As well as a section dedicated to sustainable packaging (‘Ecopack’), many of the suppliers were talking about how they could address the issues of sustainability in their sectors; whether by eliminating plastic from their products; creating plastic alternatives from sources like corn, using Fairtrade factories, utilising recycled materials or creating circular solutions to packaging.
The dedicated ‘Ecopack’ section showcased packaging solutions alongside a programme of talks and discussions on the future of sustainable packaging, exploring current trends. The talks ranged from how to address packaging in beauty; to designing packaging for circularity.
One key idea that stuck with us from this programme was from a talk given by Trewin Restorick, the founder and CEO of Hubbub UK, who explored the idea of how we can get the general public to recycle more and litter less. He said that research has found that humans behave differently when we are being watched. Eyes have been used to tackle anti-social behaviour and crime rates in Rotterdam, where 10,000 cartoon eyes were installed on buildings and bus stops. Similarly, the University of Newcastle found that when there was a pair of fake eyes watching people, that they were more likely to put money in an honesty box in the canteen.
From this, Hubbub started the ‘Communitrees’ campaign in 2016, a new social experiment in the Forest of Dean, where they installed eyes on trees made from reclaimed waste by the local community. They were placed at litter hotspots, and they found that there was a 30% reduction in local litter levels. Could this be a solution for encouraging people to recycle more?
Want to know more about beauty packaging? Make-up artist Sjaniël Turrell delves into the complex world of cosmetics packaging in a bid to decipher what it all means.
If you’re interested in sustainable fabrics see our learnings from the Future Fabrics Expo 2019.