Plastic bags, bubble wrap, cardboard boxes - packaging comes in many forms. Packaging often gets overlooked because it is a supplemental component rather than the main product. However, anyone who has unwrapped presents before has a good idea of the sheer amount of waste it generates. From the wrapping paper to the box to the ribbons, gift packaging consumes a lot of space and materials. It stands to reason that packaging has a significant impact on whether a circular economy can be achieved. To recap, a circular economy is an economy that maximizes resource and energy efficiency and minimizes waste. Essentially, it means doing more with less.
Packaging, like any other products, takes energy to produce. Packaging is largely considered to be single-use. As soon as we unwrap whatever product it holds, the natural response is to discard the packaging, producing waste.
Take plastic packaging as an example. It's no secret that plastic is one of the most common materials used in packaging. From plastic bottles, plastic wrap, to even the labels on said bottles, the majority of plastic packaging is intended to be single-use. Given that one of the pillars of a circular economy is eliminating waste, it’s not difficult to see why plastic packaging can be terrible for a circular economy. It promotes a short life cycle, whereas a circular economy promotes reusability for a longer life cycle. The amount of plastic pàckaging that needs to be produced to keep up with demand and the amount that needs to be discarded as waste is astronomical. While a reusable water bottle could be used for a long time, plastic water bottles require the consumer to buy bottle after bottle.
Naturally, with the variety of packaging, plastic packaging is not the only culprit working against a circular economy. There are countless materials used for packaging, such as aluminum or glass. However, the issue remains that in all of these cases, packaging is largely made to be single-use. If we were to curb this, packaging can contribute to a circular economy. For instance, while manufacturing glass for packaging is harmful to the environment given its emissions, glass itself is infinitely recyclable. While the process of recycling and transportation will also have an environmental cost, it has a much smaller impact on the environment than its production. As time goes on, its environmental impact will reduce given the longer life cycle. If we kept recycling glass from packaging, the need to produce the necessary glass to make said packaging would drop drastically. Similar to plastic packaging, the more we discard, the more we need to produce. This directly goes against the principle of minimizing consumption in a circular economy.
Packaging is not inherently harmful. It, in fact, has great potential to contribute to a circular economy. However, how we approach it will determine whether it has a net positive or negative effect. There are numerous ways to reduce the waste it produces for one. SURU is conscious of any environmental impact we may have. One such solution SURU uses to reduce said environmental impact is to turn to flat packaging, having our products arrive disassembled so less packaging is needed for transportation. Not only that, it makes transportation more convenient and its shipping volume decreases. Minimizing packaging where you can can go a long way. It can be easy to disregard packaging and focus on the product it contains. But if we want to turn packaging into a positive force for a circular economy, we need to redefine our approach to it.