Consumer Packaging

The European Organization for Packaging and the Environment (EUROPEN) is an industry and trade organization open to any company with an economic interest in packaging and packaged products. Members are encouraged to develop and use packaging which contributes to achievement of the European Union's Sustainable Development Strategy.’’ (https://www.europen.be/index.php?)

The criteria state that packaging should:

  • be designed holistically with the product in order to optimise overall environmental performance
  • be made from responsibly sourced materials
  • be designed to be effective and safe throughout its life cycle

In order to meet these criteria, companies can use the LCA Calculator to assess how sustainable their current packaging is, in order to benchmark a standard to work towards in the future. The aim of EUROPEN is to achieve a fully accessible European market for packaging whereby a best practice system for sustainable packaging design is developed in order to influence European legislation. Therefore companies may be motivated by this and start introducing sustainable packaging design.