Drivers, opportunities and barriers for a retailer in the pursuit of more sustainable packaging redesign

Ubirajara Gustavo Jr, Jorge, Medeiros Pereira, Giancarlo, Bond, Alan James ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3809-5805, Viegas, Claudia Viviane and Borchardt, Miriam (2018) Drivers, opportunities and barriers for a retailer in the pursuit of more sustainable packaging redesign. Journal of Cleaner Production, 187. pp. 18-28. ISSN 0959-6526

Preview

PDF (Accepted manuscript) - Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Redesign can reduce the environmental impact generated by product packaging. The literature presents the elements to be observed in a packaging redesign, as well as the important role of the retailer in delivering more sustainable outcomes through consideration of product packaging. However, the literature is almost silent on the motivations, opportunities and barriers faced by the retailers that try to improve the packaging of the items sold in their stores. To fill this gap, a case study approach was adopted which investigated a global supermarket chain through interviews with senior management and participant observation. Findings suggest that the greatest motivation to the packaging redesign seems to be the economic gains (for the supermarket and its suppliers), which co-generate environmental gains. The opportunities include the adjustment of the packaging size or type. Sizes could be increased when consumers buy more than one package during a single visit to the supermarket, or reduced when consumers discard part of a perishable product without consuming it (due to over-large packaging). Barriers result from commercial uncertainties associated with: how the new packaging will affect the sales of other items? How the new design will influence the number of times that a consumer visits the supermarket? And how the new design will affect the amount of money spent by the consumer on each visit? Further studies could investigate: how to mitigate these uncertainties? How to leverage sustainability based on the economic focus? How to identify redesign opportunities among thousands of sold items? And how to better convince the suppliers that reject the supermarket proposals? The understanding developed from the case study has facilitated the derivation of a number of propositions aiming to leverage sustainability gains from packaging redesign in practice.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	packaging redesign,sustainable packaging,sustainable production,sustainable consumption,retail,supply chain,supermarket
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	26 Mar 2018 09:30
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2022 18:34
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/66593
DOI:	10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.197

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item