The environmental impact

We are amazed at how stupid our packaging is designed, it is inherently of no value added

- Global plastic waste generation more than doubled from 2000 to 2019 to 353 million tonnes. Nearly two-thirds of plastic waste comes from plastics with lifetimes of under five years, with 40% coming from packaging, 12% from consumer goods and 11% from clothing and textiles (source www.oecd.org)

- Only 9% of plastic waste is recycled (15% is collected for recycling but 40% of that is disposed of as residues). Another 19% is incinerated, 50% ends up in landfill and 22% evades waste management systems and goes into uncontrolled dumpsites, is burned in open pits or ends up in terrestrial or aquatic environments, especially in poorer countries.

- In 2019, 6.1 million tonnes (Mt) of plastic waste leaked into aquatic environments and 1.7 Mt flowed into oceans. There is now an estimated 30 Mt of plastic waste in seas and oceans, and a further 109 Mt has accumulated in rivers. The build-up of plastics in rivers implies that leakage into the ocean will continue for decades to come, even if mismanaged plastic waste could be significantly reduced.

- Packaging and increase in plastic use go hand in hand as most packaging is made of plastics

- The role of packaging in our products today makes it of a low value added and results in a throwaway once the value added product is finished

Data from the European parliament 2018 stats

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20181212STO21610/plastic-waste-and-recycling-in-the-eu-facts-and-figures?&at_campaign=20234-Economy&at_medium=Google_Ads&at_platform=Search&at_creation=RSA&at_goal=TR_G&at_audience=plastic%20waste%20statistics&at_topic=Plastic_Waste&at_location=FR&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0IGnBhDUARIsAMwFDLntNeT5FcMFN8YF9LEND7FZyD_XcbsQ8uT1Q_6ijMAuoVXC74T2UtYaAlMuEALw_wcB

The financial impact

The packaging is designed as a none value added portion of the product, it is literally money thrown away

The consumer pays around 10% to 14% of the product cost just for the packaging

The packaging doesn't add value to the consumer except to contain the effective material

The packaging can have parallel usage or reuse but in most cases, it is thrown away after 2 to 3 times of reuse

Packaging only and single role is to contain the effective material until it is used up, this role expires once the effective material is finished rendering the package useless

In France, this could offer the normal consumer a saving of 7 cents every time they buy a product, however this monetary incentive has to be instantaneous and with no logistics hassles