Pro Carton

Resource Efficiency

DOING MORE WITH LESS

Resource efficiency means using the Earth's limited resources in a sustainable way.  It's a major challenge facing manufacturing companies today, as competition for natural resources increases. The European Commission, in its recently published Resource Efficiency Roadmap has brought this topic into focus.

The cartonboard packaging industry already has a good story to tell about Sustainability (see link to Pro Carton's Sustainability site on the menu bar).  Developing a fuller understanding of the cartonboard packaging industry's resource useage is now a priority for the industry and its customers.

In general, packaging has a major role to play in resource efficiency by protecting goods and thus conserving more resources than it uses.  Innovations in the package itself,  incorporating and improving the sustainable characteristics of the pack, and the choice of packaging material, are all significant factors in  the efficient use of resources.  For example, the ability to recover and recycle the used package at the end of life of the packed product saves resources.


How does the cartonboard packaging industry respond to the Resource Efficiency challenge?
 
Life cycle thinking is key to Resource Efficiency and how this applies to cartonboard packaging is illustrated in the chart below.

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY THROUGH THE CARTON'S LIFE CYCLE


A description of the industry's on-going work to improve its performance in each of these categories, can be found within the sections listed on the menu bar.   These will be expanded as more data becomes available.


Protecting Food and Saving Resources

Ensuring efficiency through the value chain is also crucial and  packaging is key to protecting the resources embedded in the manufactured goods.  This is especially true in the food industry, where dealing with the issue of Food Waste and wasted resources is becoming a priority.  Packaging, including cartonboard packaging is part of the solution.






Smart Cartons - resource efficient and consumers' choice

Ultimately, the consumer decides.  Cartons offer the  discerning consumer the choice of resource efficient packs which also meet their demand for convenience, safety and functionality. 

For further details on the benefits of choosing cartonboard packaging, please  click on this link   to the  Why Choose Cartons?  site.