Sustainable Packaging Solutions Meet Standard Test Shortfalls 

A global survey capturing the opinions and outlook of professionals in the rapidly evolving packaging sector highlights challenges surrounding the relevancy of current testing standards across a broad range of materials.

‘2022 Global Outlook of Sustainable Packaging’ surveyed 250+ packaging professionals across a range of industries – asking them for insights on the ways that sustainable innovations are impacting quality control.

Positive steps towards a greener future 

In 2022, much of the world has accelerated into a fast lane towards sustainability. Strongly worded commitments to recycling and the building of circular economies have evolved into real, positive action.

Increasing numbers of companies are investigating every aspect of what they do, and how they do it, with greener eyes. And they’re all doing it at once! In our exclusive survey report, 65% of packaging decision makers cited a desire to reduce their environmental footprint as a major factor as to why they are investing in sustainable packaging.

Across all industries, firms are seeking to recycle more of what they make, work with new types of recyclates, and design innovative planet-protecting packaging options.

Our report discovered that plastics, paper, and foils are most commonly being replaced as manufacturers shift to more flexible and eco-friendly options such as paper, paperboard, and fiberboard as well as biodegradable plant, or synthetic, based packaging.

Some of these new recyclates have special characteristics that bring new quality assurance requirements – and as a result, raise questions about the current testing methods that are in place.

They have always been familiar bedfellows, but it’s never been more apparent how quality assurance and sustainability go hand-in-hand. You can’t achieve your well-intentioned, grandiose green goals unless you have the right testing processes to ensure packaging, material, and product integrity. And for all of this to happen, having the right quality standards to adhere to are vital.

Every part of every eco-friendly design, of every piece of packaging material, must be put to the test. But some organizations feel they can only move as fast as the testing protocols that the international standards arena allow. Why is this…and are they right?

This discrepancy between company sustainability goals and the capability of the standards industry to keep up was identified by many of the 255 respondents of the ‘IP 2022 Global Outlook Of Sustainable Packaging’ survey.

The survey explored the views of packaging professionals - from quality control managers and laboratory chemists to CEOs - all over the world. The respondents came from a variety of sectors, in businesses of all sizes, and they work across every stage of the packaging manufacture and testing process.

As a company dedicated to delivering the best test and inspection solutions, we are especially passionate about the importance of effective quality control when breaking new sustainable packaging ground. But this sentiment is echoed across the industry – it was a theme that echoed through the report responses.

Sustainable Packaging Struggles? You’re not alone!

This product safety and reputation-linked trepidation was raised by over half of the people we spoke to. Many were concerned about how the new options will adhere to health and safety standards - or how the increased material costs could be passed onto the consumer.

So, what are the most common types of tests carried out on sustainable packaging materials? The importance of leak testing, crush and compression testing and burst, puncture and tear testing were highlighted by at least half of our respondents.

Many packaging professionals told us that they are finding it difficult to effectively test and work with new sustainable materials. Some 71% of manufacturers, production lines and laboratories said that their quality control processes were “somewhat to significantly” more difficult with environmentally friendly options. Often it doesn’t seem possible to get the results they need using the existing test techniques and standards.

Quizzed on the reasons for this, our recipients gave mixed responses. Almost half told us that the development of sustainable packaging is hampered by access to new technology and machinery. While others suggested that the problem factored around outdated testing standards, with new processes needed urgently.

Some of the new materials are so new and different that organizations are struggling to define the best approach to testing. We heard that the results returned from testing labs are often of little use, or that there doesn’t seem to be appropriate standards in place to compare the results to. This is unfortunate as, more often than not, a different tool - or methodology - can lead to a breakthrough.

The State of Sustainable Standards

In our 100 years of experience in designing and building testing devices, more often than not, the standards have already been developed. So, as test and inspection partners, we create machines or processes with conformance in mind: the standards themselves drive aspects of the design.

Sometimes a client will have a unique packaging problem. So a new testing technique must be developed to solve it. From there, an applicable standard must be found or written. To control how data from the process is captured and how that data is reported. As experts in test and inspection, at times many of our IP team members work collaboratively with standards bodies to determine new methods that can drive forward innovation.

While the recycling revolution has been quietly growing - while there has not been the multitude of new materials to consider and test - most packaging companies have “always” or “most of the time” been able to test effectively with conventional standards. In fact, three quarters of the survey respondents felt this way.

However, now that recyclate supply chains are buckling with demand, and now that companies are being forced to find new suppliers and test the influx of innovative sustainable options available - nearly half of the respondents told us that meeting safety and testing standards was one of their biggest challenges.

So, what accounts for this? The challenge does not lie so much in the meeting of a tried and tested standard; it’s rather that a lot of the time conventional standards don’t always apply to the latest sustainable materials. We were told that these new contenders are causing issues particularly within coatings, printing and labeling, heat sealing, and sealing.

Barriers to Sustainable Package Testing

A key aspect of the problem appears to be a previous lack of urgency to face up to and address the pollution problems we face. It’s a joy to witness so much change, but it’s fair to say many were OK with ‘business as usual’ and are now playing catch-up!

As a company established to invent new technologies and processes that push existing standards and catalyze change, at Industrial Physics we’re passionate about improving package testing.

If the standards are outdated or not fit for sustainable options, then it’s our job to work towards developing new approaches in order to hurry things along. Ultimately, we are striving to remove barriers to progress.

But traditionally many companies haven’t shared this desire to see great change - at least not too quickly anyway! A lot of companies have worked with the same standards for years, often looking for processes that ticked a box - a rubber stamp to satisfy the customer and sell a product.

For many test and inspection providers, finding an alternative approach when bound by historic testing standards can make things difficult. Sometimes, companies may not fully understand why the standards are there and - in all honestly - possibly wouldn't be testing so comprehensively, were it not an obligation.

Then you have problems caused by the standards agencies themselves. Standards bodies tend to move slowly - it can take years to introduce a new process or test. But as the desire for sustainable innovation increases at an exponential rate, we no longer have that luxury of time. It’s going to be tough for these membership organizations to react to the pace of change and innovation demanded by industry and the public.

We are told that some international standards agencies are already falling behind and aren’t leading the green revolution as we’d hoped they would. Their methodical, tried-and-tested, way of doing things - refined over many years - isn’t set up with rapid evolution in mind.

Moving forward, industry and the standards bodies will hopefully move towards a way of working even more closely together to tackle the mutual problems we face, optimizing all opportunities for collaboration.

In days gone by, it may have been the case that companies were investing more in the standards bodies, paying for employee memberships, and encouraging them to attend meetings and be active within them. This is not so common in 2022 and - while cost cutting is understandable - it can be shortsighted and something that could be addressed to enhance communication channels and two-way influence moving forward.

While inspecting new materials is always going to present fresh challenges - if you are dedicated towards finding the right standards, and how to test for them - where there’s a will, there’s a way! We have shown many of our customers that any early hurdles they encounter shouldn’t curtail their sustainability ambitions and there’s often a way to confidently circumnavigate them.

Sometimes it’s not as black and white as to say - this quality standard is no longer appropriate for the materials we want to use. We find that often, companies just need to evolve their existing test methods. To partner with testing organizations in refining how they test; explore different standards that are better aligned to their green ambitions; or even design new inspection devices that are custom built to solve their unique problems. This is where a partner like Industrial Physics can offer support.

This idea was confirmed by Max Phippard, Technical Manager at Aquapak, a sustainability focused waterproof cases manufacturer.

Max said: "Often when we submit our tests to a lab, they’ll just say, ‘here’s your result.’ But because we can’t talk to them about what’s happening and why, we don’t know what the results mean.

As an example, he notes that it’s often the test method itself that raises the problem. For example, some testing standards would state 'hold the material until it's a constant weight', but this is not possible for the sustainable polymers they want to use, or other biodegradable materials. So, having a feedback loop and greater collaboration with a testing partner often results in new insights and improvements that can bypass an issue…without waiting for a new standard to be developed.

He continued: "Working with Industrial Physics, we've been able to design new test methods where required. And because they're the designers of the testing equipment, they can really understand what's going on with the equipment. What's not working? What could we tweak?"

Greater investment in R&D, new testing techniques, and the creation of new standards will be key to supporting and catalyzing progress. Collaboration will drive success: between industry, the standards bodies, and the test and inspection specialists like ourselves. Together we will find a way to make this work, to fast-track the sustainable packaging success stories that we are all working hard to achieve.

At Industrial Physics we help companies to put their recycled materials - and the packages they make from them - to the test.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can support your eco-friendly ambitions with the best test and inspection advice and equipment available, then get in touch today!