From March 8th to 10th, the IPFM2023 & Plant Fiber Molding Industry Innovation China Forum was held at Nanjing International Expo Center.

This forum is a dedicated trade and exchange event for the plant fiber molding industry, gathering numerous industry experts, academic scholars, corporate representatives, industry opinion leaders, and others to jointly explore solutions for the plant fiber molding industry under the challenges of rising energy & supply chain costs and economic stagnation.

Bennett Lu, founder and CEO of Carbonstop, was invited to attend the forum and delivered a keynote speech titled “In the Era of Dual Carbon Goals, Exploration and Innovation in the Path to Carbon Neutrality in the Packaging Industry,” aiming to inject 'carbon' power into the plant fiber molding industry and discover the infinite potential of the packaging industry in the green field.

01 Packaging * Policy

Under the dual carbon goals, the packaging industry has introduced a series of low-carbon policies, such as the Notice on the Action Plan for Plastic Pollution Control During the 14th Five-Year Plan Period, and the Regulation on Restricting Excessive Packaging of Goods - Food and Cosmetics, which will be officially implemented from September this year.

Moreover, green packaging has become an important medium for brands to communicate green concepts to consumers. An increasing number of companies and brands recognize the market influence brought by green packaging, and more consumers also favor green packaging. These changes have accelerated the process of carbon neutrality in the packaging industry.

02 Packaging * Data

Without quantification, there is no management; without management, there is no carbon neutrality. Carbon accounting is the foundation of the carbon management industry.

At this forum, Bennett Lu, founder and CEO of Carbonstop, disclosed the carbon footprint of pulp molding products for the first time. Through professional calculations by Carbonstop, the emission of a single pulp molding product from cradle to gate is 528.28gCO2e, representing a 30.4% reduction compared to gray cardboard boxes and a 60.99% reduction compared to plastic boxes.

03 Packaging * Case Studies

Aside from pulp molding products, many well-known brands are using low-carbon and eco-friendly packaging.

Anmushi launched the "Less Ink Pack" product, reducing carbon emissions by 2,128kg per 100,000 boxes for the original flavor and 1,861kg per 100,000 boxes for the peach + oatmeal flavor.

Pulmuone’s "Smart Carbon" label packaging uses LanzaTech's "carbon capture" technology to convert carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from rich carbon gas sources directly into key raw materials required for producing PET bottles, thereby reducing the use of oil and the impact of carbon emissions on the environment.

Furthermore, Carbonstop has many partners in the packaging industry who are innovating for carbon reduction.

One-Step Open has launched zipper cartons that are 100% recyclable. After professional calculation by Carbonstop, considering the number of recycling uses, the carbon reduction of one #1 zipper carton compared to traditional cartons is 215gCO2e.

Another product, Nbox Smart Circulation Box, combined with its entire lifecycle, Carbonstop calculated that the carbon reduction of one Nbox No.1 quick-fold box used 100 times compared to 100 paper boxes used once is 9.42kgCO2e.

Fenmei Packaging, the world's third-largest supplier of aseptic packaging materials, has also chosen Carbonstop to perform carbon footprint calculations for its products.

04 Packaging * Future

According to statistics, the total assets of companies worldwide that have committed to achieving carbon neutrality/net-zero emissions already exceed $130 trillion, and almost all influential companies domestically and internationally have made commitments to achieving carbon neutrality.

In 2021, during JD.com's Double Eleven, there were more than 150 million types of "green consumption" goods. In 2022, during Tmall's Double Eleven, more than 16.33 million consumers chose green goods, with about 57.9% of young consumers willing to pay a 5%-10% premium for sustainable consumption. The market scale of carbon-neutral products is expected to be enormous.

Moreover, leading brands have begun to proactively involve suppliers, consumers, and other upstream and downstream value chains in carbon neutrality efforts. For example, companies like Apple and L'Oréal have already required their suppliers to disclose carbon emission data.

Therefore, as a very important link in the upstream and downstream value chains of many companies and brands, the packaging industry needs to prepare early and layout ahead of time. If it stays stagnant, it will miss out on huge market opportunities.

Making carbon data ubiquitous, visible, and valuable is what Carbonstop has been doing. Carbonstop also believes that carbon neutrality will give all industries a chance to start over, and this golden track is waiting for everyone to unleash their value!