Beyond COVID-19 (CONT’D FROM PAGE 24)
Board Converting NEWS INTERNET DIRECTORY
sustainability narrative can be split into two major groups, which can be addressed in two stages: • Step one: Low-hanging fruit. The design improvements here are no-regrets moves, carried out with only a mini- mal impact on operating costs and capital expenditures for customers and packaging converters alike. These moves include eliminating unnecessary packaging, in- creasing the use of recycled content in the packaging material when this would be easy to do (for instance, in less sensitive applications, such as nonfood items), and helping to communicate sustainability narratives more effectively (for instance, by showing consumers how to recycle packaging). • Step two: Harder but doable. Actions here include packaging-design enhancements that can promote more extensive improvements than those in step one by taking into account the full circular economy and the direct environmental impact of producing packaging materials. This effort could involve packaging design to take advantage of recent innovations in materials and to use more mono-materials. It could also involve intro- ducing packaging designs in new shapes and forms for easy recycling, with new substrates. 2. Design with hygiene in mind : The consumer’s aware- ness of hygiene and safety concerns has increased dra- matically and will probably persist long after the pandemic subsides. A recent survey showed that more than two- thirds of U.S. consumers worry about contracting COVID-19 from food packaging and that more than 40 percent use household disinfectants to clean the products they buy. In the short term, during the crisis, the consequences seem to be an increase in single-use packaging—for example, take-out food typically requires more packaging than food at quick-serve restaurants. Retailers are applying new safety and hygiene ap- proaches to protect consumers—among other things, ban- ning reusable bags, requiring face masks to be worn, and limiting the number of shoppers in stores. Given heightened concerns around this issue, it will have a profound long-term impact on packaging designs and functionality. Several aspects must be addressed through new, improved packaging designs, particularly for foods and beverages, as well as other uses that require consumers to engage directly with packaging (for exam- ple, personal-care and healthcare products): • Ensure that the virus is minimally viable on the packag- ing surface. The choice of substrate can affect the via- bility of the novel coronavirus, so there could be plenty of room for enhanced packaging designs. For example, a study published during the pandemic indicates that coronavirus-survival rates vary from 24 to 72 hours, de- pending on the packaging-material substrate. • Develop new delivery mechanisms for packaging. The consumer’s demand for convenience has sparked de-
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November 30, 2020
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