ProAmpac

Sal Pellingra

Today it seems that sustainability and innovation conversations fill our days. Questions like” How can we develop new products and packaging that differentiates brands?”, or “How do we ensure sustainability is part of that design process?”. Many brand owners won’t move forward with a new development unless the design and sustainability goals are aligned.

ProAmpac is ahead of the curve in developing products to support the circular economy. The primary goal is to minimize the impact of products on the environment while supporting our customers sustainability targets. We are constantly bringing to market flexible packaging solutions designed for recyclability or compostability, adding more PIR, PCR and renewable resin into film and paper. Our performance target is that any new sustainable product should run at the same efficiencies as conventional solutions, and we have been achieving just that.

“Making innovation and sustainability core values impacts not just products, but people and our communities”

However, sustainability is more than products and packaging. Sustainability and innovation are core values and a mindset that drives a company committed to excellence. Operations and people are at the heart of ProAmpac’s sustainability strategy.

Social sustainability is key. How do we take care of our teammates and partner with our neighbors? Is there enough focus on safety? Are we caring for our teammate’s overall wellbeing? ProAmpac focuses on safety, employs innovative health and well-being programs and partners with local communities to support meaningful causes. With today’s employment challenges focusing on people is more and more important and when people are taken care of and happy, productivity increases. We have waste reduction and water management initiatives in all our sites. We even have wind power providing energy to one of our sites! A key is keeping in mind how to make less of an environmental impact where we do business and where our products are used, while making more of a positive impact on our neighbors and teammates.

However, the biggest impact we can have on the environment is always to reduce. Reduce the amount of materials produced and reduce the impact on the environment to manufacture, use and dispose. It comes down to common sense. Which takes less energy and is easier to carry down a flight of stairs: a bed or a pillow? No different for manufacturing and distributing products and packaging. Flexible packaging helps do just that. Ships more product with less packaging and uses less resources in the entire chain of use. The next step is to begin converting these to materials that are compatible with the circular economy. And the biggest innovation is to do all that while still designing in functionality and excellent graphics. Products still need to meet marketing goals, consumer functionality and convenience.

Making innovation and sustainability core values impacts not just products, but people and our communities. When done right, innovation and sustainability ultimately impact the bottom line because products are designed for the future and more desirable because of that. Operations are efficient, and people are fulfilled. Cheers to ProAmpac for being a company the right focus and cheers to similar companies doing the same and more by using innovation to impact people and products while minimizing the impact on the environment