Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, has enhanced its Product Impact Assessment (PIA) tool with new environmental key performance indicators (KPIs). The Group’s broad range of life cycle assessment tools are designed to provide science-based, tailored information to customers about the environmental impacts of paper- and plastic-based products for better decision-making.
- Mondi’s Product Impact Assessment tool is enhanced with new environmental KPIs to assess impacts of paper-based and plastic solutions
- In addition to carbon and water scarcity, the tool now addresses key aspects in the sustainable design of products
- Mondi builds on a decade of expertise in assessing product carbon footprints for fibre-based products
The Group’s PIA tool initially focused on carbon and water scarcity but now has additional KPIs to address further key aspects in the sustainable design of products, such as: ‘Designed for recycling’; ‘Recycling rates in region’; ‘Share of plastics (PO) content’; ‘Share of renewable content’; ‘Share of recycled content’; and ‘Certified for composting’.
This builds on Mondi’s longstanding expertise in calculating product carbon footprints and paper profiles for fibre-based products. Mondi has a unique understanding of potential trade-offs between packaging materials given its wide range of fibre-based and flexible plastic packaging solutions. The Group also has committed to making 100% of its packaging and paper solutions reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 (currently 78% based on revenue).
Our enhanced PIA tool goes beyond carbon and water scarcity, and also considers designing for circularity and sustainable end-of-life options. This responds to a growing demand by consumers for comprehensive and reliable information on the environmental impact of products. By providing analysis on life cycle-based impacts as well as on selected environmental parameters, we support our customers in making packaging decisions informed by science to deliver against their sustainability goals, Gladys Naylor, Mondi’s Group Head of Sustainable Development.
Expertise in assessing the impacts of paper-based and flexible plastic packaging
Mondi builds on a decade of expertise in assessing the environmental impacts of products and collaborating along the value chain to develop more sustainable solutions.
In 2012, Mondi introduced Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) assessments for fibre-based solutions, based on Cepi’s 10 Toes methodology. In 2020, the Group’s in-house PIA tool for flexible packaging, hybrid and fibre-based solutions was kicked off with ‘climate change’ and ‘AWARE water use’ as impact categories. Mondi carried out 86 PIA and 238 product carbon footprint assessments in 2021, which reflects an increasing market demand by customers and brands to better understand product impacts.
In addition to its in-house tools, Mondi also uses ISO-compliant, peer-reviewed LCA studies for more comprehensive product impact assessments, for example the Advantage StretchWrap LCA study. We also offer Paper Profiles, which are a uniform environmental product declaration offered by some 19 European pulp and paper companies, to our customer as this supports comparability of solutions.
Mondi’s collaboration as part of multiple cross-industry organisations is helping to drive the transition to a low carbon, circular economy and eliminate unsustainable packaging. This includes partnering with 4evergreen and CEFLEX, among others, to develop design for circularity and design for recycling guidelines for paper-based and plastic-based packaging respectively.
