Packaging for Sustainability

The packaging industry is under pressure from regulators, customers and other stakeholders to improve packaging’s sustainability by reducing its environmental and societal impacts. This is a considerable challenge because of the complex interactions between products and their packaging, and the many roles that packaging plays in the supply chain. Packaging for Sustainability is a concise and readable handbook for practitioners who are trying to implement sustainability strategies for packaging. Industry case studies are used throughout the book to illustrate possible applications and scenarios. Packaging for Sustainability draws on the expertise of researchers and industry practitioners to provide information on business benefits, environmental issues and priorities, environmental evaluation tools, design for environment, marketing strategies, and challenges for the future.

Dr Karli Verghese Karli is Program Director, Sustainable Products and Packaging at the Centre for Design at RMIT University. She has been involved in research specialising in life cycle assessment (LCA), packaging sustainability and eco-design projects since 1996. Her research interests also include developing qualitative and quantitative tools to assist designers, packaging technologists and other professionals in environmental decision-making. She has been a key researcher in the Sustainable Packaging Alliance (SPA) and was the Product (Research) Development Manager for PIQET – Packaging Impact Quick Evaluation Tool, an online life cycle based decision support tool for the packaging supply chain. Karli is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Packaging. She has an active publishing profile of which includes her other book (with Ralph Horne and Tim Grant) ‘Life Cycle Assessment: Principles, Practice and Prospects’ that was published in 2009 (CSIRO Publishing). Dr Helen Lewis Helen is an environmental consultant specialising in sustainable packaging design, product stewardship and environmental communication. Her involvement with the packaging industry began in the early 1990s as environment manager for the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association. She moved to the Centre for Design at RMIT University, becoming Director in 2001. This role included the design and management of research projects on the environmental impacts and ecodesign of buildings, products and packaging. As Director of the Centre she helped to establish the Australian Sustainable Packaging Alliance in collaboration with representatives from Birubi Innovation and Victoria University's Packaging and Polymer Research Unit. Helen is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Packaging and Adjunct Professor at RMIT University. Her other publications include (with John Gertsakis) 'Design + environment: a global guide to designing greener goods' (Greenleaf, 2001). Dr Leanne Fitzpatrick Leanne is currently the Executive Director of the Australian based Sustainable Packaging Group of companies and General Manager of Birubi Innovation and Birubi Foods. She began her career in the food industry in 1987 as a Process Development Engineer with Kraft Foods and her career has involved a broad range of food innovation, research, and education/technology transfer roles across many science and technology platforms. She has planned, designed, managed and delivered R&D/innovation, consulting, training, mentoring and technology transfer programs in private, industry and public sector organisations including Warrnambool Cheese and Butter, Dairy Australia, Dairy Innovation Australia, the Cooperative Research Centres for Innovative Dairy Products and, Food and Packaging, Bonlac Foods, Monash University, and RMIT University. She has extensive experience managing multi-disciplined/multi-organisational teams/projects. In 2002, in collaboration with representatives from RMIT’s Centre for Design and Victoria University’s Packaging and Polymer Research Unit, Leanne initiated the establishment of the Sustainable Packaging Alliance as a focal point to facilitate the development of packaging sustainability by Australian businesses.