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Lidl launches city-wide drinks packaging recycling scheme

Posted on February 13, 2024 by dishanth

Shoppers will be able to deposit any single-use drinks packaging made from either PET plastic or aluminium, between 100ml and three litres in size. Barcodes must be attached and readable.

Collected packaging will be sent for recycling. Lidl is aiming to capture at least 10.5 tonnes of material every month.

The launch of the scheme is intended to go some way to preparing customers for Scotland’s nationwide deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks packaging, which was due to launch last August but was delayed until March 2024.

Further delays could yet be announced due to backlash from some retailers, plus the fact that a UK-wide DRS is not due to launch until early 2025 at the soonest.

DRS initiatives see a levy placed on beverages, which customers can only claim back after returning their used packaging to a certified collection point for recycling.

But Lidl has elected not to add a levy to its beverages at present. Instead, customers will receive a 5p reward for every bottle or can returned, with no limit on the amount that each person can claim. They can receive the rewards as either a voucher for money off their next shop, or as a donation to Lidl’s charity partner in Scotland, STV Children’s appeal. The appeal supports children in poverty with education, mental health care, social activities and necessities like food and clothing.

Lidl GB’s chief commercial officer Richard Bourns described the initiative as “a win-win for all”.

He said: “We’re on a mission to eliminate all unnecessary waste, and with over 95% of our own-brand packaging now recyclable, reusable, or refillable we’ve been making great progress. We know that Lidl shoppers share this passion, and we hope that utilising this infrastructure, which might otherwise have been left dormant, will help to make recycling their cans and bottles even more convenient for them.”

Source edie

Greenwashing is out: companies need to get serious about their sustainability journey

Posted on November 8, 2023 by dishanth

Businesses are increasingly being held accountable for their environmental and social impact. And Siegwerk, a global provider of inks and coatings for packaging, has taken a leading role in driving sustainability within the sector. The company is committed to producing packaging solutions to drive a circular economy for the industry, and supporting sustainable transitions along its supply chain.

Like many companies, Siegwerk has taken an incremental approach to expanding its sustainability strategy. “We started our sustainability journey by looking at how our products could better enable a circular economy,” says Alina Marm, Global Head of Sustainability and Circular Economy at Siegwerk. “That laid the groundwork for us to launch an entire new strategy on sustainability with a broad scope, covering carbon neutrality targets and diversity as a quantifiable target, but also looking at the conditions in our supply chain and creating transparency around these conditions in order to continuously improve.”

For Marm, the three primary aspects that define sustainable packaging are true circularity, carbon neutrality and fairness in the supply chain: “Carbon neutrality meaning zero emissions, and fairness in the supply chain meaning that there’s nobody who suffers as a result of your business practices.”

There is an increased need for transparency around companies’ sustainability data. Consumers are more educated about greenwashing and will no longer just take companies at their word when it comes to sustainability claims. Special interest groups such as NGOs are also publicly highlighting discrepancies between company commitments and performance.

“There is a huge regulatory push to bring sustainability reporting on par with financial reporting. And this is a game-changer. It’s going to make it much easier for consumers to look up data and make decisions about which products to buy and which companies to support,” Marm says.

But this is one area that is severely lagging. A survey conducted by Deloitte in April 2022 revealed that only 3 per cent of consumer companies say they produce sustainability data that is as accurate and verifiable as their financial data. Siegwerk is one of the first companies in its sector to commit to reporting on the carbon footprint of its products. “There is no option but to embrace sustainability holistically,” says Marm. “It’s not just about doing the right thing, it’s also about remaining competitive and future-proofing your business.”

Source Independent

The Power of Responsible Sourcing

Posted on October 5, 2023 by dishanth

Climate change, circular economies, ESG and sustainability have all become business priorities over the past few years, with global supply chains sitting right in the middle of these issues – both as a major contributor to the problem and as an area of focus for improvements. Businesses must, therefore, purchase materials and products from companies that can show that they have good sustainability practices, from both a labour and manufacturing point of view.

The benefits of responsible sourcing and sustainable packaging

Responsible sourcing has been shown to influence consumers buying decisions, with studies suggesting that up to 70% of consumers would pay more for sustainably-produced goods. Businesses must therefore meet the increasing demand from consumers for products that are both environmentally and socially responsible.

Yet businesses are still learning when it comes to improving their responsible sourcing process, with Richard Howells, Vice President of Solution Management for Digital Supply Chain at SAP, describing it as an “evolving landscape,” allowing businesses the opportunity to combine sustainability initiatives with efficiency efforts and customer demand.

“While the ‘Amazon Effect’ has led to heightened consumer expectations for quick delivery, there is a similar demand for eco-friendly products,” Howell says. “In fact, 90% of Gen X consumers say they’d be willing to pay more for sustainable items – compared to 34% just a couple of years ago.

“In today’s market, for businesses to prosper and expand they must discover novel approaches to meet rising demands for ESG standards, placing greater emphasis on responsible sourcing.”

Responsible sourcing within procurement

For businesses to build a responsible and resilient supply chain, leaders need to acknowledge that procurement is the first step. “The procurement team begins the sourcing process by evaluating potential goods and materials that would make up the products made and distributed in the supply chain,” says Etosha Thurman, Chief Marketing & Solutions Officer, of Intelligent Spend and Business Network at SAP.

“In their evaluation, they are considering the environmental, societal, and economic impact of sourcing the materials. For example, potential risks with energy efficiency, water and land usage, and hazardous materials.”

To ensure businesses adopt responsible sourcing, leadership needs to set out clear definitions which align with the ESG goals of the organisation. Procurement professionals must also be educated about the necessary steps to ensure the goods and services under consideration meet the criteria.

Technologies role in responsible sourcing

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, technology stands as a pivotal ally in driving sustainability across the source-to-pay (S2P) and procure-to-pay (P2P) processes. By seamlessly integrating innovative solutions, organisations can navigate strategic sourcing, procurement, and supplier relationships while adhering to responsible and ethical practices.

“Technology can help organisations follow sustainable practices at every stage of the S2P and P2P process,” Thurman says. “In strategic sourcing, the right solutions can help analyse current and future spending, find and source from suppliers, ensure compliance and reduce risk with sustainability in mind. SAP Ariba Sourcing is a good example of a solution that enables users to prioritise suppliers that align with ESG goals.”

During the P2P process, Thurman reminds organisations that it is important to use solutions that help guide business users to make risk-aware and sustainable purchases, ensuring contract compliance with sustainable procurement policies. “The guided buying capability in SAP Ariba Procurement solutions can help guide employees to purchase from sustainable suppliers,” she adds. “Technology can also be a valuable tool in nurturing relationships with sustainable suppliers. Taulia’s Sustainable Supplier Finance solution allows users to reward suppliers that share their ESG qualifications with early payment incentives.

What’s more, to build a sustainable and risk-resilient supply chain, businesses need to establish strong relationships with key suppliers, which must be diverse. The supply chain data then needs to be monitored and analysed in real time, and investment needs to be made in technologies that can enhance supply chain visibility and agility.

“Efficient, effective technology can help businesses acquire and manage the data and information they need to measure compliance, minimise risk and boost sustainability,” Howells says. “Businesses must examine their value chains comprehensively, from sourcing raw materials to understanding the end product’s lifecycle. By adopting technology-driven solutions like blockchain and IoT, companies can ensure that their sustainability efforts extend beyond the surface level to every aspect of their operations.”

What’s more, SAP works with its partners to provide efficient solutions to business operations, while recognising the importance of monitoring and measuring not only cost, speed, profitability and customer service, but increasingly, emissions, waste, inequality and other sustainability and risk KPIs across the supply chain. This can be accomplished by connecting every process, contextualising every decision and collaborating with partners without obstacles. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for supply chain complexities.

Howell explains: “Buyers on SAP Business Network can choose vendors based not only on price and availability but also on human rights records and third-party sustainability ratings. Suppliers share human rights questionnaires to their profiles on SAP Business Network, where buyers can access them. Buyers are automatically notified any time a supplier they are doing business with updates their questionnaire. This saves suppliers time and helps buyers easily prepare for due diligence processes.”

Final thoughts

Embracing responsible sourcing is paramount for businesses aiming to navigate the evolving landscape of sustainability, satisfy consumer demands and enhance their growth prospects. Through integrating technology, fostering diverse supplier relationships and monitoring supply chain data, organisations can achieve a holistic approach to ESG standards, ensuring lasting positive impacts on both their operations and the wider world.

In a rapidly changing business environment, responsible sourcing stands as a gateway to sustainable success. By aligning with ESG goals, leveraging technology-driven solutions, and nurturing supplier relationships, businesses can forge resilient supply chains that not only meet current demands but also pave the way for a more environmentally and socially conscious future.

Source Sustainability

Mono-material packaging: A recycler’s wish

Posted on January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 by dishanth

Recycling closes the loop for a circular economy, but the more complicated the packaging design, the lower the chance of it being recycled. Could mono-material packaging be the answer to this problem?

‘Circular economy’ has become the buzzword for businesses around the world, regardless of industry. Oftentimes, the phrase is merely used for marketing purposes, with little attention paid to its concepts and principles.

There are numerous players involved in the lifecycle of one product. From raw materials suppliers and logistics companies, to manufacturers, distributors, consumers, and disposal, it may not be sufficient when only one of the players upstream creates a ‘circular product’ without involving the other players downstream to ensure that the loop can truly be closed.

Over the centuries, the human-environment relationship has grown from a circular one to a linear one. In the past, what our ancestors used to take from nature was returned to nature at the end of its life.

No material is as difficult to differentiate as plastic.

From a material scientist’s perspective, civilisation developed along with newly synthesised materials that allowed technology to flourish—materials that nature is unable to assimilate in a short period of time. Nevertheless, learning to be better stewards of materials can drive our economy back to a circular one.

For the packaging industry, the answer may lie in mono-materials.

Packaging serves a necessary function—protecting or preserving the product it contains. The material chosen for the packaging has to satisfy this basic functionality. But as products get increasingly sophisticated, more functionalities of packaging are needed and a single material may not be able to satisfy all of the requirements.

Laminations, coatings and additives went into the material formulation to achieve the packaging solution. The need for labels to print the necessary product information and branding further complicated the design. This is how a simple packaging purely used to contain a product can become a concoction of differing materials.

Recycling cannot deal with mixed materials, even for plastics.

No material is as difficult to differentiate as plastic. A transparent plastic can be polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or even general-purpose polystyrene (PS).

But these plastics cannot be mechanically recycled together and have to be separated, if not the quality of the recycled PET (which has a higher recycled value) will be downgraded or even contaminated beyond reusability.

The process of mining iron comes from extracting iron ores since iron does not exist as a pure element on earth. This requires energy input to purify the ores to obtain pure iron before it can be further used in the manufacturing of products.

The reverse engineering of products (such as recycling) into individual materials follows the same process. Recycling could be an energy-intensive activity, but it helps to close the loop for a circular economy in packaging products.

However, the more complicated a packaging design, the more effort is needed.

Unfortunately, this segregation often comes from human intervention in developing countries before the actual recycling can take place. If packaging consists of only one material, these preliminary steps can be avoided. The pathway to recycling will also be shorter and more efficient.

For the multi-layered materials that cannot be separated, either simply because it is not economically viable or not intervenable manually, the easiest method would be to take the inseparable materials and downcycle them into a composite particle board.

The only way to know if this mixture of inseparable materials is durable or even toxic is through testing it, but the composite particle board is thereafter rendered non-recyclable.

Is it possible to standardise the transparent plastic type to use for takeaways?

When it comes to determining which plastics to use for packaging, retailers are simply spoiled for choice. But when it comes to service packaging (e.g. takeaway containers), do we really need to look beyond PET and PP?

In the resin code, 7 refers to ‘others’, yet this one number encompasses many different types of plastics, and even biodegradable plastics are currently listed under ‘7’.

To determine if the plastic is recyclable or not, a consumer must know what the resin code represents, and which types of plastic can be collected—which is dependent on the local recycling infrastructure. Such in-depth knowledge may fly over the face of most consumers.

Thus, standardising which mono-material to use for a certain type of packaging—especially those with low functionality such as single-use packaging—may be the key to ensure a truly circular economy.

Plastics have great flexibility when it comes to engineering the material into the required packaging properties. Yet it is the same flexibility that results in the proliferation of plastic types that goes beyond the 7 resin identification codes.

While certain industries like automobiles or electronics would benefit from advanced plastics, comparatively, packaging for everyday items does not require the same level of complexity.

With a thorough understanding of the recycling process and infrastructure, much can be done by the packaging design engineers to mindfully create packaging for ease of recycling.

And mono-material can be a great place to start.

By Yvonne Lin

Source: Eco Business