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Paper packaging outlook ‘rosy’, says
Nestlé sustainability guru

Paper packaging has a “rosy” future but needs to face the challenge of reducing wastage, according to food giant Nestlé’s sustainability advisor.

In an interview ahead of his appearance at October’s Pira Packaging Summit, Duncan Pollard said that the task of reducing waste was the biggest facing the packaging sector in developed economies.

He said: “Speaking generally, for tissue and packaging I would say that the future is rosy. Less so for printing and writing grades, though of course it depends on geographies.

“More specifically… I would say that paper packaging has two different challenges. In the western world the challenge is of wastage – consumers hate throwing away packaging (this is not of course restricted to paper). The future here will be about design, innovation, reduction and recyclability.

“In developing countries we have the opposite issue – the need for more packaging to reduce food waste. I am however a firm supporter of responsibly produced paper – its from a renewable resource. I wish LCAs could better reflect that.”


‘Responsible sourcing’

Elsewhere in the interview, Pollard said that Nestlé was rolling out a new “responsible sourcing” procurement guidelines for paper-based packaging following the group’s recent publication of new policies on forest stewardship.

He added that approaches to sustainability were changing.

“A subtle shift is occurring in how we understand sustainability and it is increasingly understood to be about access to resources and the needs of society. Food and agriculture is central to many of these challenges,” he said.

Duncan Pollard will be speaking at this year’s Pira Pack Summit, 6 & 7 October 2011 in Nice, France.