Regulars / The Mike Fairley column | 37energy, waste and label reduction targets, and in CO2 emissions, Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging that is increasingly recycling and other on-pack labeling schemes. The requirements being adopted by many countries around the world to help them for MIS and workfow systems that can provide documentation or meet their packaging waste recycling obligations and targets. This certifcation to prove targets are being met will undoubtedly grow. approach is aimed at giving packaging and label producers an As sustainability pressures continue to take center stage, so incentive to make better, more sustainable decisions at the product leading retail groups are already using or moving towards carbon design stage, including decisions that make it easier for products to labeling across key brand and own-label products in some stores, be re-used or recycled at their end of life. while at Unilever for example, carbon labels will include energy Some label industry suppliers have already expanded the used in production, processing and packaging. The company International Sustainability and Carbon Certifcation Plus plans to reduce carbon emissions from its own – and its suppliers’ certifcation (ISCC) program to their production plants following – operations. signifcant interest in the potential of increasing their commitment These various carbon labeling schemes promote a commitment to reducing CO2 emissions and adopting a circular economy to sourcing 100 percent of key raw materials from sustainable model. For reference, ISCC is an independent multi-stakeholder sources, as well as factors that include production methods, labels organization providing a globally applicable certifcation system for and packaging, and carbon footprint. Such schemes for the label the sustainability of raw materials and products. converter may include confrmation, documentation or compliance What’s becoming clear is that tomorrow’s label and packaging with FSC or other sustainable label materials. converting plants will have increasingly complex workfow In other developments, and faced with increasing pressures on and print quality requirements, provide readability of track the amount of waste generated, many governments are reviewing and trace technologies (codes, RFID, NFC), plus meet a host available policy options and seem to have concluded that placing of environmental and sustainability requirements (lifecycle the responsibility for the post-consumer phase of certain goods assessment, energy targets, CO2, water, documented waste on producers could be an option. Here, Extended Producer management, biodegradability, recycling and re-use, chain of Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach under which producers are custody certifcation) and will increasingly make use of ever-more given a signifcant responsibility – fnancial and/or physical – for sophisticated management information systems and artifcial the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products. Assigning intelligence systems as they steadily head towards the (fully) such responsibility could in principle provide incentives to prevent automated factory of tomorrow.waste at the source, promote product design for the environment and support the achievement of public recycling and materials For more Mike Fairley columns, go to management goals. www.labelsandlabeling.com/contributors/michael-fairleyIndeed, there is already an established policy approach for an Jan - Mar 2022