Time to force packaging industry to embrace sustainability

Getting mired in controversies seems to have become second nature for Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, which has rapidly grown over the past two decades. It has had problems with unionization and has also been accused of forcing its employees to work in unsafe conditions. Last month, Amazon was involved in a very public spat with environmental group Oceana, which tracks the health of the world’s oceans, after it claimed that the company’s plastic packaging waste had risen by a hefty 29 percent in 2020.

It said that, according to its estimates, Amazon produced 270,000 tons of plastic packaging waste, with more than 10,700 tons of this likely to end up in the sea. Amazon hotly contested the estimates, calling them exaggerated, but refused to share any data.

Whatever the exact amount of plastic waste generated by Amazon, there is no question that it has risen. And even if the company says it has begun using more recycled material — and there is certainly a degree of truth to this — it still does not take away from the fact that not all of the recycled material can be recycled endlessly, considering the sharply rising volume of goods that Amazon is pushing through our doors.

Amazon is not the only business to have flourished during the pandemic. Food and grocery delivery firms have also boomed thanks to the restrictions on people’s movement. These also rely heavily on packaging and it is certain that the waste they produce has boomed alongside their business, which grew from $160 billion in 2019 to $270 billion in 2021 just for food deliveries.

In all these businesses and even beyond, there already exists, either on an industrial scale or at least on a pilot basis, completely sustainable and biodegradable options that would not only entirely remove the need for plastic, but also ensure there is little or no consumption of primary materials like wood. For instance, food containers made of rice husk or other farming byproducts have been made and are being used, but on an extremely limited scale.

It would not be a huge challenge for big companies to wholeheartedly adopt these products and at least start their journey toward sustainability in a visible manner. This would go a long way toward cutting down the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, incinerators or, worse, the oceans. All it would need is minor recalibrations in the assembly lines of the large players such as Amazon or a simple change of supplier for most of the smaller outfits.

But the big companies, instead of leading the way, have adopted sustainability as mere tokenism. Most of them stay away as it might involve a slight increase in their costs. But for companies that are churning out record profits in the tens of billions of dollars every year, these costs would be just small change. Amazon saw its net profits soar by 84 percent in 2020 and a similarly hefty growth is expected when it releases its results for 2021.

Despite sitting on such mounds of cash, Amazon has been loath to move toward sustainability. Perhaps what is needed is pressure from consumers as well as governments. States can easily bring in laws mandating the use of sustainable packaging and tax the use of plastic and other materials that are derived from sources other than byproducts. Despite years of campaigning by organizations like Oceana and a much higher awareness of the dangers of plastic, it continues to account for nearly half of the hundreds of millions of tons of waste produced around the world each year.

Packaging waste has been rising around the world each year and, in 2019, an average EU citizen generated 178 kg of it, making a total of almost 80 million tons for the entire bloc. In the US, packaging accounted for 63 percent of the 292 million tons of waste generated in 2019. The figures are equally scary for most other large countries.

In the face of this flood of largely avoidable waste, consumers can play an important role by naming and shaming the companies that continue to delay moving toward sustainable packaging. Just as consumer pressure has forced at least some fast-food outlets and airlines to use sustainable cutlery and straws, it could also push businesses to forgo plastics entirely and use only sustainable packaging.

Beyond e-commerce and online delivery firms, the shift to sustainable packaging also needs to become a must for other companies. From Coca-Cola to Unilever, food and fast-moving consumer goods companies produce millions of tons of waste every year, and in every part of the world. They also have options for moving toward plastic-free packaging that can be applied immediately.

It would not be a huge challenge for big companies to wholeheartedly adopt biodegradable products.

Ranvir S. Nayar

Companies are often quick to point out that there are no viable options for them to adopt biodegradable or sustainable packaging, but this is mainly because they have not really put their heart into it. After all, most existing biodegradable packaging solutions have come from small, out-of-garage-style operations rather than any Fortune 500 company.

One way to propel the use of 100 percent biodegradable packaging materials like those made from agricultural or food waste is for governments to force companies to invest heavily in developing these options and give them a reasonably short timeframe to stop using plastic and other non-biodegradable material. After all, it is not for nothing that they say necessity is the mother of invention.

• Ranvir S. Nayar is managing editor of Media India Group.