A typical Day in the Life of a Product Sustainability and Compliance Manager
Why do you think thermoformed plastic is an ideal sustainable material for food packaging?
Thermoformed plastic, especially PET, is one of the most sustainable materials for food packaging for several reasons:
- PET is the most widely recycled material, and it can be recycled back into food contact packaging. PET is the only material that can be recycled into new food contact packaging products with up to 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. Other materials like PP and PE can only be downcycled, i.e. recycled into some other non-food application products. PET recycling also reduces the demand for virgin plastic and saves energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
- Food waste has proven to be a much bigger threat to climate change than anything else. So it is important that food is packaged most efficiently. Thermoformed plastic packaging offers robust packaging and low unit weights compared to other options such as cardboard/paper board & injection moulded packaging. It offers excellent protection, preservation, and presentation of food products, which helps to reduce food waste and extend shelf life.
- Thermoformed plastic packaging is also more widely recycled compared to flexible packaging options. Flexible packaging, such as pouches and films, often consists of multiple layers of different materials that are more difficult to separate and recycle. Thermoformed plastic packaging, on the other hand, is usually made of a single (mono) material that can be easily identified and sorted for recycling.
What does a typical day look like for you?
As a product sustainability and compliance manager, I am responsible for ensuring that our thermoformed plastic packaging products meet all the relevant regulatory standards and customer requirements. A typical day for me involves:
- Working with the sales team to provide packaging data to our customers, who need it for their environmental reporting. Using the SKUs that we supply to each customer to create the data they need.
- Collaborating with the purchasing team, who get the packaging data from our suppliers. Using this data to prepare our own environmental reporting, which helps us comply with the regulations and reduce our environmental impact.
- Participating in meetings with industry associations, such as EPPA, EUBP, BBIA & 360 Food Service. Discussing the latest regulatory topics that affect our industry and how we can adapt to them.
- Supporting the QA leads and departments of each site to review and update various documents related to our product quality, safety, and compliance. These documents include product specification and declaration documents, which ensure that our products meet the regulatory guidelines and the customer expectations, and ISO & BRC certification-related documents, which show that our sites follow the best practices for quality and safety.
- Joining the wider NOVOLEX sustainability team to collect data for greenhouse gas (GHG) calculations. This data helps us measure and improve our carbon footprint and our contribution to climate change mitigation.
- Communicating with regulatory bodies, such as EFSA, DEFRA, etc., to gain a deeper understanding of the regulation landscape. Staying on top of the changes and the requirements that affect our business.
- Summarising the existing, on the horizon and upcoming legislative landscape for the leadership team and site leads. Helping them make informed decisions and plan ahead for the future.
- Providing inputs to the new product development (NPD) team based on the legislative landscape. Helping them design and innovate products that are compliant and sustainable.