Lighter Weight Paperboards Reduce Carbon Footprints

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New research by Finland-based M-real Consumer Packaging shows that, within the same grade, the carbon footprint of a cartonboard reduces at least in proportion to its basis weight. A 15% reduction in board weight equates to an 18% reduction in carbon footprint. This is important to users concerned about sustainability, the company notes.. If they can specify a lighter weight board, provided all criteria regarding stiffness and performance are met, their own carbon footprint will diminish accordingly.

The research, commissioned from an external research institute, aimed to produce Life Cycle Assessments for three different weights of board. Carbon footprints were calculated for 10,000 biscuit cartons produced in 250, 270, and 295 g/m² weights, to discover if the footprint would reduce proportionately when a lighter weight board was used. Calculations assessed energy used in forestry, transport, and manufacturing at all stages from harvesting the wood to making the cartons, including, for example, transporting the board to the customer.

Riikka Joukio, VP Marketing, said that "by making packaging more effective and less wasteful, sustainability goes hand in hand with cost savings, which can be achieved both by the choice of 'lightweighted' materials and by a design that has the right impact.

Packaging has a relatively small global warming potential in food products, when compared with other activities taking place in the production of a food product, most notably fertilizer and cultivation. At the same time, packaging's importance in reducing food waste, which might otherwise rot in a landfill, producing methane—a harmful greenhouse gas—is also well established. Up to 50% of food is wasted in developing countries, where food packaging is less common, compared with western countries, where waste averages 2% and is mostly attributable to over-purchasing."