Carton Recycling - Big 4 Commit

Corpobligation: Shared environmental commitments between packaging competitors can lead to change. Packaging creates waste but is essential for getting products to consumers. Can packaging producers be expected to minimize packaging?

• The Carton Council includes Tetra Pak, Elopak, Evergreen Packaging and SIG Combibloc
• "We are very proud that the environmental impact of cartons already is among the lowest in the packaging industry," said Ed Klein, executive director of the Carton Council. "Cartons are source-reduced and made primarily of paper, a renewable resource, from responsibly sourced, well-managed forests. But we want to take our commitments to the next level, and that's where significantly increasing recycling comes in."
• Can packaging ever be green?

The Carton Council's communication strategy (by GolinHarris) emphasizes 3 R's and the benefits of paper-based cartons versus plastic packaging. Note that "reuse" is missing and has been replaced with "renew."

Reduce:

• Cartons are light-weight and have a great product to package ratio. If you choose a product in a carton, you are taking home an average of 94% product and only 6% package.
• As carton manufacturers, we effectively manage the energy, water & material usage while committing to continual process improvement. [Excerpted from site]

Renew:

• Cartons are mainly made from paper.
• The paper in our cartons comes from responsibly sourced, well managed forests.
• New trees replace the harvested trees.
• Well-managed forests keep biodiversity in balance.
• None of the resources used in our cartons come from old growth trees or rainforests. [Excerpted from site]

Recycle:

•  However, we can’t do it alone. You can help keep cartons out of landfills. Find out if your community can recycle cartons by using our searchable database. [Excerpted from site]

So does this amount to environmentally responsible packaging?

The Carton Council is not proposing a standard that could be enforced legally. However, the promises could be used to name and shame, if carton council members did not live up to their commitments. The bottom line challenge is that the Council members' business is selling packaging. To minimize the environmental footprint, packing must be minimized. How can packaging producers be green and profitable when their business is inherently garbage producing?

Steps for the future: Products could be shipped in bulk to retailers and then consumers could refill their containers. Carton Council members could use recycled or Forest Stewardship Council certified materials.

Is this a step toward corpobligation?

Carton Council members are embracing a responsibility to communities and demonstrating a respect for the interests of stakeholders. The fact that the contact for the press release comes from a public relations company could raise questions about sincerity. However, time will tell how serious packing producers are. Other stakeholders (NGOs, retailers, governments) could enter into agreements with Carton Council members that would create stronger incentives to meet commitments and provide external validation of successes.

Plastic is worse see bags and bottles. 

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