A changing world changes packaging

Recently, I participated in a panel discussion on sustainable packaging at the first Environmental Sustainability Summit, hosted by the Grocery Manufacturers Association. During the week of the meeting, I scanned the New York Times and found several articles that reflect how profoundly different today's operating conditions for business are versus those of previous decades. This highlighted the timeliness of a sustainability summit for global consumer packaged goods companies.

For a relatively small portion of the world's population, abundant natural resources have fueled vigorous economic growth for more 200 years. Over the same time, in agricultural-based parts of the world where the quality of life falls significantly shy of that enjoyed by industrialized countries, there has been tremendous population growth. Today, we are witnessing the industrialization of these countries. In 2007, the United Nations estimated that for the first time in human history more people live in urban centers than in rural areas. This shift reflects a significant improvement in the quality of life for many and a commensurate increase in consumption habits. It also marks the end of the era of abundant natural resources.

The headlines that caught my attention captured the essence of why sustainability is growing in importance to companies and users of packaging: “Chinese and U.S. demand drives commodities surge;” and “New, global oil quandry: Costly fuel means costly calories.” Growing global demand for energy and other resources is hitting home. Companies are experiencing not only increasing energy prices, but also increasing commodity prices, from metals to corn.

As Michael Lewis of Deutsche Bank said in the New York Times, “You are trying to feed people, cattle, and cars, so you have this global fight between food and energy.”

There is a tendency to think of the three pillars of sustainability—people, profit, planet—as independent of each other. But now, we are in an era where commercial profitability and human well-being are inextricably linked to effective stewardship of limited resources.

As demand for resources grows, the role of packaging becomes more important and materials more valuable. Packaging must become more efficient because it competes for the same energy and materials used in products. Packaging also must become more effective because the products it protects are becoming more precious. The situation demands more sustainable packaging.

It is clear that we need to pursue energy and material efficiency, but we are fatally handicapped if we don't address our reliance on fossil fuels and continue to landfill valuable material resources.

The fact that companies, which play a global role in economics, demand for resources and influence on consumer behavior, are collectively taking up the challenges facing a more sustainable world is an encouraging sign.