Carlsberg and suppliers working to eliminate waste with next-gen packaging

Carlsberg and selected global suppliers are working to look at the design and production of packaging material in order to develop the next generation of packaging products that are optimized for recycling and reuse, while, at the same time, retaining or improving their quality and value.

The founding companies working together with Carlsberg include RKW for shrink sleeves

The approach is increasingly referred to as ‘upcycling’. 

The founding companies working together with Carlsberg include RKW for shrink sleeves and MeadWestvaco for paperboard multipacks, as well as Rexam (cans), Arkema (glass bottle coatings), O-I (glass packaging) and Petainer (PET kegs for draught beer). The cooperation has been formalized through the Carlsberg Circular Community as part of the Carlsberg Group’s work on sustainable packaging.

Carlsberg said that increasing pressure on natural resources due to the ever-increasing demand for consumer goods is creating demands on businesses to use materials more efficiently. However, the current efficiency approach adopted by industry is unlikely to be sufficient to affect long-term sustainable change, it said.

Reducing dependence on primary materials as the input to creating consumer goods is one of the ways companies can secure continued sustainable growth.

Carlsberg and its packaging suppliers will use the Cradle-to-Cradle Design Framework, as created by professor Michael Braungart and EPEA Internationale Umweltforschung GmbH, to develop a Cradle-to-Cradle roadmap and assessment of their products.

Cradle-to-cradle design is a biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems. It models human industry on nature's processes viewing materials as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms.

Braungart said: ‘Carlsberg and its suppliers are taking an important step on the roadmap towards creating new benefits with packaging.

‘This cooperation is a great example of companies planning together for the future, creating solutions to the global challenges that face us all. I encourage companies to join Carlsberg in its efforts to develop innovative packaging and rethink the concept of waste.’

With this initiative, Carlsberg aims to have new products undergo an assessment for upcycling potential using a cradle-to-cradle analysis, which will reveal if the products contain any chemicals or additives that would reduce the value and quality of the materials. The targets are to include 15 partners and to have a minimum of three products Cradle-to-Cradle certified by 2016.

Following the first phase, further analyses will be done as regards how the initial findings can be used to create new products and solutions that can contribute to upcycling for a resource-efficient economy and society.

Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen, president and chief executive officer of Carlsberg Group, said: ‘We want to build our resilience and prepare for future growth in an environment of increased resource scarcity.

‘And we want to develop solutions that benefit not only our business, but also the environment and the societies in which we operate. The packaging initiative and the cooperation with suppliers represent a big leap forward. By partnering with our suppliers, we can achieve far more than each of us can do alone.’