trust. This would make the calculation results more comparable,” says Annette Gottsche.

It all adds up
Superfos is committed to reduce CO2, even if packaging is only a part of the big picture. Annette Gottsche gives an example:

“The use of virgin plastic is environmentally expensive according to our calculations, so we are focusing on various ways to reduce the need for virgin material. One calculation showed that if other materials (for instance natural fillers) replace 10 per cent of the virgin Polypropylene in a certain packaging, about 7 grams of CO2 would be saved on each container. This may not sound impressive on its own; but added up to a million containers it equals 7 tons saved CO2 or the CO2 emission from an average car driving all the way around the world – more than two times.”

“Alleviating the carbon footprint of a packaging unit by a few grams does have a huge impact on the carbon footprint because our customers use our packaging solutions in multitudes,” she points out.

Sustainable packaging
“We do it the sustainable way and take our corporate responsibility in this area very seriously. What you do not measure, you cannot control. Superfos is working on reducing its own CO2 emissions and on improving its own business. We want to do our share - even though plastic packaging is far from playing a key role in a product’s life cycle CO2 emissions. Market trends are clear and Superfos is responding with sustainable solutions,” Annette Gottsche concludes.