In a world increasingly prioritising the protection of our environment and its available resources, doing nothing no longer is an option. And with the relentless increase in the demand for food to satisfy the world’s growing population, the ability to deliver that food from farm to fork, safely but in ways that respect the environment is no small feat. But, nonetheless one that Huhtamaki, as a sustainable packaging solutions company , excels at. 

“Packaging has a tremendous and overwhelmingly positive impact in terms of food availability and affordability, hygiene and safety. First of all, when you consider the population in the world and the fact that the population is growing so fast, we need to make food available everywhere. Secondly, it’s simply not enough to make it available, it needs to be safe” says Charles Héaulmé, President and CEO of Huhtamaki Group. Huhtamaki proves it’s possible to produce consumer friendly, safe packaging in a manner that seeks to protect the climate, not only during the manufacturing process but also  once the packaging has served its initial purpose, at the end of the consumer life cycle. “A really important element of this is making sure that our products are not just recyclable, but that they’re actually recycled”, explains Thomasine Kamerling, Executive Vice President, Sustainability and Communications. By engaging across the value chain, for example by supporting organisations such as the Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group, industry is working together to develop the right infrastructure to ensure its recyclable products are more easily recycled.

Despite playing an essential role in the transportation and protection of the food it contains, packaging  is often unfairly viewed as the culprit in the eyes of the public when it comes to environmental damage: “But the biggest impact on the environment from the food systems is actually the food that is wasted”, says Charles. It is often this essential function of packaging that goes unrecognised – a function which provides populations with the food they need, in good condition and above all, safe. “ The pandemic is there to remind us about the importance of hygiene. So, packaging has a tremendous value in terms of hygiene and protecting food safety”.

Key to success is cooperation and working with others across the value chain, to achieve mutual goals more efficiently and effectively. As Thomasine notes : “We support innovation by partnering with startups. So, in one case, for example, we partnered with River Recycle, which is a Finnish clean startup, working to develop technology to remove litter from rivers”. By collaborating  with River Recycle, Huhtamaki not only builds  longstanding, worthwhile relationships across industries, it advances the cause of ecological awareness. But Huhtamaki hasn’t stopped there.  With sights set on expanding the concept to prevent waste reaching the ocean the company is “Working with municipalities to put the technology in place , which is what we’ve done in India – firstly learning from trials and then seeing if we can scale it up”. 

With foresight of the problems affecting the planet now, the packaging company looks beyond the present to what is needed to support the environment long term. “A circular future looks like a future where we’re material positive, so we choose the right material for the right situation where it’s environmentally viable and we can actually scale it up in a way that makes a difference” says Thomasine. This future may be closer than anticipated: “Our 2030 strategy is to move to renewable energy sources. So, we are working to increase our use of renewable energy, installing solar panels where it makes sense.” By truly embracing the low carbon circularity, Huhtamaki is adopting modern, energy and resource efficient  practises, setting the pace for all organisations that want to remain relevant now,  in 2045 and beyond. “We all know that we have to change the way we do things. So the way we look at it, Huhtamaki is moving forward, using a  stepwise approach. Of course we hope to reach our 2030 targets before 2030, but we know we have to reach them by 2030”.