Plastic packaging is at the center of our lives as it is found in numerous products used
every day. Increasing the sustainability of plastic packaging will have a major impact on the
world. As one of the largest and most innovative global packaging companies, Amcor leads
the industry, having integrated sustainability into and across its core values.
To understand the best opportunities for improvement, this project analyzed Amcor’s
full supply chain through a natural capital valuation. The natural capital valuation puts a
dollar value on the ecosystems services and externalities associated with Amcor’s business.
Our preliminary findings led us to conclude that, accounting for GHG emissions, water use
and waste generated can make post-consumer resin comparable to virgin resin from a cost
perspective. We also found that Amcor is relatively efficient in its own operations when
compared to the rest of the supply chain, and should therefore focus on its downstream
impacts where it can create the most impact in terms of post-consumer waste.
In focusing on these downstream impacts, we learned quickly that there is minimal
data, globally, on plastic packaging waste, its collection, country infrastructure, and
perception and education around plastic recovery. A model was created to predict plastic
packaging recovery rates for countries where this data does not exist, and also get a better
understanding of which factors most influence the plastic packaging recovery rates. We
found that total household municipal waste, percent of waste to landfill, and the Gini index
have a statistically significant impact on plastic packaging recovery rates. Amcor has an
opportunity to focus on these variables when attempting to improve their downstream
footprint.