Systems thinking, ecodesign, virgin plastics... These kinds of concepts are constantly being thrown at us regarding packaging. It becomes almost impossible to see the wood for the trees. Enough is enough. Time to clarify! That's why we spoke with Karine Van Doorsselaer, lecturer in ecodesign at the University of Antwerp and author of several books, including "Climate-conscious consumption" and "Ecodesign: A Lifecycle Approach."

You once gave a talk at the University of Flanders in which you stated 'no packaging is the best packaging'. Can you tell us more about that?

There is a lot of discussion in the choice of packaging. To simplify things, I'm creating a kind of roadmap. And indeed, the proposition is "no packaging is the best packaging." The idea is to look at the packaging system. I'll give you an example: I'm often asked about shampoo packaging. Which packaging is best? My answer is always: think about the product itself, think about its function. We want to refresh ourselves, we want to wash our hair, and then there are solutions where you use solid shampoo bars. That's what we mean by looking at the packaging system to prevent packaging. Preventing packaging by changing the product.

"Which packaging is the best? My answer is always – think about the product itself, think about the function."

In short, system change. We totally agree with that. Suppose we do have to use packaging, what does that look like?

The essence of packaging is, of course, to protect the product. If products are lost, the impact is even greater. We will then apply the principles of the circular economy, following a specific order. First, reuse of the packaging and, ultimately, recycling. We will definitely focus on that hierarchy. There's a misconception that the circular economy is the same as the recycling economy, which is anything but. We do have our strategies. First, reuse, then recycling.

Would you rather watch a video instead of reading on?

And suppose we are recycling, what does such a process look like? And why isn't that the priority when it comes to the circular economy?

The story of the circular economy is about value retention. We have our product life cycle. Starting from raw materials, we move on to the materials and packaging. We add value at every step. The goal is to retain that value at end-of-use, when the packaging is discarded. It goes without saying that reusing packaging takes place at a higher level than recycling it. Additional process steps are involved, and the packaging is granulated, which is then recycled back into packaging. So, the circular economy strategy is truly about value retention.

Curious about the continuation of this interview? We'll send it to you!

‍

So if we understand correctly, you do indeed need more additional input in a recycling process to maintain the same value. In the event that we do look at packaging, it might also be interesting to know what the climate impact looks like. Where is the most weight?

That question, the environmental impact of packaging, is about thinking about the life cycle. If you ask me now which step in the life cycle has the biggest impact, it is of course some material bound. When we think of glass. Glass starts from sand and other minerals and is melted in a furnace at 1500 degrees Celsius. Which is already seriously energy-intensive. Glass is also heavy if we compare it to a plastic bottle. So the impact of transport in glass is also quite large. The advantage of glass is that we can recycle it infinitely without losing material properties unlike plastics. When it comes to plastics, we start from petroleum.

Four percent of petroleum is used for plastics, which is minimal. Then we have the polymerization of plastics. They are light, so the impact of transport is low, but recycling is still difficult. PET bottles are currently recycled very well and efficiently. It is the ideal plastic for chemical recycling. Therefore, it is the plastic that best lends itself to high-quality recycling. Polyethylene and polypropylene are more difficult to chemically recycle, and remelting also presents problems. Remelting causes the breakdown of molecules, changes material properties, and reduces the quality of the recyclate.

So if we return to the question: 'Which phase has the biggest impact?'. That's certainly not a straightforward answer, as it depends on the material. But I'd like to add something about paper. Paper is perceived as being ecological. If you ask the consumer—paper comes from trees, so it's renewable. But anything but. If we cut down trees and replant them, it will take 40 years for a small planted tree to reach the same size. A major problem is the reduced CO2 absorption when felling trees. Converting wood into paper requires an enormous amount of water, energy, and chemicals. The process itself is therefore anything but. Ultimately, paper recycling involves fiber degradation at every stage, which diminishes the material's properties.