Six global consumer goods companies have come together to accelerate the development of responsibly designed paper-based alternatives to flexible plastic packaging.
The PaperFlex Consortium, convened by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and powered by (RE)SET, includes Colgate-Palmolive, Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever, as founding members and is open for others to join. The consortium will focus on markets where flexible plastic packaging is widely used and where a lack of collection and recycling systems could increase their likelihood of ending up in the environment.
For those markets, the consortium aims to design alternatives that are recyclable as collection systems improve, and biodegradable in the event they unintentionally end up in the environment.
Over the next few years, the consortium, through its members, intends to shape, fund, and conduct collaborative trials covering innovations in areas such as biodegradable coatings, and other technologies that deliver product protection, shelf life, and consumer usability, and improve how paper-based materials perform on manufacturing lines. Joint research and development efforts will help develop and scale promising innovations faster and at a lower cost, getting new options to consumers sooner.
While helping to accelerate the availability of solutions, each participating member will continue to adopt its own strategy and make decisions related to its packaging independently, individually, and in their own independent interests.
Sander Defruyt, Strategy Lead for Plastics at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, says, “Responsible paper-based flexible packaging solutions don’t yet exist at the performance, scale, and cost required.
“This consortium signals strong demand for them—and real ambition from six consumer goods companies to help scale them. We’re inviting other FMCG companies, innovators, suppliers, and investors to get involved now—the faster we develop such solutions, the sooner they reach the markets that need them most.”
Frank Gana, CEO and Co-founder of (RE)SET, adds, “Our track record in running R&D consortia shows how they can speed up the path to solutions. While participation in this consortium is voluntary and each member makes its own packaging decisions, this approach lets us develop and scale solutions faster and at lower cost—benefiting consumers, the environment, and the entire industry.”
Flexible plastic packaging, including sachets, wrappers, and pouches, is the fastest-growing type of plastic packaging worldwide, and scaled solutions to recycle the material are currently not widely available. Small-format flexible plastic packaging is also identified as one of three key systemic barriers to tackling plastic waste in the foundation’s 2030 Plastics Agenda for Business.
The announcement builds on the findings of the Paper-Based Flexible Packaging – The role it could play in tackling small-format flexible plastic pollution in markets with high leakage rates report published by the foundation earlier this year. Tackling this challenge requires multiple tools, including reducing the use of small-format flexibles where feasible and designing those we do use for a circular economy.
Endorsed by 48 businesses, NGOs, investors, and academics, the report identified responsible paper-based alternatives as a promising part of a broader strategy to address small-format flexible plastic waste in markets with greater waste management challenges, provided solutions meet six design criteria. These benchmarks, which include recyclability, biodegradability, responsible sourcing, and production, aim to ensure paper-based packaging does not create new problems in place of the ones it is designed to solve and will guide the work of the consortium. These efforts will be pursued while continuing to ensure food safety, product quality, consumer protection, and regulatory compliance. Developing and deploying responsibly designed paper-based packaging will not happen overnight. There will be interim steps, deliberately designed and intended to progress towards addressing all six criteria.
While accelerating innovation is crucial, the report highlights it is equally important to ensure paper fibres are sustainably sourced and are used alongside efforts to help scale effective collection and recycling systems. The foundation is calling on industry and governments to help close these gaps, for solutions to deliver their full environmental benefits.
