With the Earth’s condition becoming increasingly critical, environmentally friendly packaging needs to be promoted more massively. Not only that, this is an important step to enhance the implementation of the SDGs. United Nations initiated the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) for the first time in 1992 at the Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Currently, we are in the process of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was established in 2015. In this article, we can learn more about the SDGs and how eco-friendly packaging plays a role in achieving some of these goals.
Getting to Know the SDGs Better
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a great commitment adopted by over 178 countries. The primary goal is to ensure the sustainability of the Earth and all its animal and plant diversity. In September 2015, 17 goals were introduced to be achieved collectively by 2030 through the UN Development Summit. These goals have attracted the attention of countries around the world, including Indonesia.
Indonesia, through Bappenas (National Development Planning Agency), has committed to implementing the SDGs at national, subnational, and community levels. This commitment has also been carried out by many eco-conscious individuals, organizations, companies, and others through various actions. BIOPAC is one of the companies contributing to the success of SDG implementation through their business processes and eco-friendly packaging products.
With the massive promotion of SDGs implementation, demand for eco-friendly packaging increases every year, although it is still much smaller than the amount of plastic waste from packaging production globally. According to Environment + Energy Leader, currently the amount of plastic waste is around 400 million tons every year. Another solution offered to overcome plastic waste is recycling, but this is also still very small compared to the total plastic waste produced each year. Therefore, the role of environmentally friendly packaging is very important here. Some significant contributions of eco-friendly packaging to SDG pillars are as follows.
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
This pillar encourages producers to use packaging appropriately without excess. It also calls on businesses to avoid using oversized single-use packaging to create the impression of more product inside.
SDG 14: Life Below Water
BIOPAC is eco-friendly packaging, plastic-free, and will not break down into microplastics and nanoplastics. BIOPAC uses seaweed as raw material, which supports marine biodiversity, and is food for turtles, fish and other marine animals. If BIOPAC is dumped into the sea, BIOPAC remains preferred and safe for consumption by all types of marine animals.
SDG 15: Life on Land
By producing plastic-free packaging that will not break down into microplastics and nanoplastics, BIOPAC is safe for consumption by land animals, including worms, poultry, cat, and others. If discarded in the soil, BIOPAC also becomes a biofertilizer that can improve soil fertility.
SDG 13: Climate Action
BIOPAC participates in addressing the climate crisis, the effects of which are already increasingly being felt. Extreme weather, floods, forest fires, landslides, are natural disasters that are closely related to the climate crisis.
BIOPAC chooses seaweed, which absorbs CO2 to carry out photosynthesis and grow. In fact, CO2 absorption by seaweed is more effective than by terrestrial plants, because the availability of CO2 in sea water is higher than that in the air. Thus, seaweed is important in reducing the sea water acidity of and increasing the productivity of the entire marine life.
BIOPAC manufacturing process is eco-friendly and does not involve hazardous and toxic chemicals, such as those used in the production of seaweed extract in general. Lastly and very importantly, all variants of BIOPAC products are eco-friendly.