The rising global market of Sustainable Packaging
The world generates over 2 billion tons of municipal solid waste each year, which is expected to increase to 3.4 billion tons by 2050. About 12% of this waste composition is plastic waste— a majority comes from packaging.
Summary
Plastics emit 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions
Plastics-related environmental issues can be addressed through a circular business model
Global plastic waste generation doubled between 2000 and 2019
The circular approach focuses on minimizing waste and maximizing the lifespan of plastic materials
In 2022, of approximately 2.22 million tonnes of global bioplastics produced, 48% were used in the packaging
Around 36% of the world's plastic production is dedicated to packaging purposes, including single-use products. Unfortunately, a significant portion of this plastic, about 85%, is ultimately disposed of in landfills.
This disposal method leads to various environmental consequences, such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water pollution, and deforestation. However, the demand for plastics has risen due to their advantageous qualities of being lightweight, and inexpensive.
The global plastic waste generation doubled between 2000 and 2019, reaching 353 million tonnes. A large portion of this waste, almost two-thirds, is derived from plastics with lifespans of fewer than five years.
Despite the benefits they offer, only about 9% of plastic waste is recycled. Incineration accounts for 19%, while 50% goes to landfills. About 22% escape waste management systems altogether and ends up in uncontrolled dumpsites.
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, only 2% of plastics are recycled into products of the same quality, while 8% are down-cycled into lower-quality items.
The carbon footprint from the plastics
In addition to the hazards posed to the environment, including marine, terrestrial and human, plastics are also a substantial contributor to global GHG emissions.
As shown in Figure 1, in 2020, plastics generated 1.72 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent GHG emissions – with 90% of this attributed to production and conversion from fossil fuels.
Although many green initiatives and programmes are currently encouraging people to be plastics-free, the emissions from plastics are expected to increase exponentially in the coming years, reaching about 2.2 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030 and 3.5 gigatonnes by 2050 and about 4.3 gigatonnes by 2060.
This generates an opportunity for sustainable packaging as a potential solution to the global waste crisis, offering a way to reduce waste and pollution while ensuring that products are delivered safely and efficiently.
Companies use this initiative of adopting sustainable packing to show they are environmentally good by using packaging material which can be recycled, renewed, and reused.
As the demand for sustainable packing increases, supplying of initiatives to replace or neutralize plastics increases.
Figure 2 shows the expected market size for plastic waste management in this decade, clearly showing an almost linear increase. By the end of this decade, the market size is expected to reach approximately USD 59.24 billion— almost doubled from 2021.
Sustainable packaging has a greener future
Sustainable packaging involves using materials and design methods that minimize the environmental impact of packaging throughout its entire life cycle.
This includes reducing the overall packaging volume, opting for renewable, reusable, or recyclable materials, and designing packaging that is easy to recycle, compost and reduces landfill waste.
The sustainable packaging market (Figure 3) is expected to increase and reach USD 351.4 billion by 2027 and USD 533.93 billion by 2033, compared to USD 266.4 billion in 2023.
The market's growth is driven by factors, such as increasing consumer awareness of environmental issues caused by packaging, strict government regulations, demand from the food and beverage industry, consumer preferences, and initiatives for eco-friendly materials.
Key players in the global sustainable packaging market include the USA, Germany, France, the UK, China, India, and South Korea, considering their respective government regulations and awareness levels.
Germany, France, and the UK have robust recycling regulations and extended producer responsibilities across the European Union.
China and India are expected to experience the highest growth rates, driven by packaging regulations, awareness of eco-friendly materials, and a shift towards sustainability.
While there are challenges to implementing sustainable packaging practices, such as the perception of higher costs compared to traditional materials, the growing demand for sustainable packaging solutions, the expansion of the e-commerce industry, and the increased demand for packaged food and beverages have contributed to the growth of the sustainable alternative to the plastic packaging industry.
Biodegradable packaging material
Plastics can break down into microplastics through exposure to sunlight, heat, or water. These microplastics spread globally, including into the depths of the ocean, and can bind with toxic chemicals, posing a threat to aquatic animals.
Plastics also harm animals through entanglement and ingestion across the food chain.
Traditional plastics take thousands of years to degrade, causing long-term environmental effects. Although the term ‘recycling’ is used frequently, it presents its challenges, as recycled plastics have lower commercial value compared to virgin materials.
Profitability in recycling is rare, often requiring significant government subsidies. Recycling facilities frequently receive low-quality materials, and unnecessary promotion of recycling leads people to recycle items that are not actually recyclable, placing a burden on the facilities to process and sort the waste.
Ultimately, addressing emissions associated with plastics will require a comprehensive approach that involves waste reduction, refurbishing or re-manufacturing to retain materials and recycling.
With the increasing global demand for plastic, extensive research is being conducted to explore environmentally friendly materials and innovative processing methods.
An example— biopolymers, derived from organic and plant-based materials have been popular options as a promising solution. Bioplastics made from biopolymers biodegrade rapidly.
As bioplastic technology advances, the cost of materials is expected to decrease over time, leading to increased adoption and potential for future packaging supplies.
In 2022, the global production capacity of bioplastics reached approximately 2.22 million tonnes, with 48% of this volume being used in the packaging market (Figure 4), which is the largest segment in the bioplastics industry.
Bioplastics are considered sustainable, highly biodegradable, and compatible with living organisms, and can biodegrade or compost under specific conditions.
They are derived from renewable biomass sources like sugarcane, corn, or microbes such as yeast. By using renewable resources, they can be naturally recycled through biological processes, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and promoting environmental protection.
Climate News Around
Global: Companies may have overlooked existing solutions in a race to invent climate tech (Greenbiz)
Global: This start-up is filtering CO2 out of the ocean (The Verge)
China: Toyota to push electric vehicles (Financial Times)
China: Wind turbine operators are adopting to handle hurricanes (BBC)
USA: Biden and his government approve some oil and gas projects in the hope to speed up renewable energy. (The New York Times)
USA: Helion Energy is set to deliver Nuclear fusion energy to Microsoft by 2028 (The Verge)
Europe: Phasing Out Fossil Fuels hasn’t worked. Its time to focus on renewables for COP28 (Bloomberg)
Australia: Smoke from black summer bushfires in 2019-2020 may have caused rare ‘triple dip’ La Niña (The Guardian)
UAE: Emirates airline is committed to a $200 million fund to reduce aviation emissions (Reuters)
Germany: The foreign minister says wind power is now a priority in the Baltic Sea (Clean Energy Wire)
Spain: April’s heat was not possible without climate change (AP News)
Urals and Siberia: At least 21 dead due to wildfires (The Guardian)
UK: Billions of worth of renewable energy projects are stuck due to technical complications (BBC)
Ecuador: Strikes a landmark deal for a debt for nature swap (Euronews)
Are plastic derived from petroleum? If so, I wonder how a carbon tax on fossil fuels would impact the economics of using alternatives to plastic?