How responsible is your package?

As a potent transmitter of brand values, environmentally-friendly packaging is becoming a compelling business proposition, as Belinda Smart reports.

There was a time when the environment was the province of consciously ethical brands such as Melbourne re-cycling label Hunter Gatherer or global cosmetics giant The Body Shop.
But those days are long gone.
Widespread knowledge of the damage caused by non-biodegradable supermarket bags - evidenced by a move towards re-usable non-woven alternatives - is just one sign attitudes have changed.
"Social responsibility in relation to the environment has never been as popular or as needed as it is now" claims Jane Downs, marketing manager for Adelaide packaging specialist Paper-Pak, whose fashion clients include Witchery, French Connection, Esprit, Nike, Wombat and Jacquie E.
The company has seen a marked attitude shift among such clients in recent years; and as with most business decisions this shift speaks volumes about brand image; in other words the bottom line.
"Consumers are more environmentally astute than ever before and no longer look for environmentally sound products, but have come to expect them. This places responsibility on the retailer to source, offer and use products - including packaging - that are harmless to the environment. If retailers choose to ignore this push from consumers then it may be at the expense of customer loyalty."
And given technological advances, there is no reason not to be environmentally responsible, he says.
"With today's modern manufacturing techniques, cutting-edge styles and designs can be created using 100 per cent recyclable paper that is printed using water soluble inks and water based adhesives with no impact on the environment."
Paper-Pak takes responsible packaging so seriously that - as well as adhering to the Federal Environmental Code of Practice and being a signatory to the National Packaging Covenant of Australia - it has its own environmental action plan, based on four principles; to reduce, reuse, recycle and educate.
Sydney packaging specialist New Directions - whose fashion clients include Oroton, Versace, sass & bide and Lisa Ho - takes a similarly rigorous view.
"Our joint venture [manufacturing] partners in Indonesia implemented environmentally friendly measures around two years ago," says general manager Mohan Nair.
The "the old ways" might be preferable to retailers - "...if they had a choice cost wise they would prefer to keep using plastic bags" - but consumer demand has forced them to change, he says.
However, according to bag manufacturer Bee Dee Bags Australia - whose range of paper bags is 100 per cent recyclable - the financial argument may soon be irrelevant.
"Overall the market is slowly moving away from plastic bags as in recent months [the cost of] raw materials used in polythene has increased world wide, closing the gap in price between plastic and paper," says Bee Dee Victorian sales manager Steve Dicker.
In addition, reusable non-woven bags are now more attractive to fashion retailers, having "come along way with design, colours and style".
"Fifty different material colours are now available, making this style of bag not only friendly for the environment with its ongoing reuse value, but also [something that can be] designed to enhance the look of packaging."
While packaging companies lead the way, some fashion houses are also responding to the shift in consumer expectations, says Emma O'Connor - sales and marketing manager of newly launched Melbourne women's basics label SpencerLacy.
While the inaugural SpencerLacy range - in stores this month [June] - does not utilise environmentally-friendly packaging, the company is currently exploring responsible options and aims to have implemented them by the end of the year, in time for the delivery of its winter range.
As younger consumers join the market, pressure to provide responsible packaging will mount, O'Connor says.
"I see the impetus coming very strongly from my kids, who are constantly learning about [the environment] at school. It's definitely being driven by the younger generation."
Clearly there is benefit in recyclable packaging, but there remains an unsettling fact about the original source of that paper - wood - that might cause hard core greenies concern.
However, as New Directions' Mohan Nair points out, using recycled (as opposed to recyclable) paper remains cost-prohibitive.
"It depends on the size of the bag but on average a bag made from recycled paper would cost about 25 to 35 per cent more per unit than a normal paper bag."
A future where recycled paper products become the norm is not out of the question, but will take time, Nair claims.
"It's like anything. As demand increases, prices will come down and there will be greater adoption of recycled paper. Some companies - particularly in the skin care sector - already insist on using it because it's part of their brand image. At the end of the day it's about perception."
And if younger fashion consumers continue to demand green packaging, the importance of that perception will no doubt prove a powerful commercial driver for change.