Pack4Circular.
Co-create sustainable
packaging solutions
with business & societal impact.
6
founding partners
30
companies
6
challenges
4
use cases
The increasing volumes of packaging produced today are exceeding the processing capabilities, resulting in a devastating impact on the environment.
Story of Pack4Circular
Where it all started.
Today, the packaging value chain is a rigid & complex orchestration of various stakeholders, processes and relationships spanning the whole value chain, impeding a transformation towards a circular economy.
The packaging needs of today’s linear economy are exceeding its capabilities to process it…
In Belgium 1.8m tons of packaging waste has been produced in 2016, growing year over year.
Of all packaging waste in Belgium 40% of the mass is paper/cardboard, 20% is glass and 20% is plastic.
95% of plastic packaging material value is lost after its first short cycle.
Only 14% of plastic packaging is recycled worldwide.
98% of produced plastics is coming from virgin materials, using 6% of worldwide oil consumption in 2014.
… leading to devastating consequences for the environment as well as human health.
40% of packaging worldwide ends up in landfills.
30% of all plastic packaging worldwide ends up in the ocean. At this rate, by 2025 there will be more plastics than fish in the sea.
Packaging contributes a great deal to our current CO2 emissions, up to 15% by 2050.
Microplastics are hurting wildlife all over the world.
Contamination of our food systems by plastics and its additives raised concerns about its adverse effects on human health.
At Pack4Circular, we are convinced that more than ever, we need sustainable packaging solutions that can go toe-to-toe with our faster ever changing world and consumers.
Sustainable packaging solutions with business and societal impact.
Proven co-creation methodology based on collective intelligence and innovation expertise, realizing value for organisation/community /environment
Aim at developing and accelerating concrete use-cases.
Pack4Circular will be a driving force in smart and sustainable packaging industry. The industry’s key players will put their heads together and co-create packaging solutions with business & societal impact. Thanks to collective intelligence and collaboration, we will co-create solutions driven by the expertise and the creativity of the members of our ecosystem.
So, let’s challenge packaging together!
Founding partners
People with great passion can make the impossible happen.
Introduction of the challenges
From a challenge to a business case.
Inconsistent impact evaluation
Actors across the value chain expect numbers to evaluate and reduce the negative impact of packaging on the environment, but current widely used tools do not allow a consistent evaluation of how circular packaging is.
Confused consumer
Due to the widespread of guidelines, standards and labels the customer can’t make clear (pre-use) purchasing decisions (vulnerable for green-washing) or can’t sort (after-use) packaging to allow suitable collection and processing.
Functionality vs sustainability trade-off
The functional aspect of packaging, both tangible (e.g. protection) or intangible (e.g. branding) is conflicting with minimizing its
environmental impact.
Unfavourable economics
Investing in sustainable packaging is often not economically feasible. Both on supply side, (too expensive compared to virgin alternatives and often not viable), as on the collection/ processing side (too high required investment in infrastructure).
Lack of ecosystem harmonization
There is no standardization across the value chain resulting in a disconnect between the different stakeholders with each imposing their
own requirements. This makes the value chain highly inefficient and fragmented.
Challenging waste collection
Collect all disposed packaging and transport to plants for processing is challenging due to which a large volume of recyclable
packaging is lost after first use.
Join us
We are waiting for you.
Co.Station team working on this ecosystem
Where teamwork is at the heart of great achievement.
“Never do things by halves. Go the whole hog.” Matilda of Roald Dahl
