«One challenge is to ensure that our packaging does not leave a footprint on the environment»
Smurfit Westrock is the world's leading packaging solutions provider with more than 550 production sites in 40 countries. Sustainability is inherent to the company; that is why, a few years ago, it decided to highlight its Better Planet 2050 objectives, which include its commitment to protecting what matters most to it through five main areas: Climate Change, Water, Forests, Waste and People. In addition, each year it presents its Sustainable Development Report (SDR), audited externally, which shows how the company works to meet its sustainability goals.
Are regulatory changes driving progress towards greater sustainability?
We are under a lot of legislative pressure, but we have been working for many years to be more sustainable. This pressure is helping us to reaffirm all the work we have done previously and to be in line with both the rest of our clients and our suppliers, from whom we also need support to achieve our objectives. But, in the end, I think it is the client who has to force the industry to look for new sustainable formulas. Society is demanding it, but we have now published the 17th edition of the sustainability report; we have been measuring our action in this regard for 17 years.
Is the consumer willing to pay more for more sustainable packaging?
In this regard, we conducted a survey with the Financial Times from which it was concluded that, indeed, a large percentage of consumers were willing to bear an extra cost in exchange for a more sustainable product.
In our case, the packaging goes to the producer and there may be some reluctance due to this increase in cost, but there are sustainable solutions that do not have an increase in cost, but are even cheaper and imply a reduction in the carbon footprint. There is always some reluctance to change, but increasingly, consumers are asking for it and, in fact, our clients are already asking us for it, because it is an added value that they give to their products, also as a sales tool.
Apart from a good production process and choice of materials, do you think that logistics optimization is a very important point in packaging sustainability?
Absolutely. Logistics chains are extremely important and represent a very significant cost. We offer a huge range of solutions, we have many tools that help the client to improve their logistics chain, both in terms of grouping containers, and even in the transport of several containers, which is the mosaic of palletizing, which represents an environmental saving in carbon footprint and even in costs. But it is true that they involve changes in their assembly lines that are not always feasible, or they are not always interested in making that leap. It is also true that the industry must be transformed to be able to accommodate these changes.
What have been the latest challenges you have faced and overcome?
We are a very large team of designers and the challenges are a team effort. I once saw a poster with a slogan that I loved: “You don’t have to be the best in your team, you have to make your team the best.” And we are a great team. We have won several Líderpack awards, including TuPack, a one-piece case designed for the online channel, which allows the shipment of two bottles of different sizes and ensures their stability and protection during transport; and AgroLife®, a treatment that is integrated into our corrugated cardboard packaging to adsorb the ethylene produced by some fruits and vegetables, delaying their ripening and reducing food waste.
The latter is an exceptional product, which extends the shelf life of food, fruits and vegetables, improves their flavour because it allows the fruit to be cut at its optimal point of ripeness and prevents it from ripening during transport, because it absorbs ethylene, which is what vegetables and fruits emit and makes them ripen.
What steps will you take to advance sustainability?
There is still a lot to improve in our process, because today most of certain types of machinery either consume a lot of electricity or consume gas energy. That is where we are investing, in photovoltaic panels, changing boilers for more efficient ones, etc.
When it comes to our products and packaging, we actually have to work hand in hand with our customers. We make proactive design offers, but until the customer has the need, it is often very difficult for a proactive offer to prosper. We always say that one of our pillars for the circular economy is the reduction of packaging.
What would be your most immediate challenges?
Right now, one challenge is to ensure that our packaging does not have a carbon footprint; one of the goals of our Better Planet Packaging strategy is to eliminate packaging from the market that has a carbon footprint in favor of packaging that does not. On the other hand, the issue of logistics and the reduction of packaging, but above all the reduction of empty space in packaging, is also very important.
