Infrastructure seen needed to boost sustainable packaging investments

INFRASTRUCTURE for collecting and recycling used materials is needed to draw more investments in sustainable packaging, the top official of the World Packaging Organization (WPO) said on Wednesday.

“The infrastructure [should be] put in place to be able to recycle. It’s now reusing recyclable material, but if you don’t have the infrastructure to collect this, then that’s of no value. It’s important that governments play their part,” WPO President Pierre Pienaar told reporters on the sidelines of ProPak Philippines 2023 conference in Pasay City.

The packaging industry needs to increase its recycling efforts to avoid consuming more natural resources in the production process, he added.

“We’ve got to recycle more. We want to use material that is recyclable. We’ve got to use material that has recycled content in it and we’ve got to make sure that the material is collected and put back into the process and used over and over so that we don’t use more of our natural resources,” Mr. Pienaar said.

Asked if providing incentives to the packaging industry is viable, Mr. Pienaar said that the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) is the only effective method of ensuring that recycling is sustained.

“The only method at this stage anywhere in the world that has worked in terms of ensuring the continuation of recycling and a circular economy is what we call EPR and this is where the manufacturers of the packaging are responsible to make sure the packaging is collected and recycled,” Mr. Pienaar said.

Meanwhile, Informa Markets held on Wednesday the first day of ProPak Philippines 2023, which attracted 250 local and international exhibitors from 25 countries and regions across the world.

The event showcased the latest technologies in manufacturing, packaging, and processing. It will run until Feb. 3 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Some of the participating companies are engaged in processing and packaging machinery, technology, and materials in sectors such as filing, bottling, quality assurance, testing and measurement, and maintenance.

Other participants include those in automation, instrumentation, refrigeration, storage, labeling, printing, plastics processing, and wrapping machinery.

“We expect ProPak Philippines to be the international trade exhibition platform to offer solutions on cutting-edge technology in processing and packaging. We emphasize on the development that would need to get technology adoption in both big scale and micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME),” Informa Markets Regional Group Director-ASEAN Rungphech Chitanuwat.

“With our international network and our brand ProPak in Asia, we have also brought experts to share in the conference and seminars during the three-day event,” she added.