“Determining sustainability is a complex and multi-faceted task. BS 8905 lays out a clear logic to follow that will be of great value to anybody wishing to gain a thorough understanding of the sustainability of the materials that they use.” G Richard Inns, Director, PEC Partnership Ltd

At a glance

• PEC Partnership Ltd is an environment and cost advisory consultancy for the packaged goods industry. With more than 75 years cumulative experience in the packaging sector, PEC provides market leading packaging expertise, with a particular focus on sustainability.

• In the light of its core competency, PEC wanted to examine BS 8905 to understand how applicable and valuable the standard might be in the packaging sector.

• On analysis, PEC felt that BS 8905 makes a useful beginning to tackling the assessment of sustainability in packaging materials. However the consultancy feels that a signifi cant amount of additional guidance is needed before BS 8905 can generate robust sustainability assessments for materials in the packaging sector.

• BSI is now reviewing the viability of producing additional supplementary guidance notes to BS 8905 for the packaging sector.

PEC Partnership Ltd case study – Assessing how BS 8905 can be applied in the packaging sector

BSI Case Study PEC Partnership Ltd BS 8905 Framework for the assessment of the sustainable use of materials

PARTNERSHIPL I M I T E D

How BS 8905 works

• BS 8905 gives organizations a best-practice framework with which to compile a robust view of the relative sustainability of any type of material in use. The framework takes social, economic and environmental issues into account over a complete lifecycle.

• Once a particular case has been assessed, organizations can use this information to understand the potential consequences of continuing with the materials already in use.

• Additionally, a ‘base case’ should be compared with alternative solutions. In this way organizations will assess whether an alternative choice is overall more or less sustainable than a current choice.

• Using this model, organizations can progressively make better informed sustainability decisions about the materials they use, and over time become more relatively sustainable.

Scoping

As set out in BS 8905, the framework for a sustainability assessment of materials initially asks for the scope of the sustainability assessment to be set. For Richard Inns, Director of PEC Partnership Ltd, this ‘represents a complex and a critical step.’ He points out that identifying a solution that minimizes overall waste and maximizes overall supply chain efficiency for the total product may well involve using more than the minimum possible resources in the packaging. Knowledge of the balancing benefits of preventing loss and damage to the product is required. It follows that any meaningful assessment of the sustainability of packaging material must incorporate consideration of the product and the complete packaging supply chain.

In addition, Inns notes that even a material that is a minor component in weight terms can have a disproportionate impact because of its source, manufacture, contaminants or method of extraction. Such materials ought not to be excluded from sustainability assessments just because they are used in small quantities.

Stakeholder identification

BS 8905 then requires that relevant stakeholder groups are identified. Within packaging, Inns suggests that a potential approach to this is ‘the Supply Chain Walk’, a concept developed by ECR Europe¹. It is primarily a physical process whereby a project team actually visits each part of the supply chain to learn in some detail how it functions. For the purposes of stakeholder identification this could be done virtually. Inns suggests that a typical stakeholder list could comprise: marketing, product/packaging design, purchasing, packaging manufacturer, raw material suppliers, product manufacturer, packaging technical development, storage and distribution logistics, merchandising and consumers.

Identifying a list of prioritized sustainability parameters

Inns believes that the relevant sustainability issues, or parameters, will have made themselves apparent in the preceding steps. Notwithstanding he also notes that given the number of stakeholders and the complexity of the packaging supply chain, the identification and prioritization of issues will be ‘undeniably complex.’ To tackle this issue, The Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability² can provide useful guidance.

Inns however cautions that achieving a balance between the three sustainability aspects of packaging is challenging mainly because the sustainability benefits of improved packaging are usually felt at a point remote from the point of cost impact.

A note on sustainable development

BS 8905 quotes the definition of sustainable development provided in BS 8900 – the foundation British Standard on sustainability. This says that sustainable development is “an enduring, balanced approach to economic activity, environmental responsibility and social progress.” But how in practice can that be transitioned into meaningful activity?

BS 8905 notes that the demands humanity currently makes on raw materials and natural resources considerably outstrip the planet’s capacity to replace those resources by natural means. Pragmatically, it follows that absolute sustainability is not currently attainable. That said, to sustain a growing global population and an increasing social need for improved quality of life, a more sustainable approach to the use of materials should be attempted.

With this in mind, BS 8905 states that the sustainable use of materials “seeks to maximize positive social, environmental and economic contributions and to minimize negative impacts”. In other words, the standard sets out a framework that will guide improvement in the sustainable use of materials, in relative terms.

BSI Case Study PEC Partnership Ltd BS 8905 Framework for the assessment of the sustainable use of materials

He notes that collaboration between different stakeholders with different sustainability goals is needed to access any potential benefits. BS 8905 itself states that ‘Where different stakeholders have indicated different priorities, a judgement needs to be made as to the relative importance of each parameter.’

Data collection and assessment

BS 8905 requires that to assess a particular sustainability parameter, robust data should be collected. Among other sources of help, Inns notes that The Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability deals extensively with data measurement methodologies and could be of use here.

To collect data on any single parameter, Inns suggests that first all the manufacturing life-cycle stages must be taken into account, including the material production phase – which can be critical for generating impacts, the package manufacture phase and then the further processes applied to the basic package. This might include decoration and protective coatings.

Next the service use of the material stage should be considered. This is likely where social aspects will come to the fore, bearing in mind that the overall aim of packaging is to maximize the sustainability of the total product. The social value contribution of the product is compromised, perhaps completely, if the packaging fails.

Finally results need to be analysed and carefully compared against each other for all of the sustainability parameters identified as being important. This might involve a scoring mechanism where values are assigned to the results for each parameter and a total obtained for each life cycle stage. So as the standard says, for example, a higher financial cost during one stage of the life cycle might be outweighed by the environmental or social benefits at a different stage.

Reporting

The last phase of BS 8905’s framework is the reporting or declaration of results. As far as Inns is concerned this is crucial if sustainability claims are to be credible and not regarded as ‘greenwashing’. Reporting allows the decisions made to be seen, scrutinized and fully understood.

BS 8905 requires that stakeholders are informed of the results of the sustainability assessment. Inns notes that while a formal presentation and reporting are important, results should not come as a surprise to any stakeholder. “Indeed,” he says, “in a well-structured study, individual stakeholders should have been involved in and supportive of the major recommendations well before they become formalized.”

Relatedly, Inns notes that “around 90 per cent of projects fail or are abandoned because they fail to share the gains and

compensate the pains.” Full internal reporting is important, not least, because it helps to sustain senior level buy-in.

Conclusions

Richard Inns believes that BS 8905 has made a positive beginning to tackling the sustainability challenges faced in the packaging sector. For now, a concern is that the standard does not make it clear enough that the sustainability of packaging can only be judged in the context of the total product, not as an item in its own right. As Inns notes, “Determining sustainability is a complex and multi-faceted task in which it is easy to get lost amongst the many different inputs, calculations and outputs that are required for a thorough and reliable analysis”.

He also feels that BS 8905 lacks sufficient guidance to sources of further help for the packaging sector. BSI is already looking to produce further guidance to aid the implementation of the standard within specific applications and sectors, and this includes within packaging.

In summary though, Inns supports the standard. He concludes: “BS 8905 lays out a clear logic to follow that will be of great value to anybody wishing to gain a thorough understanding of the sustainability of the materials that they use.”

BSI Case Study PEC Partnership Ltd BS 8905 Framework for the assessment of the sustainable use of materials

¹ Package Design for Shrinkage Prevention, Brussels: ECR Europe 2010. ² The Consumer Goods Forum. The Global Packaging Project. See: http://globalpackaging.mycgforum.com/

BS

I/U

K/9

0/S

T/12

12/e

n/D

D©

BS

I Gro

up

BSI Case Study PEC Partnership Ltd BS 8905 Framework for the assessment of the sustainable use of materials

BSI Group389 Chiswick High RoadLondon, W4 4ALUnited Kingdom

T: +44 20 8996 9001 bsigroup.com

For more information and to order a copy of BS 8905, please visit

bsigroup.com/bs8905 or call +44 20 8996 9001 for details.

This case study was enabled by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting innovation in the UK.

About BS 8905 BS 8905 provides a framework for the assessment of social, economic and environmental issues in the sustainable use of materials. The framework can be applied to all parts of the supply chain, including the source of the material, the use of the material throughout the useful life of a product and the treatment of the material at the end of a product’s useful life. The standard is intended to support decisions about the sustainable use of any type of material.

The standard covers consideration of:

• the social values relating to the sourcing of materials, the use phase of a product life and an evaluation of social performance

• the environmental impacts of the sourcing of materials, the manufacture of materials and products and the impacts of the end-of-life phase that includes either recovery of the material by reuse, remanufacture, recycling or disposal

• some of the economic aspects of sustainability, including their geographical impacts, the sourcing of materials, their manufacture, the use phase and the end-of-life phase.

It also provides guidance on the use of decision support tools and on the importance of reliable data for the assessment of sustainability.

bsigroup.com/bs8905

About BSI StandardsBSI is the UK’s National Standards Body and represents UK economic and social interests across all European and international standards organizations and in the development of business information solutions for British organizations of all sizes and sectors. BSI is responsible for originating many of the world’s most commonly used management systems standards and publishes over 2,500 standards annually. These standards address the most pressing issues of today from clear billing to energy management and disability access to nano-technology; spanning sectors including aerospace, construction, energy, engineering, finance, healthcare, IT and retail. BSI’s standards are underpinned by a collaborative and rigorous approach, working with industry experts, government bodies, trade associations, businesses of all sizes and consumers to develop the standards for excellence.

bsigroup.com/nsb

About BSIBSI (British Standards Institution) is the business standards company that equips businesses with the necessary solutions to turn standards of best practice into habits of excellence. Formed in 1901, BSI was the world’s first National Standards Body and a founding member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Over a century later it continues to facilitate business improvement across the globe by helping its clients drive performance, mange risk and grow sustainably through the adoption of international management systems standards, many of which BSI originated. Renowned for its marks of excellence including the consumer recognized Kitemark®, BSI’s influence spans multiple sectors including aerospace, construction, energy, engineering, finance, healthcare, IT and retail. With over 65,000 clients in 147 countries, BSI is an organization whose standards inspire excellence across the globe.