Colloquia

Summary

In recent years, packaging has come under increased scrutiny, both from regulatory bodies and consumers, regarding their environmental sustainability. The packaging of acrylic paints is no exception. Therefore, Royal Talens is exploring ways to make their plastic tubes and bottles for acrylic paints more sustainable. The method for doing so starts with analysing the current packaging portfolio to identify areas for improvement, followed by market research to understand users, competitors, and trends in sustainable paint packaging.

After an image of the market is established, a literature review is done to assess the suitability of various materials to be used in the context of more sustainable packaging. Bio-based materials are considered, showing a potential to use bio-PE, PEF, and PHB, alongside traditional materials such as fossil-based plastics, metals, glass, or paper and board. Several design directions emerge based on the research: improving current packaging and minimising material use, promoting reuse or refilling, and using bio-based materials. Concepts are made based on these directions, which are evaluated using criteria-based scoring and assessment by relevant stakeholders. Based on the evaluation, material minimisation and reuse are selected for further development.

The proposed solution is implemented over four phases to make the switch to reuse more gradual. Phase one optimises the current packaging by reducing material, achieving up to a 34% weight reduction, and making it an HDPE mono-material for better recyclability. Phase two introduces an internal recycling stream with a deposit-return system to better manage the collection. Phase three proposes a reusable cap, and phase four fully transitions to reusable packaging, where returned packaging is cleaned, refilled, and reused. An LCA tool shows that reuse and refill are more sustainable after a few cycles, with lower CO2 emissions and material usage, although only having a reusable cap does increase water usage, likely due to (inefficient) washing.

By using a phased approach, an increasingly more sustainable packaging format can be implemented without requiring considerable changes to be made all at once, both for the consumer and the company. This type of approach could also be extended when developing more sustainable packaging for other (non-food) packaging, where it is important to objectively show that higher sustainability will be reached for each phase.