Future pathways of fiber-based packaging sector · 2017. 12. 1. · • Paper and paperboard...

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Future pathways of fiber-based

packaging sector

Jaana Korhonen

Together with Atte Koskivaara, Anne Toppinen


• Introduction to the packaging sector

• Societal role of packaging, market trends, leading players,

supply chain trends, innovations.

• Fibre-based packaging sector in Finland and future

pathways of the bioeconomy?

Content


• Packaging sector market value expected to reach 975 billion US dollars by 2018 (Smithers Pira).

• In 2016, consumer packaging industry grew 1.9%, global retail demand for consumer packaging 3.4 trillion packs (Euromonitor)

• Main consumers: Asia 36%, NA 23 % Europe 22 % in 2012 (Smithers Pira)

• Main growers: India, China, Indonesia + Middle east and Saudi Arabia.

General trends and stats


The main sectors:

• Food and beverage sector uses 50-60% of the total markets of packaging materials (estimated 2 trillion packs in 2017, EM)

• On the second place is the health care and cosmetics.

The main producers:

• Paper and paperboard producers dominate with their 35 % market share

• Plastic producers the second

• Together they are about 70 % of the markets (Hetemäki 2014).

Leading players of the packaging sector

Role of

forest-based

bioeconomy


• "More from less“

• “A personal touch”

• “On the move”

• “Divergent

demographics”

• “iWorld”

(Olsmats & Kaivo-oja

2014).

Role of packaging in society

Bio-basedpackaging

Smart packaging

Reusablepackaging

Fiber-based

packaging

Degradablepackaging

Carbonfriendly

packaging

Zero packaging?


Important part of the market success..


Latest trends and innovations in

sustainable packaging

• The increasing importance of ethical

and environmental dimensions in

product choices regarding packaging

(Rokka & Uusitalo 2008)

• However, how does a requirement to

be sustainable align with the

functional attributes of fibre-based

packaging?

How and when to get rid of plastics?

Role of packaging in society

Fig. 3 Cumulative plastic waste generation and disposal (in million metric tons).

Roland Geyer et al. Sci Adv 2017;3:e1700782

Published by AAAS

Case: Sulapac

-100 % biobased and biodegradable product with

barrier characteristics.

-Made of wood and natural adhesives.

-The EU-wide regulation on the suitability of

packaging, stability and self tests

-LUXEPACK Green Award 2017, Green Alley

2017, Sustainable Beauty award 2017


Our study about the future pathways of the

fibre-based packaging sector

• 14 Semi-structure interviews, Finland

• Atte Koskivaara M.Sc. thesis / Co-adviced by Anne Toppinen

What “sustainable packaging” actually means?

• How does the different stakeholders understand the concept

bioeconomy?

• What kind of future development pathway the fibrebased packaging

sector is likely to follow?Category Number of interviewees

Industry representative 9

Government representative 1

Research representative 2

NGO representative 2

Implementation Pathways

Elements Technology-Based Approach Socio-Ecological Approach

Understanding of

sustainability

Sustainability as an implicit

result of the bioeconomy

Bioeconomy will contribute to

sustainability if certain

preconditions are met

Resource utilization Increased resource efficiency

due to new conversion

technologies (lower raw

material input per unit of

product)

Reduction of resource demand

by implementation of a

circular economy

Consumer behavior Technology will bridge

resource gaps, persistence of

today’s consumption patterns

Sufficiency approaches and

sustainable consumption

Innovation Technology leadership,

intellectual property (e.g.

patents) and multinational

companies

Promoting social innovations,

use of the local experience of

different stakeholders and tacit

knowledge of farmers

Participation Strong partnerships between

policy, science, and industry

Participation of civil society in

shaping and advancing a

bioeconomy

Priefer et al.

(2017)


What is bioeconomy?


• “I think that the bioeconomy is a sustainable form of

economy that uses natural resources sustainably,

creates wellbeing, jobs and tax revenue and keeps this

society going.”- Industry representative.

• Bioeconomy is a new type of

economic organization of the

entire society.

• Bioeconomy is an expanding

industrial sector.

Bioeconomy meaning

• “When the forest industry can, with their

own expertise and production replace a

resource that was formerly made out of

non-renewable material that can be called

bioeconomy” – Industry representative.

Bioeconomy = a marketing

term


• All the interviewers stated that the

bioeconomy needs to be properly

executed.

• “[…] when we use [bio]materials

in some manufacturing, we

cannot claim it to be undoubtedly

a good thing, but there is a

broader scale of preconditions

that needs to be fulfilled so that a

product’s whole life-cycle can

be evaluated whether it is

sustainable and sensible” –

Industry representative.

Sustainability


• 1. Renewable raw-material

• Forest certifications

• 2. Life cycle -perspective

• Cascading use of biomaterials and recycling

• 3. Circular economy an integral part of

bioeconomy

• 4. Trade-offs between

biomaterials and plastics

• 5. Locality

• 6.Product safety

Dimensions of sustainability regarding the

fibre-based packaging sector


• The substitution of oil a key

legitimization for biomass use.

• Forest-based bioeconomy was

highlighted.

• Resource scarcity was a global

problem but not an issue in

Finland.

• “[…] it [the origin of oil] has not

been questioned that much yet” –

NGO representative.

• “[…] as far as I know, resources

are not a problem. […] I would

like to see when we run out of

forests in this country”

Resource utilization


Consumer behaviour: cultural change

http://static.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/blackfridaytaetu

sk251116_uu.jpg

“[…] usually when a technology is being

introduced it affects consumer behavior

somehow. But how much change is needed is

more difficult to predict.

“We need a change in consumer behavior for people to

understand the importance of recycling. Because if we have

a bio based product that ends up in a landfill it is end of

game” – Industry representative

“The one who has the main responsibility in the

consumer behavior is actually the one who

creates the brand and the product image […]” –

Research representative.


Participation: Perception on future winners

and losers

Glass and somemetals

"Traditional, heavy package producers will be

losers in this game"

Used where they areessential

Good attributes of aluminum

Used with luxury products such as wine

Glass is fragile and heavy

Metals are heavy and expensive

Plasticpackaging

"Plastics will keep itscompetitiveness"

Cheap price

Barrier features

Easy to convert

Non-renewable

Bad image

Plastic waste problem

Strictening sustainability demands

Fiber-basedpackaging

"Today's fiber-based products, cardboards, paper boards and

moulded pulp will remaintheir competitiveness

Appreciation of sustainability

Domestic production

Political decisions

Sometimes difficult to convert

Disposable

Sufficiency of sustainablymanaged forests

Hybrid packaging”Combines especially features from fiber-based and plastic packaging in a way

that the products will be bio-based”

Broad range of applications

Bio-based materials

More complicated to recycle

Expensive in the beginning

“It won’t help in solving the plastic waste problem […] it [bio plastic] looks the same when it ends up in the ocean

and in the nature”- Industry representative.


Conclusions

Key attributes for sustainable packaging:

1. Renewability and traceability of material,

2. Product life-cycle design,

3. Circular economy and bioeconomy linkage (not infinite loops),

4. Understanding the tradeoffs between plastic and bio,

5. Locality,

6. Product safety.


The agreed positive influences of future development of the sector:

• Good image of forest-based fibre.

• Growing awareness toward ecological values.

The most agreed negative influences of future development of the sector:

• Bad image of harvesting of forests.

• Disposability.

Fibre-based packaging trends:

Bioeconomy in Finland“mutual ambition” (NGO representative)

Implementation Pathways

Elements Technology-Based

Approach

Socio-ecological

Approach

Understanding of

sustainability

Resource utilization

Consumer behavior

Innovation

Koskivaara (2017)


• Over representation of industry representatives

• Difficulties in finding interviewees with consumer knowledge about the

issues

• Interviewees’ understandings about the questions differed sometimes

and if the interviewer could not address them to right topics, they might

answer to wrong questions.

Limitations


• Euromonitor, EM. http://blog.euromonitor.com/2017/07/packaging-market-

2017.html

• Geyer, R.,Jambeck, J.R., Lavender Law, K. 2017. Production, use, and fate of

all plastics ever made. Science Advances 3 (7),

• Hetemäki, L., 2014. Future of the European Forest-Based Sector: Structural

Changes Towards Bioeconomy. European Forest Institute. 110 p.

• Priefer, C., Jörissen, J. and Frör, O. 2017. Pathways to Shape the

Bioeconomy. Resources 6(1):10.

• Smithers Pira. https://www.smitherspira.com/news/2013/december/global-

packaging-industry-market-growth-to-2018

References

Future pathways of fiber-based packaging sector · 2017. 12. 1. · • Paper and paperboard...

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