Huhtamaki is also educating customers around achieving sustainability whilst maintaining high standards for product packaging . The Packaging for Good programme focuses on four key themes – people , packaging , supply chain and operations – to offer Huhtamaki ’ s expertise and guidance for a company ’ s CSR goals and within Huhtamaki itself .
By educating consumers on the realities of sustainable materials , Huhtamaki Foodservice EAO segment is able to work with customers to find which materials would best accommodate the customer ’ s requirements , ensuring a satisfactory outcome for the business and the environment . Chi explains one example where Huhtamaki Foodservice EAO worked with its client to reach a sustainable and economically viable solution . “ Our customer ’ s goal was to find an alternative to plastics by 2020 . We were able to work with our customer , understand their requirements , and from there we ran supplier selection , trials , product samples and negotiated the commercial terms . The sourcing and product development process ran within our customer ’ s specific time line and , by the end , we were able to remove plastics in that supply chain .”
The demand for sustainability is rising as consumers are unable to ignore the realities of a future reliant on single use products manufactured from pollutive materials .
“ Sustainability is on top of the agenda for Huhtamaki ,” summarises Chi . “ In terms of changing from unsustainable to more sustainable alternatives , there is no challenge – it simply must be done .”
23
www . manufacturingglobal . com