Use Less

Sustainability is very important—there is no doubt about that. You can see that in the number of scorecards, corporate sustainability reports, marketing strategies, and hopefully above all, technical developments for new and alternative materials.

What is driving these sustainability efforts is sometimes difficult to tangibly define; partly because sustainability itself is so difficult to define. Having read any number of articles in recent years on different aspects of sustainability, my only firm conclusion is that it is an extremely complex topic.

Take carbon footprint, for example. It is one of the more visible criteria used when showing improvements in sustainability. Yet, even with the atmospheric CO2 concentration surpassing 400 ppm (as measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii) for the first time in the history of anatomically modern humans, even the scientific community covering climatology is divided on its significance.

I actually have one other firm conclusion concerning sustainability and that is: anything that reduces material use or energy use is a step in the right direction for sustainability. I recall a couple years ago at a session on sustainability the presenter said up front that he was going to focus on cost reduction because of the direct correlation with sustainability. This made a lot of sense to me at the time.

Suppliers of plastic films and related products such as coatings and adhesives have been working on improving and reducing materials for as long as they’ve been in business, so this is nothing new. Barrier properties are improving; the number of laminations required for multiply materials are being reduced; coatings are replacing the need for film laminations; the list goes on and on. What may be new is that the benefits that impact sustainability are being being brought to the forefront, and this is a good thing.

So, while there are many sides to the story concerning sustainability, just continue to reduce materials, reduce energy, and reduce costs and at least you’ll be playing in the right ballpark.