Geoffrey Gendebien, Amcor’s marketing manager for home & personal care, answers Packaging Scotland’s questions about the way the industry has adapted to meet the challenges of sustainable aspirations, and the role packaging businesses can play in helping brands meet their environmental targets
Q) How has the increased focus on sustainability impacted the home and personal care sector of the packaging industry?
A) The home and personal care sector has witnessed significant evolution, particularly in the realm of more sustainable packaging.
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic brought about a heightened emphasis on personal hygiene and sanitisation, leading to a shift in consumer behaviour and business priorities. Today, sustainability and recyclability have also become central themes in product packaging within this sector. Especially as environmental consciousness grows, consumers are increasingly drawn to more sustainable and recyclable products.
Moreover, regulatory bodies are increasing requirements for packaging sustainability.
Amcor remains committed to guiding brands through these transitions, providing packaging solutions that are not only more sustainable but also cost-effective and user-friendly.
Q) Have you been encouraged by the levels of innovation seen in response to the challenge to provide more environmentally-friendly packaging?
A) We have witnessed some promising breakthroughs recently, including the development of recycle-ready, flexible stand-up pouches.
At Amcor, our star innovation for the home and personal care sector is the AmPrima portfolio, which addresses the challenge of creating flexible yet recyclable packaging.
The AmPrima range offers recycle-ready solutions in mono-PE and mono-PP structures. This family of more sustainable packaging maintains the same barrier qualities, seal integrity, graphic fidelity, and production efficiency as the conventional non-recyclable packaging options.
In preparation for incoming regulations, Amcor have expanded our AmPrima offering by including the option for brands to incorporate post-consumer recycled content (AmFiniti) in their packaging. So by combining AmPrima, which is recyclable across several European countries, with AmFiniti recycled content, brands can design a much more circular pack for their product that is also compliant with incoming regulatory mandates.
From working closely with home care brands, I understand the pressure they face to improve their sustainability practices and meet the changing demands of consumers.
We are also well aware that businesses cannot sacrifice the efficiency of their production lines. That is why we are focused on developing recycle-ready solutions that run smoothly on current production lines.
Q) What role can packaging firms play in helping brands to meet their sustainability goals?
A) Recyclable packaging not only helps home and personal care brands to achieve their sustainability goals, but with the latest innovations, it has the power to redefine how they measure packaging sustainability all together.
Through life-cycle assessments, home and personal care brands can measure the life-cycle impact of their packaging from the extraction of raw materials to end-of-life disposal, meaning that they can show the real impact if they switch their packaging.
This can be backed-up by third-party certified claims that can help brands to inform consumers about their sustainability credentials and make consumers feel heard.
Q) What trends are you seeing in the market at the moment?
A) In addition to tightening regulations, we are seeing a huge shift in the way that consumers perceive sustainable packaging. Now more than ever, we are seeing consumers base their purchase decisions on the sustainable credentials of brands. In fact, according to Amcor’s Consumer Claims Research, 34% of European consumers say the use of recycled materials would positively influence their purchase decisions.
In response to these changing demands, the market is progressively leaning towards reducing plastic usage and incorporating more post-consumer recycled content (PCR).
Additionally, there’s a noticeable trend towards lightweight solutions, such as stand-up pouches. This aligns with consumers’ growing consciousness about price, and the convenience of flexible packaging formats.
Refill pouches are a great example of a product that consumers find both cost-friendly and more sustainable thanks to lower plastic use. And today, those pouches are increasingly recycle-ready.
Q) What are some of the biggest opportunities in the home and personal care industry in the coming years?
A) The home and personal care sector has shown itself to be resilient and robust. As brands in the sector switch to more sustainable packaging, the popularity of flexible packaging will also continue to grow, and become a major opportunity for brands.
The trajectory towards a circular economy is promising, and incoming regulations, such as PPWR, will help close the loop.
As regulations increase the requirements of recyclable packaging, the key to future-proofing home and personal care products is to invest in a partnership with a trusted provider, who understands the needs of the product and helps make the transition to a more sustainable product as easy as possible.
