According to a recent Metsä Board study, optimising the choice of paperboard can notably reduce the carbon footprint of packaging for beautycare and cosmetic brands. The assessments*, conducted by Metsä Board and verified by the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, demonstrated the significant carbon footprint reductions achieved by switching to Metsä Board’s fresh fibre paperboard, compared to grades representative of European markets.
According to the recent life cycle assessment study, switching from a solid bleached board (SBB) to Metsä Board’s folding boxboard can reduce the carbon footprint of packaging by over 50%, while replacing folding boxboard can achieve a 40% reduction or even higher. The compared grades represented board grades available in European markets.*
The reductions in carbon footprint are due to the high share of fossil free energy in production and the light weight of Metsä Board’s fresh fibre paperboards. Despite being lighter, Metsä Board’s folding boxboards still retain the durability and functional properties of traditional heavier grades.
“The beautycare and cosmetic sector is increasingly focusing on emission reductions along the whole value chain, and it’s essential that we offer brands insights based on verified calculations to make impactful decisions,” says Anne Uusitalo, Product Safety and Sustainability Director at Metsä Board. “Optimizing a customer’s packaging material with our fresh fibre paperboards offers them a tangible way forward to achieve their sustainability goals without compromising on performance or quality.”
Product packaging accounts for an important part of beautycare and cosmetic manufacturers’ Scope 3 emissions, which include elements such as raw material production of the packaging, its manufacturing, and end-of-life disposal. To support beautycare and cosmetic brands in their sustainability efforts, Metsä Board offers accurate information about the carbon footprint of its paperboard products and can also provide life cycle assessments covering various environmental impacts to its customers.
Last March, Metsä Board announced it had completed similar verified assessments for its paperboards used in pharmaceutical packaging.
*) Assessments follow procedural and methodological requirements of ISO 14025 and are consistent with ISO 14040 and 14044 standards. The selected system boundary for the study was cradle-to-gate + end-of-life and selected climate change impact methodology was EF3.1 Climate Change – total. Climate change impacts for competing materials utilises data from Sphera LCA for Packaging, which seeks to represent general products in the European market. The technical background report and the verification statement are available on Metsä Board’s website.
