The World Packaging Organisation's Global Packaging Design for Recycling Guide has now been translated into three additional languages – Arabic, Spanish and Czech – to help even more packaging technologists to design out waste at the start.
According to Nerida Kelton, vice-president Sustainability and Save Food at World Packaging Organisation (WPO), in order to be able to apply recyclable packaging design, a certain fundamental knowledge of sorting and recycling processes is necessary.
“Packaging must be suitable for state-of-the-art sorting and recycling processes in addition to its basic functions, such as storage, transport, product protection, product presentation and convenience,” continued Kelton.
“The Guide is a starting point to understand best practice examples using state-of-the-art technology that can then be applied and tailored to suit the recovery and recyclability capabilities and infrastructure on a regional and local level.
“The latest translations have been developed in collaboration with country-based WPO members who are passionate about helping to educate their members about circular packaging design.”
Ayman Sbeih, chairman of the Palestinian Federation of Paper & Packaging Industries (PFPPI), WPO member and lead coordinator in the Arabic translation, said translating the Guide was extremely important to ensure a transition towards a circular economy can be achieved through scientific foundations.
“We need to ensure we take steady steps based on scientific foundations towards achieving a circular economy that contributes to addressing challenges that face the world, in terms of climate change, the environment and the preservation of natural resources,” Sbeih explained.
“This global design guide will help designers to better understand design rules for packaging materials in order to recycle them, reduce their impact on the environment, and also reducing the use of non-renewable natural resources in the manufacture of these materials.
“This will contribute to alleviating the burdens on these resources, and integrating the economies into the concept of circular economy and its applications.”
The Spanish translation was coordinated by WPO board member Silvio Colombo from the Argentine Packaging Institute (IAE), and Mariana Soto Urzua from Chile’s Packaging Centre CENEM.
“The Guide, together with a wide range of initiatives that IAE and CENEM already undertake, will contribute to stimulating discussion, awareness and education in the circular economy, the environment and sustainability,” Colombo said.
“We aim to circulate this guide across the entire region to embed best practice sustainable and circular design principles in all businesses.”
The Czech translation was coordinated by WPO board member Iva Werbynska, managing director at Syba, in partnership with Tomas Martoch, senior manager at ECR Community.
According to Werbynska, a number of environmental laws have come into force in Europe in recent years with the transition to the circular economy, with the main priority being prevention and long-term care of the entire supply chain.
“The legislation deals with the production of consumer goods, reuse, recycling, reparability and recoverability, and this requires better product design and sustainable packaging. This is where the Guide comes into play,” Werbynska added.
“As we need to keep the material in circulation for as long as possible, the guide will help packaging designers to change their thinking, provide a new approach to packaging, and help to steer planning in the right direction. Right now, packaging technology is at the beginning of a new era.”
The new translations are in addition to English, German, Georgian and Hungarian, and are available free to download on the WPO website.
