Since the early nineties, the focus when making packaging materials more sustainable has mainly been on prevention and reducing the amount of materials used. As a result, fewer raw materials are used and the amount of packaging waste and the environmental impact per packaging are reduced.
At the same time, the demand for packaging materials is growing as a result of increasing wealth and a growing global population. This means that the use of raw materials, the amount of packaging waste, and its environmental impact are increasing. The environmental impact of the increased market demand is expected to be larger than what can be compensated for by using fewer materials. Furthermore, our current recycling capacity is not yet sufficient to make up the difference. The end result is that the environmental impact of packaging materials continues to grow.