All this talk about sustainable packaging machinery - Are we being honest?

One of the world's packaging guru's asked my opinion this month on whether sustainability is now a factor and if it will become more so in packaging machinery evaluation and selection. By the time I had finished my response, I decided that I had something to share with my readers, although many may disagree with my conclusion. I think that all of this talk about sustainable packaging machinery is being intellectually dishonest with ourselves and with society.

When we talk about sustainable packaging machinery, we create an expectation for society that because we are focused on sustainability, we will achieve new and different outcomes. The talk, the press, the awards - all lead us to believe that we are doing something wonderful for the world. But consider the idea that my colleague expressed. No one has ever sought to acquire a machine that is more costly, less efficient, less reusable or more polluting than the one it replaces or the alternative machines available in the market. It's just that our vocabulary for making this better selection didn't use the term "sustainability" until now.

In other words, even though we have a new term to apply, the outcomes will remain the same as they would have been. In the natural course of machinery evolution, the newer generation of machines will be more efficient, perform better, consume less air and electricity, process lighter materials, take up less space, and use fewer resources. If they didn't, why would anyone buy them? On what other basis would machine builders compete with one another?

Total cost of ownership (TCO), in my opinion, remains the best proxy for measuring sustainability. TCO has always been the best determinate for packaging machinery selection. What's changed, except society's expectation that something has changed? In setting an expectation for change that won't occur, we are creating an environment for disappointment. We are being intellectually dishonest with ourselves and each other.

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