Smart manufacturing and industry 4.0: perspectives for the post Covid restart

Overpackaging, or the excessive use of materials to package a product, is one of the most pressing environmental and economic challenges facing businesses today. It increases production costs, generates more waste, and often results in a higher price for the end consumer. Yet avoiding unnecessary materials is possible—and beneficial for everyone. Overpackaging: Sustainable Packaging Starts with Simplicity. Fortunately, Italy can rely on one of the most efficient packaging recycling systems in Europe, with more than 75% of materials being recovered. This achievement has already enabled the country to exceed the environmental targets set by the European Union for 2030. However, there is still room for improvement. According to estimates, excessive packaging can increase a product’s cost by up to 30%. At the same time, consumers are becoming increasingly willing to pay more for products packaged in a sustainable way. You may also be interested in: “Packaging Cost Optimization 2025: Strategies for Efficiency, Sustainability, and Cost Savings” Why Is Overpackaging a Problem? Whenever a product is wrapped in more layers than necessary, valuable resources are consumed, including plastic, wood, energy, and water. The environmental impact increases significantly, leading to higher CO₂ emissions and an excess of materials that are not always recyclable. The habit of over-packaging products, often driven by marketing requirements or preservation needs, results in avoidable waste. From an economic perspective, excess packaging comes at a cost. More materials mean higher expenses, increased transportation weight, more storage space requirements, and greater complexity in managing the packaging life cycle. It is an approach that is no longer sustainable in today's market. How to Reduce Overpackaging Without Compromising Quality Today, companies have the opportunity to rethink the way they design packaging. A good example comes from an Italian pasta manufacturer that removed the traditional plastic window from its packaging and replaced it with a paper label. The result? 50 tonnes of plastic saved every year and an extremely positive response from consumers, who are increasingly attentive to sustainability values. Optimizing packaging does not simply mean making it lighter; it also means making it smarter. Companies can develop more compact and lightweight solutions, use biodegradable or recycled materials, and adopt intelligent formats that reduce the space required during transportation and storage. Corrugated cardboard, in particular, is perfectly suited to these needs: it is lightweight, durable, fully recyclable, and versatile enough for a wide range of industries and products. The Most Effective Solutions An effective strategy to combat overpackaging is based on five key principles: Designing essential and functional packaging, reducing size and weight without compromising product protection; Prioritizing eco-friendly materials such as paper, corrugated cardboard, or bioplastics; Choosing reusable or easily recyclable packaging solutions; Communicating the company's commitment to sustainable packaging in a transparent manner; Encouraging customers to make responsible choices through incentives and information. Cart-One’s Role in Cleaner Packaging Cart-One supports companies that want to make a difference. We provide corrugated cardboard packaging solutions designed to reduce material waste and improve efficiency throughout the logistics process. Our goal is simple: to help businesses combine environmental responsibility, functionality, and value, even through small changes that generate significant results. With tailor-made corrugated cardboard solutions, Cart-One is the ideal partner for companies looking to embrace essential, efficient, and sustainable packaging. Would you like to reduce waste and make your packaging truly sustainable? Contact us and let’s develop the right solution together. Read also: “Towards Decarbonization: The Italian Paper Industry and the Challenges of the Green Transition”

The institutions have been working for some time to create a non-linear economy, which makes us more competitive, less dependent on raw materials and more environmentally friendly. In less than 10 years ecology, from sensitivity or political instance, has become an economic reality and a production process that is expressed as: "Circular economy". We will see below what the history and definition of the circular economy are and how the paper sector is located. History of the concept of circular economy As already mentioned, the circular economy belongs to ecology, but the former is a concrete project that arises from the value system of the latter. Ecology itself has quite distant ancestors, who can find a first political interpretation in the early twentieth century, in the naturism of the German Wandervogels. Even earlier, in the second half of the 19th century, it was the German biologist who coined the term "ecology", giving it an exclusively scientific value. We have to wait for two world wars and as many after the war to arrive at an economic vision in 1966, with Kenneth Boulding's "The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth". A few years later, environmentalist Barry Commoner introduced the concept of "circle" referring to the economy. In the meantime, the European Commission welcomes and prepares economic and scientific reports on the subject. In 2002 William McDonough and Michael Braungart proposed an analogy between industrial and natural processes, characterized precisely by circularity. The ground is ready and in 2009 the Ellen MacArthur Foundation was born, which is headed by the homonymous skipper Ellen MacArthur. The Foundation collects data, carries out studies, prepares proposals and precisely formulates the definition of "circular economy". Definition of circular economy According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Circular Economy is defined as "an economy designed to regenerate itself. In a circular economy, the flows of materials are of two types: biological ones, capable of being reintegrated into the biosphere, and technical ones, destined to be revalued without entering the biosphere ". As rightly underlined by the research promoted by Comieco for the Forum for sustainable finance, the "Circular economy is not a model of waste management, but a rethinking of traditional industrial processes". That is to say that the correct management of waste is one of the "moments" that characterize circularity, but the economy thus conceived does not end in recycling. If it is not circular, then it is linear The adjective of this economy - precisely "circular" - also defines the alternative to which it "opposes", that is, the linear economy. This model, followed by all countries and today considered unsustainable, is based on 5 phases: 1. Extraction of raw materials; 2. Production; 3. Distribution; 4. Consumption; 5. Waste collected in dumps and / or incinerated. This system is today considered largely unsustainable due to the scarcity of raw materials and the environmental impact. Basic principles The basic principles of the circular economy, as formulated by the "Ellen MacArthur Foundation" are: 1. Eco-design. Conceive the products (including packaging) with a view to their duration and their life cycle. Therefore prefer what is repairable, durable and recyclable. 2. Versatility. Give priority to products manufactured to be modular and recoverable in individual components. 3. Renewable energies. Reduce the use of energy from fossil sources. 4. Ecosystem approach. Be aware of the entire production system and take into account the relationship between the different components. 5. Recovery of materials. Promote recycling and reduce the use of virgin raw materials. Advantages of the circular economy The circular economy brings environmental, social and economic advantages. The production of greenhouse gases, thanks to recycling and, above all, to renewable energies, can drastically decrease. The quality of life of the citizen would benefit and an ethics built for this purpose would help to conceive the "We" beyond the individual. From an economic point of view, the constraint of raw materials - of which Italy is in short supply - would be less. Finally, creating lasting and recyclable products increases the competitiveness of national economies. The paper in the circular economy As said, the circular economy is not only a matter of recovering materials, but it is the commitment to think about the entire production cycle so that they can: 1. Reduce waste; 2. Extend the life of the products; 3. Recycle and regenerate. The cellulose industry has an advantage over alternative materials as it is of plant origin, biodegradable and recyclable. Italy, in particular, is a country that excels in paper recycling and is second only to Germany: "During 2018 - reports Comieco in the report for the Forum for sustainable finance - 4.9 million tons of cellulosic packaging released for consumption, with a recycling rate of 81% ". However, there are critical issues for the circular economy in general and for paper in particular. Just think of one of the many consequences - in addition to those of growth - due to the pandemic from CoViD-19: the collapse of crude oil prices. Strong deflation could delay the use of renewable energy sources, such as reducing the cost of plastic production. Or, again, the persistent use of products that are difficult to recycle because they cannot be divided by the consumer into the individual elements, place irrecoverable goods on the market (and in dumps). For example, the use of polylaminates represents a problem in food packaging. For this reason - as Comieco once again points out - the packaging of the future must be: ● Single material; ● Increase the barrier effect; ● Allowing you to monitor the life cycle of the packaging (through, for example, printing the label); ● Sustainable. The pulp industry is already ready for tomorrow's challenge.

Do Italians commit to separate waste collection? According to some data concerning the year 2019, not only does the percentage of recycled waste increase, but the objectives to be achieved in 2025 imposed by Europe are exceeded. Giorgio Quagliuolo, outgoing president of Conai, in a statement issued to the Assembly of the National Packaging Consortium in July, expressed his opinion on this goal: "The system as a whole has already exceeded the objectives that Europe is asking for by 2025. The circular economy in Italy works and stands out due to the effectiveness of its model. The results for the six packaging materials managed by Conai are also very positive, having all achieved their objectives by 2025, except for plastic. It is important to continue to work both on the path of developing new technologies for recycling and on that of prevention, encouraging eco design and design for recycling”. This prospect bodes well for a cleaner and more sustainable future. But let's see in detail why this milestone is so important. Packaging recycling: let's deal with reality Looking at the data for the year 2019, we find that most of the materials have been recycled, as much as 70%, with a growth of 3.1% compared to the previous year. Growth is mainly driven by the increase in recycling from urban waste, which marked a + 6.2%. If you make an estimate, adding these numbers to those of energy recovery, the tons of packaging waste recovered exceed 11 million and correspond to 81% of the packaging released for consumption. In the document General Program for Prevention and Management of Packaging and Packaging Waste it is possible to recognize the percentages of recovery and recycling of materials, which clearly show the achievement of the recovery thresholds for most packaging materials. Steel 78.8% (target 70%); Aluminum 74.6% (target 70%); Paper and Cardboard 81.2% (target 75%); Wood 64.7% (target 25%); Plastic 48.1% (target 50%); Glass 81.4% (target 70%). With the exception of plastic, for which the achievement of the goal is close, for all other materials the set thresholds have been largely exceeded. All this is possible thanks to the commitment of citizens and thanks to companies that are adopting policies of greater sustainability, reviewing production processes with a view to a circular economy, as demonstrated by the case of the CART-ONE company, in the context of production of cardboard packaging. What are the benefits of achieving the European goals? The achievement of the set objectives, in terms of benefits for the individual and for the environment, are considerable. Recovering four out of five packaging means sending less waste to landfills, therefore less environmental pollution and more resources that are recycled, to be used again. In this sense, collaboration between local authorities and collection consortia is also important, which make it possible to effectively recover the waste / resource. An example above all, the activity carried out by the Italian Municipalities in agreement with Comieco, the body responsible for the recovery of paper and cardboard packaging. Conai, in fact, at a time when the prices of waste paper were falling and paper recycling was not convenient, opened windows that allowed municipalities to enter into an agreement with Comieco, assuming the costs for recycling of paper and cardboard, so as to put the environment first, overcoming any market logic. Finally, the possibility of recycling and reusing allows for better management of resources, again if we think of the example of paper, which has a significant impact on nature, firstly avoiding deforestation and the destruction of ecosystems, and secondly by acting to safeguarding biodiversity. In this sense, CART-ONE has adopted a supply chain that favors the production and minimization of waste through processes that minimize the environmental impact and that adopt solutions for the recycling of production waste.