Packaging and Ethics, an extraordinary combination

It took Anna Paola... that Anna Paola Cavanna who, after having renewed and revitalised the Italian Packaging Institute, in her second term as President wanted to make the Ethical Packaging Charter Foundation project a reality, with enthusiasm and courage. Here is what has happened, what is about to happen and, rest assured, will happen.

by Stefano Lavorini

Once upon a time there was the  “Ethical Packaging Charter - Shared principles for the conscious design, production and use of packaging”, that is the thoughtful decalogue presented in 2015 to open a debate between all the players in the production and distribution chain and amng citizens/consumers.

The document, drawn up by the Department of Design, Milan Polytechnic (scientific directors: Professors Giovanni Baule and Valeria Bucchetti), desired and promoted by Edizioni Dativo - ItaliaImballaggio, and sponsored by the Italian Packaging Institute, was presented on 22 May 2015 during the Ipack-Ima trade fair.

Well, that project, which aimed to make packaging evolve with respect to the needs of the user, the consumer, the environment and society, is now renewed and takes on a different connotation and more concrete prospects.

At the time, the idea of promoting a new culture of packaging might have seemed ahead of its time, particularly because of its explicit reference to ethics, or rather to the need for a code of conduct on the part of the industry and those working in it, but today all this seems more topical than ever, if not urgent, in the light of the evolution of the market.

One cannot give up hope

At a time when politicians are struggling to come up with alternatives, only the will of individuals, or rather groups of individuals, can set in motion effective processes of change.

Thus, on 29 May 2020, during the first lockdown, the Ethical Packaging Charter Foundation was born: Anna Paola Cavanna, president of the Italian Packaging Institute, signed the memorandum of association.

«I strongly supported, and in perfect harmony with the director of the Italian Packaging Institute Francesco Legrenzi, the birth of the Foundation, of which I have taken on the chairmanship, to make explicit the key words and arguments contained in the ten points of the Ethical Charter and to translate them into concrete facts» Cavanna told me.

«It’s a big challenge, to continue to hope that packaging will be able to render up its virtuous image and thus allow us citizens to make informed choices when buying and consuming products. This is no easy task, but I face it with a team of qualified and motivated people: the board of directors includes Alessandra Fazio (Nestlé) and Ciro Sinagra (Laminazione Sottile) as vice-presidents, board member Chiara Faenza (Coop Italia) and the Institute’s past president, Antonio Feola (Unione Italiana Food). In addition, operational management has been entrusted to Francesco Legrenzi, director of the III, while Mauro Peveri is sole auditor».

Facts and not (just) words

As President of the III, Anna Paola Cavanna has already shown she knows how to do things. And how!

In less than three years of office, she has achieved a robust increase in the number of member companies, thanks to the expansion of the services provided: from the help desk, to the online technical encyclopaedia, to the legal and economic databases, from the work of the committees, to the increasingly complex training activities carried out by the subsidiary consulting and training company Packaging Meeting.

And now, with the Foundation, it is ready to work on several fronts.

«First of all, we have completed a very important project in the training and cultural sphere; in fact, in March 2021, the first Advanced Training Course (CAF) in Packaging Management began, in collaboration with the Faculty of Economics of Rome’s La Sapienza University, with 21 participants.

This initiative is flanked by the Foundation’s Algorithm, the dossier on which the III Sustainability Commission is working, and which will soon provide companies with a valuable scientific tool for calculating the sustainability of packaging starting from the 10 points of the Charter of Ethics for Packaging, correlating them with the 17 objectives of the UN 2030 Agenda.

Last but not least, the Foundation will soon have its own location - technological, functional and beautiful - where it will organise, as soon as possible, in-person events and exhibitions: a prestigious space for intelligent proposals in the name of ethics and sustainability».

A project open to all

The Packaging Ethics Charter Foundation also plans to carry out research and international awards, as well as organising initiatives with the aim of promoting the entire packaging chain, without distinguishing between the various materials.

«To achieve these goals, we need the support of all those involved in the design, production, use, consumption and reuse of packaging. Companies, enterprises, bodies, associations, consortia and foundations can, among other things, contribute in a practical way to affirming an ethical and sustainable business culture for the packaging chain, by signing and adhering to the Ethical Charter as Ambassadors.

And these figures are decisive, since the Ambassadors undertake to operate in line with the ten points of the Charter, to disseminate it as appropriate, to promote its values and contents.

Applications for membership are already open and, as proof of my confidence in the success of this project, I, as owner of the company Laminati Cavanna, have submitted the first application, which is awaiting acceptance by the Foundation’s board of directors. Who will be next? I hope to be able to tell you soon».

In short, judging from the enthusiasm of all those who are working on this initiative and from what can be read on the website “fondazionecartaeticapackaging.org” (well done, clear and incisive), the Foundation is a worthy initiative from all points of view.

Proof that packaging is a living thing, made up of women and men capable of facing the present by influencing the birth of events, in order to dream of a future that is better.