Reinier Schlatmann: If you design a packaging in a smart way, you remove tonnes of waste

Trends in sustainable development and pro-ecological solutions are very strong in business. To what extent do they relate to the packaging?

Businesses want to be sure that the solutions they are offered are not only most cost-effective but also most environmentally efficient. They are aware of the principles of the closed-loop economy and want to expand its use in their companies, replacing troublesome plastic with more environmentally friendly packaging and prepare for the coming changes.

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Reinier Schlatmann: Mądrzejsze projektowanie opakowań wyeliminuje tony śmieci

Produkowane są ogromne ilości śmieci. Dzięki lepszemu projektowaniu opakowań i współpracy można zmienić ten trend – mówi Reinier Schlatmann, prezes regionu Europy Wschodniej w DS Smith.

At DS Smith, we create packaging with a changing world in mind. We work for leading FMCG companies, retail chains, and industrial companies, providing them with innovative packaging design solutions that help increase sales, reduce costs, and manage risk. 

As a supplier of environmentally friendly packaging, we are responsible for supporting our customers in green transformation.  

Eco-friendly solutions are often considered to be expensive. Is business able to save by implementing the solutions you are talking about?

Yes. Innovations developed by our experts, including at the newly established Centre for Innovation and Production of Packaging Supporting Sustainable Development in Bełchatów, make it possible not only to reduce the negative impact on the environment but also for our customers to achieve real savings and make their businesses grow. Jus to give you an example, even a small change in the design of the packaging (e.g. by 1 mm) can have a huge impact on reducing costs. The packaging that is too large in relation to its contents is still a huge problem being increasingly recognised by the consumers.

The improper packaging is referred to as air-commerce.

This is precisely what we talk about, air-commerce. Consumers do not want oversized packaging and pay more attention to the environmentally friendly behaviour of brands. With shipments, about 40 million cubic metres of air is being shipped to Polish consumers due to oversized packaging. Just to put it in perspective, that is 13.5 thousand Olympic swimming pools filled with air. Improper packaging also generates more than 42 thousand tonnes of CO2 annually. Air-commerce generates millions of PLN and thousands of tonnes of waste.

How can packaging cost be optimised?

It begins at the design stage. This is when we can decide on the quantity and quality of raw materials to meet the requirements of the product and sales channel as much as possible. If you just save 1 mm of packaging, you can put 15%– 20% more products on the pallet and therefore reduce 17% of CO2 in this particular case. Annually, it translates into a significant reduction in truck journeys. Also, if we eliminate unnecessary air shipped in the e-commerce channel, we will reduce the number of delivery truck journeys by 2.5 million annually.

DS Smith will launch a centre for innovation and production in Bełchatów in September. What will be the centre’s core business?

Bełchatów is another step in delivering increasingly sustainable packaging. The new facility will create packaging solutions for major companies in the industrial and FMCG sectors, based on Circular Design Metrics as well as the needs of e-commerce and traditional channels, meeting at the same time ambitious environmental goals.

—Recorded by Grzegorz Balawender

Partner: DS Smith