September 5, 2024 marked Plastic Overshoot Day, the date identified by EA Earth Action as the point at which the amount of plastic waste generated globally exceeded the capacity of waste management systems to manage it effectively.
According to the Plastic Overshoot Day Report 2024:
- 220 million tonnes of plastic waste were expected to be generated globally in 2024.
- Nearly 70 million tonnes were expected to be mismanaged and end up in the natural environment.
- Global plastic waste has increased by 7.11% since 2021.
These figures highlight the challenges associated with plastic consumption and end-of-life management and the importance of considering waste prevention, material use, reuse and appropriate waste-management systems when developing packaging solutions.
For Fiorini International, this context reinforces the importance of continuing to explore paper-based packaging solutions for applications traditionally using plastic, where these solutions meet the required technical and functional performance.
Paper can offer specific characteristics in terms of sourcing, recyclability and compatibility with established recycling streams. However, the environmental performance of any packaging solution depends on several factors throughout its life cycle, including raw material sourcing, manufacturing, transport, use, reuse where applicable, and end-of-life management.
For this reason, our approach focuses on packaging design, material selection, functionality and end-of-life considerations, evaluating paper-based solutions according to the requirements of each specific application.
