Learning community Packalicious explores routes to intrinsically sustainable packaging
What will sustainable packaging look like in the future? Can we package without harming people and the environment? This is a big challenge, because there are no ready-made solutions. An integrated approach is needed, in which every organisation in the packaging chain must play its part and where we must work together. That is why we have Packalicious, the learning community in which companies, science and education together explore the road to intrinsically sustainable packaging.
As part of this mission, KIDV facilitates the Packalicious community, where we work together in a concrete and constructive way to visualise the future. The organisations affiliated with Packalicious look beyond today, dare to experiment and work together on a pre-competitive basis. As on November 21st in Amersfoort, where we came together for Packalicious Live!
Chris Bruijnes, director of KIDV, explained why we gathered with this diverse group: ‘Packaging is useful and necessary: it prevents damage and food waste. In the waste phase, we are working on better recycling and more and more steps are being taken on reuse too. But because we will never close the material cycle completely, we must also work together on the next step: intrinsically sustainable packaging, i.e. packaging without harming people and the environment.’
This was also endorsed by Petra Veen, project leader of Packalicious. She took the participants through four ‘future tables’ that Packalicious is exploring and taking actions on: ‘With the input of the knowledge institutes affiliated to Packalicious, several disruptive futures have been sketched. The routes we are starting today come from these future images. The strength of these routes is that they can be explored on their own but at the same time are very strongly interrelated. It is precisely the connection between these routes that leads to new, intrinsically sustainable packaging systems. Placing solutions and innovations in a systemic perspective and seeking the connection is therefore an important role of Packalicious.’
Henk Diepenmaat, director of Actors Process Management BV, complemented: ‘Traditional packaging practices are extensively tested, far developed and very cost-efficient. Laws and regulations give maximum support to these traditional packaging practices. Introducing new, intrinsically sustainable packaging practices is a challenge for all of us.’ He urged participants to look not only at the technical side of the innovations when devising the innovation routes, but also take into account the policy and governance needed.
Kim Stemkens, present on behalf of Jumbo at future table 1, explained why it is important for her to be part of Packalicious: ‘Packaging and product should be viewed holistically, so it is very good that I, as a retailer, am part of this community. After all, we are a big player in the shift to reusable. On a day like this, you gain a lot of inspiration for the future.’
After MIER, improv comedy, encouraged the participants with various improvisational cabaret exercises to let go of all preconceptions and the initial ‘no’ reaction we all have, the energy is well up and it is time to split up for the brainstorming sessions of the future tables:
- Short packaging chains for fruit, vegetables and dairy, supervised by Else Boutkan.
- New collection systems for different types of packaging, supervised by Patrick van Baal.
- New materials and infrastructure for end-of-life, supervised by Marieke Lenders.
- Standardisation and the future of branding and shopping, supervised by Gijs Langeveld.
Led by the experienced moderators, the knowledge and experience of the attendees was put to good use throughout the day. It was a continuous sequence of sharing and listening, writing down and deleting, questions and answers.
Present from Picnic was Marco van Hellenberg Hubar, who emphasised that it was an active meeting: ‘This way, you really get the feeling that we can break through the status quo. There is so much energy in the room with all those different stakeholders, it's a great way to get in touch with other perspectives and think about what can be done.’
Jean-Marc van Maren, who as an investor in Droppie is at the forefront of collecting all kinds of materials, agrees: ‘This was a very constructive day with a huge variety of players, I found it very action-oriented. I regularly attend days like this and this was more realistic than usual, with open information exchange.
2025
The future tables determined which actions we will work on together in 2025 to achieve the innovation routes and who and what we need to do so. The first actions are being launched now. On 11 February 2025, we will meet again for the exchange of ideas and actions. In 2025, Packalicious participants will meet during four meetings, but will certainly stay in touch in the meantime.
Do you have questions about Packalicious and/or would you like to participate? If so, please contact project leader Petra Veen at p.veen@kidv.nl.