Just a year ago, anyone in our industry hearing the words, “packaging and sustainability” in the same sentence had little interest in joining the conversation. Today, people across our industry are more likely to be leading those conversations. 

Despite the increased amount of press and podium time, and the rising number of committees and councils dedicated to sustainability, there’s still some confusion about how, and even if, platemaking fits into the conversation.

Sustainability is a complex topic that, when simplified, can be reduced to three key areas:

1. The raw materials that are taken from the earth for a product or a process and whether these materials are renewable or non-renewable;
2. The energy that’s needed to move and make those materials into a product that’s available to a consumer and;  
3. The emissions (or impacts) to air, water, and land that have collected during the making, packaging and transporting of the product, and will collect when that product is no longer needed.

Probably the most popular word in sustainability is “reduce.” Retailers are pressing manufacturers to reduce the amount of package and transport materials, reduce in-transit damage and reduce waste. In turn, consumer products companies are demanding entirely new approaches to reduce a package’s weight and size while reducing its environmental impact over its life. Up until recently, platemaking and printing were left out of most of these conversations. But, as Retailers and CPGs have learned, sustainability gains won’t come from tightening the package specifications alone. They will come from understanding and ensuring that the raw materials, energy consumption and emissions from the entire value chain are as sustainable as possible.

This said, it’s no surprise that the more a business reduces the more sustainable they are likely to become.  Reductions of raw materials (especially non-renewable materials); reductions in energy consumption and emissions as well as reducing waste all serve to reduce what is known as the “environmental footprint.” Anything along that product’s life that can be responsibly returned to the land (biodegradable), recycled and/or reused also reduces the “footprint.” 

In the next few months, it’s likely that the platemaking and printing industries will see increased interest coming from downstream stakeholders. Sustainability is a collective and collaborative set of initiatives. It will take the entire packaging value chain, working together, to both understand and ensure a sustainable future.

To learn more, visit our Knowledge Center for featured links or related readings. 

Click here for a Glossary of Environmental Terms