Sustainability is fast becoming a hot area of focus for many consumer packaged goods companies. One of every two respondents to a Shelf Impact! survey in June and July 2006 indicated their package-development process now includes sustainability initiatives--typically using biodegradable and recyclable materials, and reducing the amount of packaging used.

Your responses indicate that for some product manufacturers, a firm plan of action is already under way.

“We are reducing overall packaging, replacing PVC with PET, replacing plastic clamshells with combo paper/plastic displays, and significantly reducing corrugated by using weight-bearing bottles for club store displays,” one reader wrote.

Yet, some of you are still searching for the appropriate packaging to complement the identity of your brand—and to work well with your product. Others noted that they are in the early stages of assessing what may become next-generation packaging solutions.

“Direct-contact packaging for long shelf life food products requires barrier properties not currently available in sustainable packaging materials. Bundling films, neck bands, shrink sleeve labels made with biopolymers are under investigation,” one respondent explains.

For other companies, sustainable packaging is equating to more eco-friendly ink selection or reductions in packaging material.

Among the solutions mentioned were a switch to soy-based inks and printing directly onto the primary packaging surface, rather than printing on film labels that are then adhered to the package. Some of you described this approach as “reduce, reuse, recycle,” even to the point of finding secondary uses for some packaging materials.

One-third of the readers who say their company currently lacks sustainability practices add they don’t expect that will change. Another 10% in the “no sustainable practices” camp were unsure whether resistance to sustainability measures would continue.

For some other companies, practical considerations outweigh environmental issues. The following response from a medical products company makes that point clear.

“Packaging of medical devices requires protection and guarantees of sterility and protection against tampering far more than it requires sustainability. We will continue to look to reduce environmental impact, but performance will remain more critical.”

Other product manufacturers that have resisted the sustainability trend thus far say that the main barrier is the need for the right materials. “There are raw materials in development, but they are three to five years from large-scale commercialization,”

one reader writes.

Adds another respondent who shares this thinking: “It is getting harder to get everyone to shy away from the almighty dollar and see the greater good in sustainable design. It will take a leader in the field to make a change and help lower the cost of sustainable design for the rest of the industry. This way, even smaller companies will be able to survive using more eco-friendly sustainable packaging.”