How can sustainable packaging reduce waste in a circular economy?
Packaging is an essential part of delivering goods and services to consumers, but it also generates a lot of waste and environmental impacts. According to the World Bank, packaging accounts for about 40% of the global municipal solid waste stream, and most of it ends up in landfills, incinerators, or oceans. How can we reduce the amount of packaging waste and make it more sustainable in a circular economy?
A circular economy is a system that aims to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency by designing products and processes that can be reused, repaired, recycled, or composted. In a circular economy, packaging is not seen as a disposable item, but as a valuable material that can be recovered and transformed into new products or services. This way, packaging can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving energy and water, and creating new economic opportunities.