Beverage cartons & Sustainable Consumption and Production
ACE members strive to be recognized as the packaging solution for beverages with the lowest environmental footprint. This is our industry’s contribution to a more sustainable consumption and production.
The renewed European Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS), adopted in June 2006, identifies Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) as a key element for sustainable development.
In recent years, sustainable development has become mainstream within a broad range of EU policies. With regards to SCP, in July 2008, the Commission proposed a European Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy. This is a package of measures – built on a number of existing policies and existing legislations – which introduces new provisions for producers, consumers and Member States for ‘greening’ their activities, products, and behaviours.
In particular, it establishes a framework to improve and promote the environmental and energy performance of products and processes at EU and international level, and it includes mandatory, as well as voluntary, measures that might have a significant impact on the business sectors concerned.
ACE’s position on sustainable consumption and production
ACE considers this plan to be an important policy framework for encouraging business and other stakeholders to respond coherently to the challenges of a low carbon economy.
ACE believes that all stakeholders in a business value chain have a responsibility to make measurable and certifiable progress in greening their operations and products, and to ensure their suppliers do likewise. Our own experience tells us that supply chain management, based on a life cycle approach, is indeed a key tool for sustainable consumption.
It also tells us that partnerships – upstream, downstream and with NGOs – are a critical ingredient in applying the tool successfully. Our chain-of custody commitment on the traceability of wood fibres used in beverage cartons is a case in point.
The SCP policy therefore provides a platform for the packaging sector, and perhaps for others in the packaged food chain, to make practical contributions to lowering the CO2 footprint of products and services, and hence to increasing their sustainability.
For packaging, scientific studies have recognised the climate impact as a leading indicator of its environmental performance.
The relevant building blocks of the European Union's policy on SCP include (non-exhaustive list) :
- Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources
- Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and Recycling
- Eco-design Directive (currently only covering both energy-using and energy-related products)
- Energy Labelling Directive
- Ecolabel Scheme
- Green Public Procurement (GPP)
- Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)