Overview

Two hundred and twenty million tons of plastic waste is expected to be generated by the end of 2024, averaging 28 kg per person worldwide. One-third of this waste, or approximately 69.5 million tons, is expected to end up in the natural environment. 

As businesses increasingly look to up their sustainability game – part due to growing regulations and part due to rising customer expectations – modern technologies open doors to several opportunities. Read as we assess the impact of packaging waste and demonstrate how technology helps organizations meet their sustainability objectives.

Understanding the Impact of Packaging Waste‍

Packaging waste is a global issue, and companies across sectors are driving efforts to build a more circular economy. Let’s understand the impact of packaging waste:

• Contaminated water and soil: One of the biggest problems with waste is the rate at which it contaminates the environment. Millions of tons of packaging waste end up in landfills and water bodies, releasing pollutants into the environment. According to the World Economic Forum, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050. 

• Labor costs of handling waste: Packaging waste not only contaminates natural bodies but also demands massive time, costs, energy, and workforce to handle. This includes the time and money spent collecting, transporting, segregating and recycling waste and circling the material back into the system for reuse. 

• Risk of non-compliance: Companies that produce a lot of packaging waste or do not stick to norms often face the brunt of costly non-compliance fines. Companies can also face lawsuits, lose accreditations, and face hurdles in launching new products or entering new markets. 

• Diluted business reputation: Non-compliance fines not only burn a hole in the pocket but also dilute the market and competitive position. Companies scoring low on sustainability often struggle to acquire new customers, ensure investor confidence, and attract new talent.  

• ‍Poor customer trust: With consumers becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of their products, companies that do not take sustainability seriously experience plummeting levels of customer trust.

How Technology Comes into Play

Given the far-reaching consequences of packaging waste, technology comes to the rescue. Modern technology tools empower companies with the capabilities they need to ensure packaging accuracy, reducing errors, rework, and waste. Here are five technologies that play a huge role: 

• AI for artwork proofing: Packaging write-offs are a big reason for waste where printed packaging is thrown away. Companies, therefore, constantly seek ways to reduce or eliminate packaging write-offs to curtail the problem of waste. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the packaging artwork proofing process can enable organizations to ensure the accuracy and consistency of design elements. From font and color precision to bleeds and barcode perfection – AI can help ensure every aspect of the packaging artwork meets required guidelines, minimizing reworks and revisions and thus reducing the chances of waste.
  Similarly, AI can also check if packaging meets necessary compliance requirements, before it is printed - thus eliminating waste.

• Cloud for better communication and transparency: Much like AI, cloud computing provides an excellent solution for organizations aiming to reduce packaging waste and enhance sustainability efforts. By managing packaging specifications in a single, cloud-based specification management system, teams can easily consolidate packaging across SKUs, thus saving on money and material.
  Cloud-based tools foster seamless communication and collaboration among stakeholders, reducing the risk of misunderstandings while ensuring everyone stays aligned throughout the artwork design and approval process. By getting printing and manufacturing teams involved early in the workflow cycle, cloud tools ensure that the packaging is printable at the least cost and in a sustainable way.
  With cloud technology, teams gain real-time transparency and visibility into artwork management, enabling timely project completion. This reduces the risk of working on outdated or incorrect artwork versions, minimizing errors and waste, thus supporting sustainability goals. 

• Digital asset management for easy search and retrieval: Many companies struggle to manage their packaging artwork copies because they are stored in siloed tools and systems. This increases the chances of artwork duplication, poor data sharing, and working on the wrong versions, leading to packaging errors and, eventually, waste.
  ‍Digital asset management tools can store all packaging artwork copies and their versions in a centralized system. Stakeholders can easily access this system to search and retrieve the latest copies and minimize the chances of text misalignment, spelling errors, or design inconsistencies.  
  A digital library with version control makes it easy to manage specifications. Since the printer has access only to the latest approved version of the artwork, the chances of printing a wrong version is eliminated. 

• ERP integration for better packaging decisions: Without a seamless integration of the Artwork system to the ERP, chances are that a new artwork is approved, printed and released to the market. Eventually the entire stock of the older version is destroyed and written-off.

• Automation for more robust compliance: Automation also plays a huge role in minimizing packaging waste. Organizations can ensure the timely launch of high-quality packages by automating complex and error-prone packaging artwork proofing and approval processes. 
  Automating tasks such as audits and version control can further aid in maintaining brand consistency across products and markets, reduce the risk of recalls, and ensure compliance with emerging industry standards and regulations – especially in sectors like pharma.
  For example, by templating pack copy, teams can ensure sustainability related content and symbols are not missed and consumers become aware of recycling and reusing instructions mentioned on the packaging.

• Analytics for enhanced reporting: Analytics is another technology that helps teams unearth hidden insights from the artwork review process. They can use analytics tools to get their hands on reports such as first-time right rate, project status, packaging artwork rejection, the average time taken, etc.
  By analyzing the data in the packaging specs, analytics tools can give visibility into the percentage of products with sustainable packaging and recyclable materials and meet corporate sustainability goals.
  Analytics also helps teams check artwork against brand guidelines and regulatory standards, identify stages where delays occur, and optimize the artwork proofing process – thus preventing revisions and waste. 

Here is How Companies are Leading the Way

Revolutionizing Artwork Copy Management for a Consumer Goods Corporation  ‍

Business Need: A prominent American multinational consumer goods corporation faced significant challenges in managing product copies for its well-established personal healthcare brands. The heavy reliance on managing product copy in Excel files proved cumbersome with numerous stakeholders, leading to a high rate of artwork errors and inefficiencies.

Solution: Implementing ManageArtworks Copy Manager helped the client centralize all copy information, bringing together over 100 users from marketing, regulatory, legal, and other departments.

Business Benefits: The implementation dramatically reduced artwork errors, thus minimizing packaging waste and improving sustainability. By centralizing copy information, the client could accelerate the approval process and reduce the need for rework or revisions. This enhanced workflow efficiency, reduced time to market for new and updated products and solidified its market presence.

Streamlining Artwork Review and Approval for a Wine Producer

Business Need: A renowned wine producer faced significant challenges in managing the artwork and copy for its extensive product range, which spans 60 brands and 75+ varietals. With a user base of 150+ professionals across various departments and over 60 packaging suppliers and printers, coordinating the label information and proof approval process was cumbersome, hindering the company's ability to respond swiftly to market trends and regulatory changes.  

Solution:  Implementing ManageArtworks helped the client streamline processes across the board, including new artwork approval and new label information.  

Business Benefits:  With the new solution, the client was able to reduce artwork approval duration by 33% over a period of two years. Centralization of label copy, including design instructions and language translations, led to a more coordinated review and approval process, helping the client reduce waste, maintain brand consistency, and ensure regulatory compliance.

In Conclusion 

Streamlining artwork workflows and ensuring seamless coordination and efficiency throughout the entire lifecycle of your artwork come with several challenges. When companies rely on manual labor and siloed tools for artwork reviews and approvals, they often end up with costly rework and revisions – eventually resulting in packaging waste. ‍

As sustainable packaging trends evolve, investing in technologies like AI, cloud, automation, and analytics can help streamline the entire process, from initial design and regulatory approvals to commercial deployment and eventual obsolescence. ‍

ManageArtworks acts as a centralized hub for managing all aspects of packaging artwork. Explore the platform today to accelerate time-to-market, ensure compliance with regulatory standards, reduce errors, and meet your sustainability goals with confidence.