GREEN PACKAGING

Green Packaging

Table of Contents

Abstract3

Chapter 1: Introduction5

Chapter 2: Literature Review8

The Packaging Market8

The Packaging Industry10

The Multifunction of Packaging11

Competitive Advantage13

Corporate Response to Environmental Pressures16

Green Packaging as an Environmental Issue19

Green Packaging as a Marketing Ploy21

Packaging Legislation at the EU Level23

Chapter 3: Methodology28

Chapter 4: Results and Discussion30

Packaging Functions, the Parties Involved in the Packaging Decision and the Cost of Packaging in Relation to Overall Product Costs30

Marketers' Awareness of the Proposed EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste33

Business Opportunities and Constrains Created by Directive36

Action Taken by Company, and Planned to Be Taken, in Response to the Directive41

Chapter 5: Conclusions and Implications45

References50

Appendix58

Sample Characteristics58

Questionnaire59

Green Packaging

Abstract

There is pressure from both consumers and the European Union or EU (formerly the European Community or EC) for companies to adapt their activities in order to minimize the impact on the environment. This paper reviews literature relating to packaging, the environment, and European legislation, and then identifies the current status of the proposed EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste. To gain an insight into packaging and the directive, a survey was conducted with UK Marketing executives involved in the production of consumer goods. The survey found that the primary function of packaging is to protect the product until it is ready for use. The Marketing function carried the most influence within the organization when it came to making packaging decisions and, in the majority of cases, packaging accounted for less than 10% of overall product costs. Companies on the whole are aware of the directive and most of them had taken, or planned to take, some form of action in relation to addressing the requirements of the directive within their company. This action mainly looked at package reduction, reuse or recycling. However, industry is still somewhat unsure of what the directive is meant to achieve and who will be responsible for carrying out its requirements. Apart from being aware of what the directive involves and how other firms are responding, it would be unwise at this stage for firms to make significant spending decisions in relation to the directive until it has been finally adopted, since the directive as it currently stands raises more questions than it answers.

Chapter 1: Introduction

There is little doubt that the impact of packaging on the environment is gaining increasing recognition. A Neilson study showed that more than 30% of UK consumers buy recycled paper products and use bottle banks. Nearly 30% had stopped using aerosols (Marketing, 1992). However, meeting consumer demand is not the only factor which is encouraging some businesses to adopt a more environmentally friendly approach to their packaging. In recent times the European Union (EU) has become involved in environmental legislation which in effect is "pushing" businesses into environmentally responsible behaviour.

The increasing internationalisation and globalisation of business has forced many firms to reconsider what contributes to their competitive advantage. For some companies the package can make the difference, e.g. a superior design of a bottle like the export success of Absolute Vodka (cap, seal, text and form of the bottle), which has become ...