Edie 25 - What’s next for circularity, reuse, and sustainable packaging?

After two energising days in London at the Edie 25 conference, Jess Barton, our Head of Advisory, reflects on the standout insights and top takeaways from the event.

The conference was a true cross-section of business sustainability issues - covering a wide range of topics from net zero strategy, carbon accounting, nature regeneration and biodiversity, carbon removal and, of course, circularity.

Ecosurety sponsored the Circularity stage, and it was great to see panels and case studies from across the spectrum of producers, waste managers, service providers and industry experts, coming together. They showcased great initiatives and highlighted the priorities for our industry and the wider circular economy.

Turning the tide on single-use packaging

I was lucky enough to speak on a panel tackling the issue of ‘Exploring Alternative Packaging and Turning the Tide on Single-Use Packaging’ alongside Cat Hay (Head of Packaging Strategy, Food and Drinks Federation), Dionne Rickards (Director of Sustainability, Compliance and Strategy at Sky), and Kayleigh Lee-Simion (Lead – Plastics and Circular Economy at CDP), chaired by Jane Martin CEO of City to Sea.

This session highlighted the need for packaging design to stay rooted to its core function of protecting the product, whilst also considering its end-of-life journey and carbon impact. We discussed the practical ways businesses can understand their packaging and what can be removed or switched for more sustainable alternatives. We also emphasised the essential need for collaboration to move towards commercially viable reuse systems.

We agreed that upcoming EPR regulations and reporting regulations, while a challenge for producers, will be a definite catalyst for businesses coming face-to-face with their biggest packaging challenges. With modulation of waste management fees based on recyclability of packaging, producers will be more motivated than ever to choose efficient, sustainable packaging to avoid costly packaging compliance fees.

Across the whole conference, there were a few stand out themes:

Circularity is here to stay

Businesses across the spectrum from manufacturing, to food, drink and agriculture are now focussed on the need to consider resources in a more holistic way, reducing waste by rethinking how products and packaging are formulated, produced and used. This is being recognised as a key driver of reducing both carbon emissions and costs.

Several speakers reflected on thinking about their products in new ways, looking at the end-to-end lives of their products and looking at ways to rethink them through reuse, repair and sharing of products.

Reusable systems need to be commercially viable, but we can make it work

There was much discussion about how to crack the reuse code and move on from pilots to scalable systems that are commercially viable and provide alternative solutions for packaging.

It was great to hear a large beer brand liken the journey we need to go on with reusable packaging to the growth in the non-alcoholic beer market – what was once a non-existent product without the manufacturing process to support it, is now a thriving segment of their business.

Sell value, not sustainability

Across the event, the real commitment of businesses to find solutions was evident, not for marketing purposes, but to address real climate and financial risk.

While the challenges of rising temperatures, political uncertainty and regulatory and reporting expectations are large and growing (including new regulations such as EPR), there is a renewed focus on optimising products from both a sustainability and consumer perspective. This can be done by focusing on building resilient and durable products so that businesses can sell the value of the product rather than the sustainability claim.

Keeping the conversation going

Thanks to the edie team for putting on a great event, and to all the speakers and businesses for engaging throughout the sessions.

If you’d like to discuss any of the issues above with us, or need support on your packaging strategy, please get in touch with our team on info@ecosurety.com.