As a “wind vane” and “second financial statement” for measuring the sustainable development of enterprises, ESG has gradually become a “mandatory answer sheet” for Chinese enterprises.
Around us, the packaging industry is a major player in terms of waste pollution and resource consumption. As the world's largest packaging market, China in particular is facing a huge environmental and ecological governance burden.
Environmental protection and plastic reduction” has become the driving force of the industry's green transformation in the ‘new era of dual-carbon’, and green packaging in the digitalization of intelligent empowerment, injecting packaging enterprises with a ‘sustainable’ development momentum. “sustainable development power for packaging enterprises.
Sustainable Packaging
The packaging industry is closely related to our daily lives. The industry chain includes upstream design, intermediate production and processing, downstream sales and related industrial applications, and the application fields are widely penetrated into various industries.
Therefore, successful ESG practices in the packaging industry not only help to solve the industry's own “sustainable” pain points, but also help to promote the related downstream industries towards a more green and sustainable future.
As the world's largest packaging market, China, while enjoying the dividends of the rapid development of the packaging industry, is in urgent need of a solution to the problem of packaging waste management. At present, all packaging enterprises are facing policy pressure to reduce plastic and carbon emissions, and the task of green transformation of the industry is imminent.
With the design concept of resource recycling and the use of recyclable and innovative materials, “Sustainable Packaging” not only meets the waste management policy and plastic restriction requirements of major countries in China and even around the world, but also helps enterprises to actively respond to climate change issues, enhance their innovative strengths, strengthen synergies and cooperation with suppliers' ESG, and raise consumers' environmental awareness. Consumers' awareness of environmental protection.
Consumer goods, as a key downstream sector of the packaging industry, is a core force in promoting sustainable packaging. Among many consumer goods industries, beauty and daily necessities, food and beverage and express delivery industries are the key downstream application industries of the packaging industry. Leading companies at home and abroad are exploring sustainable packaging practices in multiple dimensions of packaging design, recyclable materials and recycling systems through scientific and technological R&D innovation and industry-research cooperation.
According to the disclosure of the 2023 ESG report of major packaging companies, packaging companies continue to focus on the core issues in the three dimensions of environment, society and governance through technological innovation, and are committed to creating green and intelligent packaging products that meet the requirements of customers and the market. In addition, green and low-carbon certifications such as product environmental claims, carbon footprint, water footprint, etc. also help companies practice green actions.
Specifically, in the beauty and daily necessities industries, international headline companies are committed to reducing energy consumption and waste, exploring packaging design through digital innovation based on the concept of “Golden Design Principle”, and working with leading companies in related industries to develop recyclable and degradable materials. Domestic companies are actively exploring green packaging practices based on the 3R (Reduce, Replace, Recycle) principle.
Food and beverage companies will consider factors such as product design, material selection, production process, logistics, consumer education and corporate social responsibility in their ESG practices, and explore sustainable packaging from multiple dimensions such as environmentally friendly materials, energy efficiency and emissions reduction, recovery and recycling, food waste reduction and food and supply chain safety responsibility.
Courier companies are vigorously promoting the greening, reduction and recycling of packaging under the call of regulatory policies. The leading express delivery companies focus on “green packaging research, qualification and standardization”, “packaging material degradation, reduction and upgrading”, “packaging design and technological innovation” and “establishment of recycled packaging system”. The four topics of “Establishment of Recycling Packaging System and Creating a Recycling Packaging Ecosystem” have been implemented to transform green packaging, and initial results have been achieved in material reduction and carbon emission reduction.
In the era of sustainable development, the packaging industry, which is closely related to people's daily life, has not only carried unprecedented environmental governance responsibilities, but also ushered in new opportunities for green development.
With the deepening of global understanding of sustainable development and the continuous progress of technology, the packaging industry will continue to make new breakthroughs in the field of ESG. Let us work together to help the packaging industry move steadily in a more environmentally friendly and sustainable direction!
Author: Mr. Zhang Guangshen
General Manager of Pinchot ESG Consulting, CFA ESG Investment Certificate, Certified ESG Senior Analyst holder, Oxford University OTA certified lecturer.
