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Travels with Larry Archive

Sustainability Still a Driving Factor in Packaging Decisions

For the past five years, an annual study by Packaging Digest, Oak Brook, Ill., USA, and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, Charlottesville, Va., has shown sustainability's steady growth as a driver of change and innovation in the packaging sector. New data from the just-released 2011 survey indicate that this momentum might be slowing.

The "Sustainability in Packaging" study indicates some slippage on key questions, according to John Kalkowski, Packaging Digest editorial director. He explains that this does not mean that sustainability's importance among packagers has declined. Rather, its impact is still growing, although at a slightly slower pace.

The 2011 survey was conducted in September, drawing 674 responses from a cross section of the packaging industry that includes consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs), retailers, packaging services, and converters, as well as machinery and materials suppliers.

Major findings from the study include:

The number of respondents reporting high or moderate familiarity with the issues of sustainability dipped to 80% in 2011 versus 83% in the 2010 survey, still well above the 52% at the same level of familiarity in 2007, the first year the survey was conducted
A growing number of study participants (41%) say the emphasis on sustainability within their companies has stayed the same in the past year, compared with 31% a year ago, while 55% said the emphasis had grown within their company in 2011
When asked how they'd rate their company's success in achieving sustainability, less than one quarter of respondents say the business they work for had achieved levels beyond similar companies
Consumer demand, pricing pressure, and retailer/brand owner requirements were cited most often as the main influences on companies' sustainable packaging efforts
Economic conditions were cited as a major reason that some businesses have scaled back their activities in sustainable packaging.

Again in 2011, study participants identify Walmart as the leader among retailers for its sustainability practices, followed by Target and Whole Foods Markets. Among consumer product goods companies, Procter & Gamble was most-recognized for sustainability, followed by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, which both introduced plant-based packaging in 2011.

More information about the survey is available online.