Plant-based packaging: Council formed to guide global economy toward sustainable packaging

05 Feb 2019 --- The expanded use of plant-based materials for responsible and sustainable consumer products and packaging is among the aims of the newly formed Plant Based Products Council (PBPC). The council hopes to answer the calls of consumers for more sustainable packaging solutions. Among its founding members are food and beverage companies Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland and Tate & Lyle. The launch was announced at the California Air Resources Board’s California Bioresource Economy Summit.

Acknowledging the need for business solutions to address threats to the environment, the PBPC promotes the adoption and use of products derived from renewable biomass. The group will advocate for private sector programs and government policies to encourage the use of renewable materials and feedstocks, including policies to reduce carbon emissions, improve water quality and soil health and curtail solid waste destined for landfills by purposeful closed loop end-of-life strategies through recycling and composting.

“Businesses and consumers alike recognize the need to solve the problem of plastic pollution that harms our environment,” says John Bode, President and CEO of the Corn Refiners Association. “The PBPC will seek plant-based solutions, bringing together government, non-profit and corporate entities to address environmental challenges while driving economic opportunity.”

Polling, conducted in August 2018 and released recently by the PBPC, reinforces the notion that Millennial consumers are supportive of bioplastics and even willing to pay more for them. Findings in the poll include:

• Forty-eight percent of millennials feel most guilty about their own plastic use compared to other resources, such as paper (33 percent), water (31 percent) or the amount they drive (19 percent).
• Sixty-four percent of millennials are willing to use alternatives to plastic.
• Sixty percent of millennials are surprised by the lack of alternative options to plastic.
• While only 13 percent are “very familiar” with bioplastic, once described, 90 percent become favorable to bioplastics.
• This statistic crossed party affiliation, racial self-identification and also income groups and the urban/rural divide.

In addition to providing a platform for collaboration, the PBPC today also launched an extensive, user-friendly database, featuring over 480 plant-based and biobased products currently on the market, with plans to continue to expand the database. The database showcases the versatility of plant-based materials and is designed to help guide businesses and consumers toward more sustainable decisions.

PBPC’s membership includes businesses large and small, from across the US, that produce, distribute, or sell products/packaging from renewable biomass inputs, as well as those organizations that have made related public commitments to build a more sustainable future. In addition to its membership, the PBPC features an Advisory Board consisting of environmental organizations and NGOs.

The founding members also include Georgia-Pacific Ingredion, WestRock-Multi Packaging Solutions, Stone Straw, Loliware, Visolis Biotechnology, Newtrient, Future iQ, Emerald Brands, Hemp Road Trip, Hemp Industries Association and Tree Free Hemp.

“This initiative adds much-needed diversity to a changing conversation,” says Nina Goodrich, Executive Director of GreenBlue, who is a member of the council’s advisory board. “The PBPC is an exciting new voice seeking sustainable packaging solutions to our material recovery challenges.”

The council’s advisory board also includes Californians Against Waste, International Conservation Caucus Foundation, University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Professor Ramani Narayan, of Michigan State University’s Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science.