In this issue of Industry Update, we are delighted to select Benchmark Consulting as our Carbon Transparency & Cost Accuracy Company of the Month for the packaging industry
In the battle against global warming, one software solution provider is stepping up to provide unprecedented insight into the commercial cost and carbon emissions. Benchmark Consulting is revolutionising how we understand and measure the environmental impact of packaging, offering a breakthrough solution that could change the way businesses approach sustainability.
The Packaging Paradox
Packaging often gets a bad rap. Criticised for waste and environmental damage, it’s an easy target for environmentalists. But the reality is far more nuanced. Packaging isn’t the villain – it’s a critical component of modern commerce that serves multiple essential functions.
From protecting delicate products during transportation to extending the shelf life of food, packaging does much more than often realised. It communicates vital information, ensures product safety, and increasingly, is being designed with environmental considerations in mind.
The Carbon Challenge
The numbers are stark. Global food waste alone generates greenhouse gas emissions that would rank third in the world if considered as a country. In the UK, packaging contributes approximately 10-12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually – roughly 2-3% of total greenhouse gas emissions. But without packaging particularly in food, this waste often generates methane. Methane and carbon dioxide are both greenhouse gases, but methane is more potent and has a shorter lifespan than carbon dioxide. Methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over 20 years, and 30 times more potent over 100 years.
In short: packaging is necessary so the question is how it should be managed from source to end of life:
- The UK Government needs to legislate and regulate business to a standard to avoid voluntary self-regulation by paper, plastic, glass and metal industries. These vested interests -in particular solutions have led to a myriad of confusing messaging often resulting in either ‘Greenwashing or Greenhushing’.
- Packaging Producers need to report Scope 3 emissions: these are all the indirect emissions that occur outside of an organisation’s scope 1 and 2 internal boundaries. They are a result of activities that the organisation indirectly affects in its value chain, such as buying, using, and disposing of products from suppliers.
- Brands and retailers need to provide objective data to enable consumers to make informed decisions.
- Consumers need to play their part by disposing or returning their packaging responsibly. For this to happen meaningfully consumers need clear communication on packs relayed as to what they do with the packaging.
- Waste collectors and sorters at the end of life also need to easily identify the materials and sort such that material can be commercially recycled.
- The solution also needs to be simple and transparent!
- The solution is to report all packaging stock keeping units (SKU) with a commercial cost and a CO2e value to enable informed decisions. This is not a pipe dream: it is possible today.
Meet Benchmark Consulting: Precision in Sustainability
Founded in 2011 by Tim Barbary, Liam Barbary, and Paul Waters, Benchmark Consulting has developed a groundbreaking software solution that does something previously thought impossible: calculating carbon emissions and cost at an incredibly granular level for packaging producers and is used for consulting with packaging buyers.
“To illustrate a point,” says Tim Barbary, “if you have a red and blue packet of crisps, though the packaging processes are the same, possibly attracting the same cost to produce and selling price the pigments (colours) are not, which result in minuscule, yet differing carbon footprints.”
How It Works: Beyond Surface-Level Measurement
The company’s digital package is a game-changer:
- A sophisticated CO2e calculator
- Carbon certification for packaging
- Precise cost modelling and price setting for packaging materials
- Commercial performance calculation and analysis
- Granular data accurately and consistently calculated & transparently reported.
What sets Benchmark apart is its ability to convert complex data, often many thousands of rows of data with different units of measure (area and weights, metric and imperial and volumes, multilayer specifications and currencies) – all in minutes.
The Bigger Picture
The UK Government has published the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy and set targets on a journey to carbon net zero emissions (back to the 1990s).
Businesses and society as a whole need to recognise this is not a simple steady as we go: evolution is more akin to a revolution.
This isn’t just about numbers. It’s about driving meaningful change in the packaging industries (plastic, paper, glass and metal) critical to global commerce. As governments introduce more stringent regulations – like the UK’s current Packaging Recovery Notes (PRN) and upcoming mandatory food waste separation laws, Plastics tax, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) tools like Benchmark’s become increasingly vital. And if the Global Warming current trajectory is not reversed in the near future, one can also envisage a carbon emissions tax.
“Once you start to meaningfully measure granular data,” Barbary explains, “you can begin to identify savings in both commercial costs and planetary impact (CO2e).”
Technology Meets Expertise
The team behind Benchmark Consulting brings decades of experience from packaging production, purchasing, life cycle assessment, data analysis and IT industries. Their software is used for daily estimating by over 100 major packaging producers across Europe and North America, they’re not just observers – they’re active participants in identifying the cost of the sustainability revolution.
Looking Forward: The Packaging of Tomorrow
The future is promising. With increasing investment in renewable energy and innovative materials, packaging is transforming. Biodegradable solutions, compostable materials, and smarter design are becoming the norm rather than the exception.
Benchmark Consulting stands at this exciting intersection of technology, sustainability, and commercial intelligence.
The Bottom Line
The path to sustainability isn’t just about policies and numbers – it’s about transformation. The UK’s journey from tentative environmental acknowledgments in the 1980s to today’s comprehensive net-zero commitments demonstrates both the challenges and possibilities of systematic change. While initiatives like the Green Claims Code and Extended Producer Responsibility schemes show promise, their success ultimately depends on the collective will of businesses, governments, and consumers to embrace genuine transformation.
The packaging industry stands at the forefront of this revolution, where sustainability isn’t just an option – it’s an imperative. The road ahead demands more than superficial changes; it requires a fundamental rethink of how we design, produce, value and dispose of packaging materials.
Benchmark software enable holistic objective decisions that come from granular data collection, accurate and consistent cost & carbon calculating and transparent reporting verified by authentic third-party to ISO: 14067.
In a world desperately seeking solutions to climate change, sometimes the most profound impact comes from the most unexpected places. Who would have thought that the key to reducing carbon emissions might be found in data granularity – the subtle nuances of a crisp packet’s pigmentation? Only then do we move beyond greenwashing to create truly sustainable solutions.
As we look toward 2050’s net-zero target, one thing becomes clear: the future of packaging isn’t just about maintaining the status quo – it’s about reimagining what’s possible. For businesses ready to embrace this challenge, the opportunity isn’t just to survive in a changing market, but to lead the way in creating a more sustainable future for generations to come. Benchmark’s team are ready to support business.
As Tim Barbary puts it, “We know wherever there is a commercial cost, there is a carbon footprint, and we have the know-how and the tools to measure it at a low cost.” The question isn’t whether packaging can be sustainable – it’s whether we have the courage and commitment to make it so.
Benchmark Consulting is exhibiting at: Packing Innovations & Empack 2025: 12-13 February: NEC, Birmingham (Stand B60).
For more information, speak to the team below or click on the website:
T 0115 697 5500
www.benchmark-consulting.co.uk