Experts discuss: What does the future hold for plastic packaging?

Germany – The response to the question ‘What constitutes eco-design?’ is often ‘A good recycling capability’. But this does not go far enough for the Round Table Eco Design – formed by plastics manufacturers, food and consumer goods producers, retailers and plastics recyclers as well as scientific and consumer protection organisations.

At the ‘Eco Design – More than Recyclability’ forum scheduled to take place on May 5 at the Interpack trade show in the German city of Düsseldorf, experts will highlight and discuss various related challenges and trade-offs.

Speakers will include Sander Defruyt from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Michael Scriba, who will represent recycling companies; they will outline their expectations of the recycling capability of packaging. Both Philippe Blank, innovation & sustainability manager at technology provider Henkel, and packaging expert Harald Pilz will look at the protective functions of packaging and ways to reduce food losses as a further eco-design parameter.

The event will also provide ‘comprehensive and practical’ guidelines aimed at helping to improve what are described as ‘the environmental characteristics’ of plastic packaging.