Environmentally friendly containers create trust and peace of mind. What are the recommended eco-material containers?

What is an eco-friendly container?

What is the significance of using environmentally friendly containers?

In our daily life, food containers and packaging have become essential for quality protection and transportation of food. Food containers and packaging create a convenient and prosperous society, but on the other hand, they are thrown away as garbage after use, causing various environmental problems.

By using environmentally friendly containers, you can contribute to solving many environmental problems such as the depletion of fossil resources, global warming, and garbage problems. However, even if only some companies and individuals use environmentally friendly containers, it will not lead to the solution of environmental problems. We will explain why all businesses should use environmentally friendly containers from the three perspectives of "corporate social responsibility," "long-term development and prosperity of the market," and "expansion of business sales."

corporate social responsibility

Companies provide products and services that are useful to the world and receive money in return for their operation. However, if the pursuit of short-term profits neglects environmental measures and consideration for employees, it will be difficult to continue to develop.

Therefore, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), which is the idea that companies should not only pursue profits but also fulfill social responsibilities such as dealing with environmental problems and human rights problems, has been emphasized in recent years. is coming.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted at the United Nations Summit in 2015 to solve environmental and human rights issues facing the world. Unlike CSR, the SDGs have 17 specific goals and 169 targets, and companies are required to solve each goal as a business. For this reason, many companies have started to incorporate the SDGs into their business plans and take action to fulfill their social responsibilities

Long-term development and prosperity of the market

There are many major environmental issues such as global warming, air pollution, depletion of fossil resources, and marine plastic litter. If these problems are left unaddressed, there is a possibility that the resources that will be the raw materials for the products will not be available, and the business itself will not be able to continue, or the market itself will disappear. Therefore, in this day and age, it is an essential condition for companies to work on environmental conservation to protect themselves and the market, and to develop and prosper in the long term.

Companies that care about the environment gain the trust of the local community, gain employee satisfaction, and increase the number of job seekers who want to work for the company. In addition, as the momentum to achieve the SDGs is increasing worldwide, many companies are aiming to be environmentally friendly, and we can expect the expansion and continuous development of business partners who share the goal.

Business sales expansion

With the global awareness of SDGs and the spread of the problem of marine plastic litter, not only companies but also consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious than before. Recently, the concept of “ethical consumption,” which means purchasing and consuming products and services that contribute to environmental conservation and the community and society, has become widespread. Taking food containers as an example, if you buy the same bento, you want to buy products that use environmentally friendly containers or stores that use them.

For this reason, it is believed that a company's consideration for the environment not only improves the image of the company in the eyes of local communities, employees, and consumers, but is also directly linked to consumer purchasing activities. In addition, since the possibility of being evaluated by other companies and markets with environmental conservation goals increases, it will lead to the development of new business partners and markets, which will lead to an increase in business sales.

General consumers are becoming more and more interested in environmental issues every year, and we hear many voices saying that they want to purchase products that are as environmentally friendly as possible, and that if they do the same shopping, they want to purchase products that are as environmentally friendly as possible. In some cases, there are cases where the use of environmentally friendly food containers and packaging is a condition of delivery and sales.

Three environmental problems we are facing

Three of the most important environmental issues are:

These issues cannot be discussed separately because they are connected rather than independent issues. For example, resource and food shortages are partly due to global warming and extreme weather, and each is related. Here, we will discuss three environmental issues in detail.

Resource and food shortage crisis

It is said that Japan has entered an era of declining birthrate and aging population since a few years ago, but the world population is increasing by about 83 million every year. As a result, the world's energy consumption and food consumption continue to increase year by year. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global energy consumption in 2040 will increase by about 1.3 times compared to 2014, and most of the increase will be in Asia, including China and India. It is predicted that it will be an emerging country.

Emerging countries have achieved significant economic development in recent years, and this growth is expected to accelerate further in the future. Along with this, the demand for fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas, which support the economy, is expected to increase.

Proved reserves of energy resources are the currently confirmed reserves of each resource that can be mined within an economically rational range divided by the annual production volume. Is it possible to collect resources?" Proved reserves of these energy resources are estimated to be more than 100 years for coal and uranium, and about 50 years for oil and natural gas. In the future, new oil fields and mines will be discovered, and this number may change due to technological innovation, but there is no change in the fact that fossil fuels are a "limited resource" that will eventually run out.

Global warming and accompanying abnormal weather

Global warming is one of the major problems in climate change. Global warming is a phenomenon in which a large amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide cover the earth's sky, raising the temperature of the earth and disrupting the balance of the natural world.

As the global temperature rises, various natural disasters, abnormal weather, and impacts on ecosystems are occurring. In Japan, there are frequent torrential rains and stronger typhoons, and when looking at the rest of the world, floods, forest fires, hurricanes, and prolonged droughts due to changes in rainfall patterns.

Limitations of the garbage disposal function

Among environmental problems, the garbage problem is a particularly serious and familiar problem. Japan incinerates a large amount of garbage, but it is said that landfill sites (final disposal sites) will be full in the next 20 years.

Currently in Japan, 55 million tons of household waste is generated annually, and 4 million tons of industrial waste is discarded. Japan has the largest number of incinerators in the world and reduces garbage to a minimum size. We have exported waste plastics that can be reclaimed and recycled as resources to China and other Asian countries. However, in 2018, China announced a ban on the import of waste plastic, and other Asian countries also decided to ban the import of waste. It's gone.

A movement to remove plastic. From plastic to paper

Plastic is a material that is durable, stable, and highly convenient, but because it cannot be easily decomposed, it has led to the problem of waste plastic garbage and marine plastics. The problem of marine plastics came to be recognized worldwide after an image of a sea turtle stuck in its nose with a plastic straw. In the movement to eliminate plastics, other plastic products such as food containers are now being considered for switching to paper products.

Why plastic is seen as a problem

The amount of plastics used on the earth is increasing explosively, and 300 million tons of plastic waste is discharged annually. is illegally dumped or incinerated. If this situation continues, it is predicted that the amount of plastic waste that has flowed into the sea will exceed the amount of fish in the sea in 30 years. The problems of resource depletion, marine plastic litter, and global warming will continue to expand and threaten human life.

Developed countries announce bans on plastic use

France has banned the use of plastic packaging containers from 2020, Italy, China and India have also banned the use of plastic bags, and other countries have also banned the use of plastic bags and cutlery. Even if the use is not banned, there are many moves to reduce the amount used, such as charging for plastic shopping bags. From July 1, 2020, Japan will start charging for plastic shopping bags, and the trend is to further reduce the amount of plastic used in the future.

Japan's stance on plastic-free

In May 2019, a policy for plastic waste countermeasures was announced as a plastic resource recycling strategy. Further promote the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and proper disposal of plastics, and promote innovation as a countermeasure against global resource and waste constraints, marine plastic problems, and global warming. It is intended to

Specifically, from July 1, 2020, we will start charging for plastic shopping bags. Rather than simply aiming to reduce plastic shopping bags, we have announced that we will promote lifestyle changes, reduce one-way plastics, and promote appropriate alternatives to renewable resources. Goals have been announced for reducing cumulative one-way plastics by 25% by 2030, reusing and recycling 60% of containers and packaging, and introducing approximately 2 million tons of biomass plastics.

Introduction of eco-friendly containers

There are many options for eco-friendly containers such as non-plastic materials and biomass plastics, but here we will introduce the WB series and BB series, which are molded containers made from naturally derived non-plastic materials.

WB series

Wheat + Bagasse Molded pulp container made from wheat husk and bagasse. The texture of barley fiber goes well with fruits and vegetables such as vegetables and fruits.

BB series

Bamboo + Bagasse Molded pulp container made from bamboo and bagasse. The warm texture goes well with lunch boxes and side dishes.