Packaging and Product Containers

Packaging and product containers create a great deal of the landfill generated in the United States. Packaging and product containers also contribute significantly to the cost of finished goods sold commercially. As a result, many consumers, producers, and activists search for green alternatives that will make packaging and product containers more environmentally friendly while also reducing the amount spent on these items. The market for green packaging and product containers is estimated to be as much as $45 billion per year by 2013. Sustainable packaging and product containers focus on three related criteria: functionality, cost-effectiveness, and support for long-term human and ecological health. Advances for sustainable packaging and product containers are driven by an increased awareness of environmental issues, coupled with the elevated costs of raw materials and fuel that have occurred in the past several years. This confluence of interest in green packaging and product containers thus stems from both consumers and producers, making it a highly popular, prevalent, and powerful market force.

Making packaging and product containers more green entails the development and use of casings that result in improved sustainability. Sustainable packaging and product containers are those that exist when manufacturers and consumers consider economic, social, and environmental concerns and then take actions to ensure that present needs are met in a way that does not compromise those of future generations. Although each of these terms, of course, is used in a variety of contexts, within the framework of sustainability, special considerations help guide the assessment of each element when considering packaging and product containers.

Classical economic theory, for example, considers the costs and availability of land, labor, and financial capital when making decisions about packaging and product containers. In terms of sustainability, natural capital must be considered as well, which includes those natural resources and ecosystem services that maintain and nurture society as a whole. Natural capital includes such resources as hydrocarbons, minerals, water, and trees, as well as more intangible assets such as cultures and human intelligence. Those interested in natural capital consider the economic costs of packaging and product containers not just in terms of the resources consumed but also in terms of the ecological footprint left behind. Proponents of sustainable packaging and product containers are therefore concerned with the conservation of resources through more effective manufacturing, the [Page 330]reuse of materials found in natural systems, a change in focus from quantity to quality, and the restoration and sustainability of natural resources.