Paptic gained an enhanced understanding of the environmental impacts of its products Paptic Ltd is a high growth company established in 2015. The headquarters is located in Espoo, Finland. The company has developed a sustainable packaging material made of renewable wood fibres to replace plastics in packaging. The material has been available on an industrial scale since 2018 and it has already been delivered to over 40 countries. With its innovative packaging material, Paptic is a pioneer in the fight against plastic pollution. Case Paptic LCA provides comprehensive and reliable information on different environmental impact categories during the life cycle of Paptic packaging material Paptic® is a sustainable packaging material made from renewable wood fibers, offering a solution to replace thin plastic in flexible packaging. Sustainability and low carbon emissions guide Paptic's operations. In order to obtain verified information about the environmental impact of Paptic packaging materials as a plastic substitute, the company wanted to conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA). Simultaneously, Paptic aimed to enhance its understanding of the carbon footprint and other environmental impacts of its packaging materials to support continuous development efforts. "We wanted to execute the project with the highest possible quality to provide reliable information to our customers and other stakeholders. Etteplan's experience and expertise in PEF calculations were convincing, which is why they were chosen to carry out the study," says Hanna Kalliomäki, Chief Sustainability Officer at Paptic. The life cycle assessment took into account various environmental impact categories The assessment was conducted for Paptic's Sterna packaging material, which is designed for sustainable tote bags, gift bags, online shopping envelopes, and as base material for labels and stickers. The study followed LCA standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, as well as the carbon footprint standard ISO 14067. Cradle-to-gate system boundary was used in the calculation and the system boundary also included the end-of-life phase. Emission credits were also taken into account in the calculations. The environmental impact categories assessed in the study included climate change, eutrophication, acidification, particulate matter, and resources use (fossil and water use/deprivation). These impact categories were selected for the study to compare the most significant environmental impacts between fiber-based and plastic-based competing materials. Utilizing results for product and technology development to increase positive impact As a result of the life cycle assessment, Paptic gained reliable and comprehensive information about the environmental impacts of its Sterna packaging material throughout its lifecycle. The project strengthened Paptic's understanding of the current environmental impacts of their material production and the benefits already achieved by replacing plastic with Paptic material. Hanna commends the Etteplan project team for their uncompromising and seamless work. "The team's expertise was greatly evident, and we gained a lot of information during the project. At the same time, our understanding and competency was strengthened in the form of numbers about how important and resource-efficient it is to recycle, i.e. to keep raw materials in the material cycle – in accordance with the main principles of the circular economy,” says Hanna. Paptic utilizes the acquired information in stakeholder communication, as well as in product and technology development, to further increase its positive impact.
