Developing sustainable packaging is a huge task, many considerations need to be taken into account when choosing materials, not least when it comes to foodstuffs.
– Here the legislation sets clear limitations, but there are also several other parameters that are sometimes in conflict with each other, says Karin Jawerth. Protecting the contents is of course primary, but the packaging must also be visually appealing to sell its contents, be easy to empty and, of course, recyclable.
Recyclability and circularity will be even more important in the future, in line with increasingly strict legal requirements. The European Parliament is negotiating a new regulation, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, PPWR, with new tough sustainability targets. Something that ICA already has to deal with today.
– We have a challenging journey ahead of us, especially regarding plastic packaging where we are actively working with the grocery industry’s roadmap, says Karin Jawerth. By 2025, all our own consumer packaging should be recyclable, and five years later, by 2030, they should be made of recycled or renewable plastic.
An important milestone on the way to more and more circular packaging was the launch of the SKONA bottle in 2023. The bottle, which ICA developed together with Swedish Plastic Recycling, SPÅ, Nopa Nordic and AVL, consists of 95 percent recycled plastic from Swedish households.
– What truly makes the SKONA bottle unique is its traceability, allowing us to close the loop. SPÅ’s new facility, Site Zero, plays a significant role with its comprehensive traceability system. Additionally, the fact that many more types of plastic can now be recycled at SPÅ will help us reduce our carbon footprint, says Karin Jawerth
ICA has a strong focus on the environmental impact of its own packaging and has recently launched a new packaging strategy, an important guiding document for the development of future packaging.
– We conduct thorough analyses, but the goal is always to avoid composite packaging and to choose the purest materials possible. Rising packaging fees demand creativity, and the fact that they are differentiated is an additional incentive driving towards circularity, says Karin Jawerth, who has high expectations for Näringslivets Producentansvar, NPA.
– We look forward to having the same dialogue with NPA that we had with FTI, receiving support from material experts as well as in reporting to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. We use the recycling manuals almost every week, and the need for them is unlikely to decrease. However, the main reason for choosing NPA as our producer responsibility organisation is that they offer high-quality recycling.
The article is part of NPA Magasin