HB Fuller joins 4evergreen Alliance
The initiative brings together a diverse network of around 90 organizations and stakeholders throughout the packaging value chain to push for innovation throughout the sector and develop robust, fact-based guidelines for the future of fibre-based packaging. The goal of the alliance is to raise the overall recycling rate of fibre-based packaging to 90% by 2030 and contribute to a climate neutral and sustainable society.
HB Fuller Global sustainability manager Elizabeth Staab said: “This is both an exciting and challenging period for the packaging industry. Collaboration throughout the supply chain is vital if we are to achieve changes that improve the world for this generation of consumers and beyond. Sustainability is a core pillar of our business strategy at HB Fuller, and we are joining the 4evergreen Alliance to expand collaboration with a variety of companies. We must ensure that we continue to invest in research and development projects that will deliver the scientist-designed adhesive products with the tailored high performance and low environmental impact needed to answer the challenges facing the fibre-based packaging industry both today and in the coming decades.”
Adhesives are a very small, and often unseen, part of the final item of fibre-based packaging. And yet they are a key performance enabler. Fibre-based packaging is made of fibres that can have several lives by being kept in the recycling loop. During the life of that packaging, the adhesive maintains pack and brand integrity throughout the supply chain. Last, once it is discarded by the consumer into the correct recycling stream, adhesives continue to perform by ensuring the fibres can be recycled into new board and packaging of stickies.
Ms Staab continued: “Being more sustainable can mean different things to different people. It could mean easy to recycle. Or have a low carbon footprint. Or designed using circular economy principles. But most likely, it will be a combination of all these, in addition to complying with current and possible future regulations. The environmental challenges facing the world and the subsequent demand for low environmental impact products needs a multi-faceted and collaborative approach. There simply isn’t just one solution or one company with all the answers.”