Measuring the Environmental Impact of BioPak’s Products – Why Should We Care?

A recent McKinsey survey has confirmed what many of us already believed to be true: sustainability in packaging is a critical topic, yet many big organisations are falling short of their commitments. So let’s explore the current climate, the shift toward sustainability, and what we’re already doing at BioPak.

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t agree: sustainability in packaging remains an ongoing challenge – yet it’s a critical step in creating a sustainable future. 

Let’s look at some stats.

• Packaging accounts for 5% of the global emissions. So naturally, the demand for environmental impact reduction measures in packaging has never been higher. 
• 91% of plastic produced worldwide isn’t recycled (source).
• Only 2% of packaging manufacturers and resellers have proof to support their sustainability claims – that means there’s a whole lot of greenwashing, misleading claims and compliance risks.

Now you might be thinking, but what about the organisations that have made significant sustainable packaging commitments? 

Well, according to the McKinsey survey, of the 75% of organisations that have made significant sustainable packaging commitments, less than 30% are adequately prepared to meet these commitments. So you can begin to see the problem. 

It’s clear that we need organisations, governments and policymakers to remain focused and funnel more time and resources into sustainability efforts.

Despite these overwhelming statistics, change is coming. And we’re seeing it on a consumer, government and corporation level.

Consumers

According to the McKinsey survey, 50% of consumers claim to be willing to pay more for sustainable packaging. This is also reflected in the growth of sustainable products – they’ve achieved 2.7 times faster growth compared to traditional products, despite a higher price tag.

Government

On a government and policymaker level, there are currently 30 countries implementing sustainability regulations for packaging. 

Not only that, we’re seeing more and more regulatory bodies respond to these consumer demands for sustainable packaging, taking actions like: 

• Implementing regulations on single-use plastic packaging
• Placing extended producer responsibility (EPR) on consumer-facing products (this is where producers take a significant responsibility – financial, physical or both – for the treatment or disposal of their post-consumer products).
• Placing a new focus on Scope 3 emissions (that is, indirect greenhouse gas emissions).

Right now, Europe is leading the way in the sustainable packaging space, with governments in Asia-Pacific and North America following suit. 

Corporations

When it comes to sustainable packaging, corporations are making big commitments, representing a whopping $1 trillion in annual global spending (McKinsey survey). These commitments can be broken down into three areas: 

• Recyclability and increased recycled content (60% of commitments)
• Reducing overall plastic use (26%)
• Innovation and change in packaging use (14%)

Above all else, the efforts of governments, consumers and corporations are a promising sign that sustainable packaging is gaining momentum – an essential step toward a sustainable future.

The McKinsey survey highlighted that companies encounter four main challenges when it comes to reaching their sustainable packaging commitments.

At BioPak, we strive to lead the shift toward sustainable packaging. 

We’re committed to tackling the challenges identified by the McKinsey survey, focussing on cross-functional collaboration, meaningful incentives, upskilling, and clear sustainability metrics. 

In terms of cross-functional collaboration, sustainability is woven into every stage of our supply chain and value chain. For example, our product development team is committed to continuous research and development to find more sustainable materials and production methods, and the majority of our suppliers' manufacturing facilities are certified to ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems, and two are in the process of achieving certifications. 

BioPak is also committed to meaningful incentives. We recently launched our emissions reduction plan, marking 2022 as the last year of being certified carbon neutral. It’s now clear that offsetting a business footprint isn’t going to be enough to slow down climate change. Instead, we’re reinvesting the 1% of profits we’d usually spend on carbon offsetting into our Emissions Reduction Plan.

We’re also dedicated to continuous upskilling and training. We have training programs in place for both our employees and distributors – educating them on our business, sustainable packaging materials and the future of sustainable packaging. 

While we’re focussing on all four, we’ve recently channelled a particular focus on clear sustainability metrics – something we see as essential to understanding our impact and setting sustainability goals. 

The rest of this article will explore how we’re establishing clear sustainability metrics, what it looks like in practice, and why we’re taking this action.

Clear and accurate impact data is essential to understanding our impact – and then reducing it.

In 2024, BioPak partnered with Pickler, an environmental impact calculation software for packaging dedicated to making sustainable decision-making as easy as possible. Pickler helps packaging companies, like BioPak, understand and share their environmental impact and then make informed, science-based decisions. 

Using Pickler’s environmental impact software software, BioPak will include carbon footprint data and ‘eco-costs’ in each product description on our website. This will increase transparency, accountability and our commitment to combating greenwashing.

Partnering with Pickler’s software, there are four key impact categories (requested by EU legislation like the CSRD) that contribute to overall ‘eco-costs’. These categories are carbon footprint, impact on biodiversity, impact on human health, and impact on material scarcity. Using multiple categories helps to discover a product’s complete impact on the environment – and then take action on the biggest impact categories.

Pickler software then uses a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – a type of methodology that looks at the environmental impacts throughout the entire life cycle of a product – including all the energy and materials needed across the industry value chain. 

At BioPak, our analysis is based on the “cradle-to-grave” principle – a term referring to the entire lifecycle of a product or process, starting from inception (the "cradle") to its end-of-life (the "grave"). Considering the full impact of a product or process throughout its entire lifecycle is essential to understanding what stage in the cycle places the greatest burden on the environment. 

Life cycle stages include raw materials, manufacturing, end of life and transportation.

Today, vague sustainability claims are no longer good enough. There’s growing demand for impact data to substantiate claims, based on scientific evidence. 

Here are a few of the reasons why BioPak is choosing to partner with Pickler to gain clear sustainability metrics.

As early adopters of innovative technology and materials, BioPak is proud to be at the forefront of sustainable packaging in Australia. Now, we’re embracing radical transparency in the hope that more businesses and industries jump on board, too. If more companies committed to clear impact data and sustainability metrics – there would be more accountability and consumers would be able to make informed decisions.

While many impact reports rely on guesswork, Pickler is an environmental impact calculation software that uses a unique, completely transparent Life Cycle Assessment-based method to make science-based and credible footprint calculations. Claims consumers can trust. 

The Pickler methodology encourages environmental data that’s honest, reliable and in line with the latest EU Green Claim Directive (a directive that will require companies to substantiate the green claims they make), as well as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSDR), and other Global legislation.

If you’re interested in learning more about our calculation methods, follow the source links in the Pickler Environmental Impact Report.

As legislation shifts to move toward sustainable packaging solutions, partnering with Pickler will ensure we’re staying ahead of the game. 

Right now, Europe is leading the way in the sustainable packaging space – with regulations on single-use packaging and extended producer responsibility. Pickler’s data is fit for CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) – a requirement in Europe. Not only that, it’s also compliant with anti-greenwashing policies and guidelines (under ACM & EU’s Green Claims Directive). Partnering with Pickler makes sure we’re keeping up with shifting legislation.

Applying Pickler’s carbon footprint and eco-cost data to our products empowers consumers – it’ll educate them about the products they’re supporting and allow them to make informed decisions. Our credible and transparent reporting helps our customers report on their business impact, too.

From a business perspective, we’ll uncover the biggest impact categories for our packaging products and which part of the product's lifecycle caused it (for example, certain production processes or raw materials). This information is called 'impact hotspots'. 

These impact hotspots show us exactly where we can reduce our impact most effectively, and what type of impact we need to reduce. This will guide our future focus and actions. For example, "how can we best reduce the carbon emissions in our packaging's material phase?" 

We will make evidence-based decisions to reach our scope 3 reduction targets (note: scope 3 refers to Indirect Emissions from the entire BioPak lifecycle, including production, transportation, disposal, supply chain and employee commuting).

The first step to reducing our impact, is knowing where our impact is coming from in the first place. The information gained from Pickler’s software won’t just increase customer education, it’ll also inform decisions and contribute to our climate change mitigation efforts.

Pickler is a progressive impact calculation software partner dedicated to understanding packaging’s environmental impact. Here are a few of the reasons we love working with Pickler:

With so many companies falling short of their sustainable packaging commitments, we’re thrilled to be taking charge and launching our new Environmental Impact Label and Environmental Impact Report with Pickler. This will address the ongoing challenge of clear sustainability metrics, while also increasing transparency, accountability and our commitment to combating greenwashing. 

We hope to see more companies and industries jump on board. By doing so, companies will comply with legislation, make informed decisions, and nurture the planet for future generations.