Inner packaging materials which are used for protecting and separating products have been associated with sustainability issues due to inadequacies in keeping track of the material inflows into the company. These are also supported by limited awareness of the types of materials used in inner packaging and also sorting them systematically. Logistics and supply-chains are quite complex due to the amount of interconnected suppliers from all around the world and from which packaging is an inseparable part.
Packaging is basically used to protect the contents which leave the factory gate until it reaches the consumer or the next factory for further processing. Other functionalities include containment of products of loose products, marketing, displaying information or even portion control (Unilever, 2009). In a manufacturing industry, inner packaging specifically is essential so as to prevent rust formation on various metals including bars, rods, fittings, etc., and also to provide safety during transit from various parts of the world. Inner packaging is used to provide padding or to secure parts within the external packaging. This is based on factors like the fragility of the material as well as the external packaging (Knorr- Bremse, 2012). Hence, the selection of packaging is decided by multiple factors including part properties, protection requirements, the mode of transport and also the location of the supplier. One-way inner packaging could be using lighter material like plastics, foams, cardboards, etc. for packaging which is environmentally sustainable in terms of transport as lighter material allows more volume of material to be loaded, no return trips to the suppliers and also reduced handling costs.
Aim
In the current case study, the environmental management system (EMS) in waste management of inner one-way packaging of the industry is assessed, the types of these inner one-way packaging is analysed and the environmental impacts from these materials are quantified based on data sources. As companies do not necessarily differentiate packaging types and the impacts of these in particular, the study would be helpful in deciding the quantities of packaging required and also in reducing the environmental impact of the firm from inner one-way packaging.
Process
Based on the EMS, sorting of all wastes are efficient processes where plastics, wooden pallets and mixed wastes are the major categories that material is sorted into. The clean, dry plastic bags are recyclable and there is a demand for them from recycling companies who tend to pay for sorted clear plastic bags, while other material are normally mixed up as scrap, including not only one way packaging but also wastes from the shop floor, office wastes and other miscellaneous wastes and sent to incineration.
On analysis of the types of inner one-way packaging that are frequently observed in the shop floor foam, coloured plastics, cardboard separators and bubble wraps make up the major forms of wastes. Further inspection of the types of material revealed a more detailed understanding of their specific constituents. Polyurethane foams, low density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), expanded polystyrene and corrugated cardboards were the types of material that constituted the waste fractions, out of which none were recycled.
Based on data from literature sources it was assumed in this study that inner one-way packaging constituted between 45-60% of all the wastes in the factory. Hence two scenarios were created with 45% of all wastes and 60% of all wastes were inner one-way packaging. Based on data from similar factories and industries in the region of Stockholm, it was found that on an average about 1300 kg of wastes were generated over a 8 month working period and correlating this to the two scenarios the quantities of inner one-way packaging were obtained.
Since the waste fractions consisted of mainly plastic and paper material, the CO₂ equivalents for these two materials were calculated based on the practices followed in the industry for plastics (1kg plastic through its life cycle produces 2 kg CO₂ equivalent) and 1 kg corrugated cardboard emits 0.53 kg CO₂ equivalent (data commissioned by the Corrugated Packaging Alliance (CPA) and conducted by the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI). It was found that about 754,000 to 1,006,000 kg CO₂ equivalents were produced from inner one-way packaging through an estimated 8-month period. While corrugated cardboards and wooden planks may be recycled, the quantities of plastics and foams predominate the packaging categories which are majorly sent only to incineration.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, an attempt to find the reasons for the complex nature of using and sorting inner one-way packaging was initiated:
- An identified reason was the vast number of suppliers worldwide and the regulations required for these suppliers to ship their products for assembly and the type of energy used in the region of each supplier to produce these packaging material.
- Another reason was the difficulty in passing clear information between departments in the industry (for example, importing goods with minimum packaging)
- A common directive is required for all suppliers to follow while packaging which seems to be a very difficult task
Remarks
A more collaborative effort between the stakeholders is required to keep the quantities of inner one-way packaging in check while also controlling the environmental impacts associated with them. While sorting and waste management is a solution, avoiding the use of such packaging plays a more crucial role.
