Globalisation Challenges That Impact The Middle East: Can We Thrive In Scarcity

According to Forbes, a lot of personal protective equipment (PPE) used by the public was and continues to be discarded carelessly. The pushback against single-use plastic bans has heightened the demand for bottled water, plastic bags, disposable wipes, and sanitizers. And with it again comes the question of sustainable packaging.

“Sustainable packaging is the development and use of packaging which results in improved sustainability. This involves increased use of life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle assessment to help guide the use of packaging which reduces the environmental impact and ecological footprint,” affirms GWP group, UK.

Sustainability packaging efforts do not begin and /or end with just the procurement of recyclable materials and designing environmentally-friendly solutions solely. The sustainable packaging industry is like any other industry dependent on the availability of raw materials and technology and infrastructure across the value chain. This is apart from the compliance with region-wise regulations and safety standards. There are challenges in shipping raw materials in the region to manufacture Recycled PET (RPET). RPET for instance uses 50 percent less energy than making PET from scratch and Hotpack’s machines are ready to process RPET for a circular economy, but it just needs the raw materials. “We would love to use Recycled PET. But the shipping cost outweighs (its benefits) because the raw material is not available in this region.”

The fact that Tetra Pak has its recycling facilities in the Middle East and Africa regions with a capacity to process 87,000 tonnes of used beverage cartons per year, is a clear indicator that it is looking to increase its capacity in order to meet the growing demands in the region. “The last step in the circular economy is, of course, recycling. If you look at the recycling rate in the Middle East and Africa at the moment, it is about 16-17 percent of all the used beverage cartons. This is lower than what we see in many other regions.” To increase the recycling rates, there is a need to expand recycling capabilities.

Tetra Pak, one of the largest carton suppliers in the region, has made investments to set up new recycling facilities, and the latest facility to open was in Saudi Arabia. They have resources in place and a roadmap that looks at increasing recycling rates and is investing in recycling capabilities. They are invested in recycling infrastructure and also have a recycling facility, but they need to get raw material persists.

According to Tomotaka Brink Fushimi, Global Director, Tetra Pak, “In 2020, we had 16 recyclers in the whole region and by 2023, we expect the number to be more than double, with 35 recyclers in operation.”

Large local FMCG brand IFFCO is keen to use recycled materials such as RPET but acknowledges that “the availability (of raw materials) and regulation landscape is not fully ready.”

The importance of being ‘eco-educated and not greenwashed’  requires all stakeholders to come together and work on ensuring that in a world of ever-growing needs, the supply has to be adequate without compromising fundamental environmental-friendly practices

Comparing paper and plastic it is essential to note that the production of paper bags consumes more water than plastic bags which causes atmospheric acidification and deforestation. “Paper bags are six to seven times heavier than the lightweight plastic bags and therefore require more transport and associated cost. And if paper bags get into the landfill, they will take much more room.”

Plastic bags are said to generate 39 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than uncomposted paper bags and 68 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than composted paper bags. So how does one make the difficult choice? Paper bags generate five times more solid waste than plastic bags. “There are many benefits to plastic bags over paper bags if they are properly reused and recycled.” Paper cups too are traditionally coated with polyethylene. The combination of paper and plastic makes it a dilemma to dispose it off in the right way because you cannot put it in a paper bin given the plastic coating and you can’t put it in a plastic bin because it is largely made of paper.

Many companies offer PLA-coated paper bags with the assurance of them being compostable and eco-friendly. It has been amply proved that “To produce a PLA, it takes about 27.2 Mj/kg of fossil energy. It emits 1.2kg of CO2 per kg.” The PLA is only compostable in an industrial composting facility with 60 degrees of heat and over three days for treatment. It has to be specifically collected and treated.

Perhaps this is why Sabic, a global leader in the chemical industry, has joined an innovative project with value chain partners to help UPM Raflatac launch the world’s first packaging label materials made from Sabic-certified circular polypropylene (PP) based on advanced recycled ocean-bound plastic (OBP). “We are proud to offer our customers another more sustainable choice through the advanced recycling of used plastic that could otherwise end up in our rivers and oceans,” added Lada Kurelec, General Manager PP.

While recognising the need for sustainable packaging and recycling, Tom Bird, President, Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) in his address at the world recycling organization’s latest General Assembly, that was held recently said, “Over the years, we have allowed stereotypical views of the industry to prevail and have sold ourselves short in terms of our importance. We, as an industry, now more than ever, need to convey to the world the essential role we play in protecting the planet from climate change and the environmental damage caused by the extraction of primary raw material. Global free trade in recycled raw materials is essential for a truly global Circular Economy.”

Reviewing market development one can observe that in 2021 strong trading conditions were being worked throughout the year as the world tried to return to near-normalcy. But that also meant that the need for packaging stepped up. That measure of normalcy had proved to be “short-lived” with the additional negative economic and political effects of the Ukraine conflict and most recently the monkeypox emergency.

According to BIR Treasurer Andy Wahl, global uncertainties had played their part in persuading the world recycling organisation to adopt a “prudent and conservative” budget for 2022, with a projected deficit slightly greater than that recorded for 2021.

Should we turn our attention to individual companies that are trying to contribute PUMA is at the top of the list. Recently, the sports company announced a new shoebox design that will save 2800 tonnes of cardboard every year, as part of its sustainability strategy to make a positive environmental impact across its product range. It is also a fact that new shoeboxes, which have been rolled out in 2021, are only one of many practical methods employed by the company’s commitment to making its retail supplies more sustainable. By 2023, it has committed to zero plastic bags in stores and is expected to change its retail supplies including hangers and shoe trees as they look at sustainable packaging. It is noted further that these new variants of shoeboxes are sturdy and are made of more than 95 percent recycled cardboard.

“If we consider that it takes about 12 trees to make a tonne of cardboard, we are saving 33,600 trees every year. That is more than the number of trees in Central Park in New York,” said Stefan Seidel, Head of Corporate Sustainability at PUMA. “Such initiatives, which are part of our 10FOR25 Sustainability Strategy, help us make a positive impact at scale.”

SABIC has also announced the launch of a sustainable packaging solution for frozen food which is a heady combination of new polyethylene (PE) grade and innovative film production technology. Compared to conventional blow PE film solutions, it offers significantly higher output and is said to have significant potential for down-gauging, making it attractive from both a commercial and sustainability standpoint. The innovative packaging with reduced thickness minimises environmental impact and helps brand owners and retailers who are aiming to reduce their packaging material consumption. The new packaging solution is also 100 percent recyclable and fits mono-PE recycling streams.

In an era of greenwashing, concepts like the ones adopted by PUMA and SABIC hold an important space. Concurrent Development facilitates cross-departmental collaboration by allowing the processes of content and artwork development, simulation, and validation to run concurrently in a way that the quality remains uncompromised, the regulatory compliances are all followed and the overall package performance remains unhindered.

Driving efficiencies in product package artwork and label management with a digital twin have simplified the process for brands to adapt to a certain type of packaging to meet sustainability initiatives. They have discovered that artwork changes are one of the most important deliverables for an eco-friendly product. The fact that AI can now be used in an effective manner to test the efficacy of sustainable packaging makes it an important addition to the Sustainability Packaging framework.

According to Horti Daily, Packaging in Egypt is to have a lot less plastic if it’s up to one Egyptian packing manufacturer. The company has managed to remove about 85 percent of the plastic in its grape packaging and has seen solid results during the strawberry season as well. Overall, 2021 has already been a better year than 2020 was.

Mohamed Ali, founder and CEO of Egyptian packaging company Freshdeal, 2021 has been a much better year for sustainable packaging: “It has been a remarkable year and it’s definitely better than last year when the Covid-pandemic was causing a hard impact on us all and forcing everyone to pause their work and go into quarantine. We noted an increased demand for packaging, specifically sustainable and environment-friendly. We are pleased to see more awareness in our market toward food safety, especially when it comes to unpacked food. Also, it’s worth noting that our market growth was not only limited to the agricultural export sector but also the local market where food stores are finally starting to expel plastic.”

Environmental awareness about environmental concerns has resulted in higher demand for sustainable packaging and processing operations. Environmental ethics require manufacturers to reduce the source material creating thinner and lighter packaging and reduce waste. Issues about safety, quality, and product costs are critical for the modern-day consumer when making their purchases. A number of these issues are also enforced by legislative packaging regulations, which are expected to have a positive impact on the green packaging market, globally.

To put it in Ranvir Nayar’s Managing Editor for Media India Group, “One way to propel the use of 100 percent biodegradable packaging materials like those made from agricultural or food waste is for governments to force companies to invest heavily in developing these options and give them a reasonably short timeframe to stop using plastic and other non-biodegradable material. After all, it is not for nothing that they say necessity is the mother of invention.”