Corrugated Cardboard’s Pathways to Climate Neutrality: why it matters and how the industry will achieve it

The European corrugated cardboard industry has long been a leader in the transition to the circular economy. Corrugated cardboard's recycling rate is approximately 90%. New material contains 89% recycled content. Paper and board is the most recycled packaging in Europe with an 83% recycling rate. It also transports around a third of all logistics goods. Though these are impressive figures, the industry is committed to take its sustainability to a new level: climate neutrality by the year 2050.

There are many reasons for this new ambition. First, it fits perfectly into the aims of the EU Green Deal. It is aligned with consumers who increasingly demand sustainable products. It defines a rigorous, shared, and consistent vision within the corrugated sector and its value chain. It unites the sector’s ambition with international standards and Paris Agreement targets and anticipates future regulations. And finally, it reinforces the confidence regarding the sustainability of cardboard packaging.

?The big question is: how will the corrugated cardboard packaging sector achieve climate neutrality? FEFCO recently published its Climate Neutrality Roadmap, which dives deep into the strategies and enabling factors for the industry to achieve its ambition. The analysis laid out three scenarios from doing business as usual to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050:

1.????Electrification: Heavy focus on electrification (75% of total demand) with the remaining heat supplied through a combination of hydrogen (40%) and biofuels (60%).

2.????Biofuel: Heavy focus on use of biofuels (82,5% of total supply) with the remaining heat supplied through a combination of direct electrification (10%) and hydrogen (7,5%).

3.????A balanced approach: Half of the heat (50%) is supplied by electric boilers, 40% is supplied by biofuels (solid biomass and biomethane) and 10% is supplied by hydrogen. Switch to low-carbon heat supply (electrification, biofuels) and decarbonised grid electricity.

?Whatever the scenario, the roadmap shows that the industry will reach climate neutrality:

The aim is clear, as is the pathway to reach it. But two things are essential for the transition to be possible. First, collaboration along the paper supply chain is key. Material suppliers must decarbonise their operations and align their strategies with CEPI’s roadmap and the paper sector manifesto, which states that with strong political support, the sector can and will contribute to reaching the 2030 goal and carbon neutrality by 2050. Machinery suppliers must invest in and develop energy efficient machinery and retrofit existing equipment. Logistics partners must transition to energy efficient/low emissions vehicles and optimise flows. Collaboration between industry stakeholders and the corrugated sector is crucial to improve supply chain efficiency and prioritise sustainable packaging solutions.

Second, policymakers must promote a policy landscape that enables climate neutrality. In order to steer investments, the corrugated sector needs a stable and predictable regulatory framework. At present, the EU is finalising a new law called the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). The PPWR aims to ensure that all packaging is reusable or recyclable in an economically feasible way by 2030 and strives to reduce packaging, over-packaging and as a result, packaging waste. It also acknowledges the contribution of renewable materials to climate neutrality, which is why FEFCO’s Climate Neutrality Roadmap can bring additional arguments as to how the sector can bring benefits to the environment, society, and the economy. Climate friendly energy carriers must be available and affordable as well. Robust energy infrastructure must be in place. Policies that enable the decarbonisation of the paper and transport sectors must be implemented. And finally, the quality of waste streams for recycling must be improved, ideally through policy.

Want to learn more about this important topic? Read the Overview of Results for FEFCO’s Climate Neutrality Roadmap as well as the Executive Summary. And follow along on Twitter via @FEFCO for the latest information and news on the topic.?