Clear View Packaging and the Circular Economy
A circular economy refers to a regenerative economic system whereby waste, and process by-products are turned into new inputs for new products. The regeneration is achieved through material choice, long lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling.
The circular economy perspective is in contrast to a linear economy view. A linear economy takes materials from the earth, makes something with them and then disposes of them. A linear economy seems to fit much of how we view products today. Oft times, the end-of-life disposal of products we all use tend to find their way to landfills in the US (or more typically incineration in Europe). The convenience of disposability combined with the low cost of many items tends to lead to linear thinking and systems.
Domestic collection systems keep the linear economy disposable society hidden from public view. Where collection systems are not found in various locations throughout the world, the disposal of products and packaging tend to be found in the natural environment and in our waterways. Non-collected disposal is often referred to as leakage. Leakage is visible in our oceans and our lands. The goal of a circular economy is to eliminate leakage and all waste through closed loop systems.
Closed loop systems seek to acquire the product at the end of its life, reprocess the collected materials in some way and then re-market the new products made to begin the cycle again. The waste from the 1st generation product forms the raw materials for the next product. If any of these steps are missed, we do not have a closed loop. If we cannot collect the items, if we cannot reprocess the items or if we cannot re-market the items, we do not have a closed loop system. Without closing the loop, used products become “linear” and wind up in landfills or in the natural environment as leakage.
Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG’s) are goods designed to have a short life span and are in constant rotation. Products that flow (like packaging) requires different strategies for circular value creation than durable goods like electronics or furniture.
Five Strategies for FMCG Circular Flows
- REDUCE: Whenever a product depends on its package in order to be used (ingredients, nutritional’s, safety, branding etc) the package is an integral part of the product and is difficult to eliminate. When a package is needed, reduce the amount of the package size or weight if possible. Using less material is always the best choice. Less material means less energy used in creation, less energy used in transport and less material to collect at end of life.
- REUSE: When possible, collecting, cleaning, and reusing packaging items for the same purpose is desired.
- RENEWABLE & EXISTING SOURCES: Using existing or renewable materials in packaging at creation provides a more circular flow of the package. Incorporating post-consumer or post-industrial recycled content or biobased raw materials into the package drives demand for existing and renewable sources and lowers carbon emissions.
- END of LIFE: RECYCLE or COMPOST Using material that has a chance for a circular end of life keeps materials in use and out of landfills. Labeling packages helps the end user know what to do with the package at disposal
- RETHINK Closing loops keep materials in use. Partnering with others to use by products from one process to make other items gives items a next life.
Clear View Packaging produces custom packaging for FMCG’s. Clear View sustainable offerings try to connect to the strategies above.
REDUCE: Clear View can sample alternative materials, lighter gauges, and sizes to limit any excess material. Sampling is a big part of the business and are available upon request.
REUSE: Clear View specializes in a lot of lower volume work. We re-use/re-purpose excess material from one job to use for another. Clear View also has a line of stock bubble zip locks made specially for reuse. Bags made of thicker materials can also be custom made and printed to promote reuse.
RENEWABLE & EXISTING SOURCES: Clear View manufactures biobased material, Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) material and Post- Industrial Recycled content (PIR) material. Clear View stocks some of these materials to allow for lower volume orders.
END of LIFE: 98% of the products Clear View manufactures is recyclable at end of life. Clear View also stocks certified compostable material. Clear View also can help recommend labeling options to print on the package to give the materials the best chance for a next life.
RETHINK: Closing loops by returning used materials, wickets, cores , boxes etc allows these materials to remain in the economy. Clear View looks to collaborate with like-minded partners who would like to return by-products of their process for reuse or recycling.
There are no perfect solutions but moving toward a more circular economy of material flows seem the clear direction. There is a tremendous opportunity for converters like us to be a part of a movement toward more sustainable, more responsible, and more “circular” way of looking at packaging. A circular economy for packaging incorporates systematic thinking on everything from design to raw materials we source to how we convert those raw materials to end of life thinking for the packaging we produce.
We will continue to post blogs to help educate to bring awareness and in turn hopefully meaningful actions by more people.