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Manufacturing companies continue to encounter a diverse set of obstacles while embracing sustainable development goals. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to explore critical sustainable development-related barriers to flexible packaging manufacturing companies in the New Zealand context.

Drawing on a qualitative multiple case studies approach, the authors collected data from the New Zealand flexible packaging industry. Semistructured interviews were conducted with the senior corporate managers in two large flexible packaging companies. Following the thematic analysis approach, the authors analyzed the information collected from the participants and synthesized our findings under the key dimensions of internal and external barriers to sustainable development.

The findings revealed that internal barriers to sustainable flexible packaging are linked to economic, operational and technical issues. Conversely, external barriers include global crises and disruption, customer behavior and preferences and institutional and infrastructural-related aspects. Based on the analysis of empirical findings, the authors further identified the underlying reasons for sustainable flexible packaging barriers and recommended guidelines that could assist corporate managers and policymakers in addressing obstacles inhibiting the flexible packaging industry from adopting sustainable business practices.

The authors argue that this study is one of the early studies to consider inhibiting factors to incorporate sustainable development into the New Zealand flexible packaging industry context. Building on a range of theoretical perspectives, the authors extend the current body of knowledge seeking to advance the sustainable development agenda in the New Zealand flexible packaging industry and offer recommended pathways fostering sustainable development in a distinctive manufacturing context.

The purpose of this paper is to explore changes in corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in food, soft drinks and packaging industries to capture changes in CSR implementation given increased environmental activism. The paper takes an exploratory approach in reviewing CSR policy changes to explore to what extent companies change CSR policies with increased environmentalism.

A comparative website analysis was used to analyse CSR policies of companies in the food, soft drinks and packaging industries in the UK. The companies were selected for the analysis based on their annual turnover and 23 companies were analysed (seven for the soft drinks industry, eight for the food industry and eight for packaging industry). Five interviews were conducted with packaging and retail professionals, and the findings were analysed by using thematic analysis, which captured trends in responses.

The findings show that companies are implementing and communicating CSR policies heavily focussed on reducing the environmental impact of their work and matching social debates on human rights, with which traditional CSR policies (corporate governance, supporting local communities and consultation with stakeholders) are fading away. Instead, companies have shifted attention towards the gender pay gap, modern slavery and extensive environmentalism. The interviews with packaging professionals and CSR managers from the retail industry show that the packaging industry designs CSR policies in line with requests from supermarkets, which are, in turn, influenced by consumer activism.

This paper shows the circular relationship between media coverage, consumer activism, which comes as a result, and the impact and changes this brings to the industry. To avoid reputation damage, companies should closely follow media debates to pre-empty consumer criticism and activism.

The findings show that companies are “mirroring the zeitgast” and going with trends to meet consumer expectations, which brings into question the sincerity of CSR policies and revives the criticism of capitalism and raises a question whether CSR is used by companies as a smokescreen that on the outset makes a difference to the society but keeps status quo intact.

The paper provides an insight into CSR implementation of three industries that faced heavy criticism from campaigners and the general public for their environmental impact. The paper shows how the CSR policy shifted to match this expectation and thus provides a good ground for studying the evolution of CSR using a case study from three selected industries.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between the various variables present in the packaging plastic waste management system in the cosmetics industry.

In this paper, the authors deal with plastic packaging waste in the cosmetic industry with the help of system dynamics. The model broadly divides the system into six sections – Cosmetic Packaging, Waste Generation, Waste Collected, Waste Sorted, Waste Treated and Waste Dumped. Businesses have been investing in each section depending on their progress and targets. The authors are looking at case studies of two leading cosmetic brands, L'Oréal and L'Occitane en Provence, to validate the industry practices against our model.

From a business perspective, using the case study methodology for L'Oréal and L'Occitane, the authors inferred that out of the various investment vehicles available, companies are targeting technological advancement and third-party collaborations as they have the potential to offer the greatest visible change. However, most of these investments are going toward the treatment subsection. Still, there is a scope for improvement in the collection and sorting subsystems, increasing the efficiency of the whole chain.

There has been a lot of research on packaging plastic waste management in the past, but only a few of them focused on the cosmetic industry. This study aims to connect all the possible variables involved in the cosmetic industry’s packaging plastic waste management system and provide a clear output variable for various businesses looking to manage their packaging waste because of their products efficiently.

Paperboard packaging is regarded as a most ecologically sound and environmentally friendly packaging option, with benefits in product protection, waste and disposal properties and easy recyclability. New Zealand has a paperboard packaging industry, small by international standards, manufacturing 245,000 tonnes of packaging annually. Over 100,000 tonnes of recycled fibre (25 per cent of all paper and paperboard consumed in New Zealand is recovered for recycling) are included in packaging boards for a variety of uses. New Zealand′s forest management is world‐renowned; the pulp and paper industry sources its virgin fibre requirements from plantation pine forests. The country′s major manufacturer of pulp and paperboard has developed a new pulp‐bleaching technique which avoids chlorine use. It is also 50 per cent self‐sufficient in energy generation. Packaging manufacturers are urged to avoid overpackaging and take responsibility to ensure environmental‐friendliness by suppliers of inks and coatings.

The importance of packaging in the food industry lies in its multifunctional nature. Packaging elements can come from studying the contribution of different research disciplines and functional areas: marketing, logistics, food technologies and the environment. The purpose of this study aims to identify and evaluate packaging elements in the food industry from a holistic point of view.

Primary data are collected through two research initiatives via questionnaires, which were filled by 1,219 consumers of food products and 390 managers (executives) working in the packaged food products market, which is a very important and competitive sector in Greece.

In general, the findings reveal that all the key players in the food supply chain understand and appreciate the multifunctional and multidisciplinary nature of packaging. Moreover, informational, operational, physical and visual elements are all of high importance. These findings lead to the conclusion that all executives from different operational areas of a business should be involved in packaging design, despite the fact that they may have different perspectives concerning the different elements involved in the packaging in the food supply chain.

The research confirms that: (1) health and nutrition are two interrelated concepts that receive constant attention from the food industry, as well as from governments and consumers and (2) the quality of a food product is inextricably linked to the quality of its packaging. Naturally, there were also significant differences between the various roles, while differences were also observed in the appreciation of the packaging elements between consumers and executives in the food industry.

The study proves the need for narrowing the gap among managers' perceptions regarding packaging by adopting practices and approaches in an integrated manner.

From the analysis of the relevant literature, the authors of the present study note that there is a lack of research concerning the main elements of packaging in the food industry from a holistic point of view. This view will encompass the needs of marketing and logistics managers, food technologists and executives are responsible for environmental issues, as well as the consumers of food products. By identifying the significance that all the above perceive against the various elements of the packaging of retail products, manufacturers can take into consideration the elements that are highly appreciated by both cohorts.

Although the multidisciplinary nature of the package is very clear, most studies in the literature focus on either its impact on consumer behavior and its use as a communication/differentiation tool or as a tool that has significant implications for the efficiency of the logistics systems throughout the supply chain, as well as for the particular features/properties and the environmental awareness. This study sought to fill the abovementioned gap, by recognizing its importance among marketing, logistics, food technology and corporate social responsibility managers, including issues concerning environmental awareness, and how consumers perceive the data on the packaging.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of packaging design on purchasing decisions in hospitals and to identify inefficiencies in the US hospital supply chain. Recognition of inefficiencies helped to directly relate to the effects on critical factors of operation such as environment, traceability, and logistical ease which significantly add to the cost of health care.

A survey instrument was designed to be completed by purchasing agents in US hospitals and clinics. Statistical analysis was then applied to the survey data to draw inferences. In addition, existing studies of best practices of supply chain and packaging design were considered to determine what may be applied to the US hospital supply chains.

Analysis showed very little correlation between packaging requirements and hospital supply chain design. The data from the survey also supports the supply chain literature that the healthcare industry in the USA has been slow to adopt inventory efficient systems like just in time and lean development, including product tracking through bar coding and radio frequency identification devices; though most US hospitals have the capability to migrate to such a supply chain system.

A small number of respondents were involved in the survey. Such efforts were limited by the availability of participants which were primarily supply chain procurement staff in various large community hospitals in major metropolitan areas across the USA.

There is a substantial opportunity for management of hospitals to educate their purchasing agents on the benefits of collaborating with their suppliers in order to take their relationships to the next level to lower costs of the US hospital supply chain. This has been shown by the responses in support of critical factors of the supply chain. Case studies have shown some hospitals are leading the way towards efficient use of their supply chain strategies.

Analysis of survey data revealed that packaging and environmental friendly suppliers/medical products do not currently play a role in hospital purchasing decisions. Nearly, all of the community hospitals in the USA that participated in the survey do not value packaging as providing a means to a more efficient inventory management program.

The purpose of this study is to: contribute to existing models of new product development (NPD) and provide new understanding of how a new product’s packaging is managed and integrated into the NPD process of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms and build on prior research, suggesting that firms lack a pipeline of new packaging innovations by uncovering the factors that influence this pipeline issue.

A grounded theory methodology was adopted. Research was conducted through a total of 37 interviews with key informants in the UK FMCG industry, packaging industry and associated firms.

Three distinct levels of packaging development were revealed: skin deep, body modification and format change. The emphasis within many firms is primarily on changes to packaging at the level of the label (skin deep) or aesthetic design (body modification), whilst technological and format changes are overlooked. The factors that contribute to the level at which development is undertaken are identified.

Existing literature has largely examined packaging at the level of skin-deep and body modification. The development of new packaging technology has been overlooked. This study’s propositions guide the way forward for further research.

For firms, the development of new formats and genuine packaging innovation may be being overlooked. There is a need for them to re-examine their activities to ensure that they are addressing all three levels.

This theory-building study has generated a new typology which, alongside the unique framework, reveals the factors influencing the level of emphasis within firms.

To provide an insight and view of the expected directions for microelectronic packaging, at chip level, that ties in current developments to the needs envisaged by emerging technology roadmaps.

The requirements for packaging semiconductor devices have become a new technology driver for the electronics “Final Manufacturing” industry. In line with forecasts and roadmaps, the expected multitude of options are being developed in order to meet the demand of an industry which requires ever more complex devices which exhibit both higher reliability and lower cost.

As application potentials develop, so package cost becomes the driver. In turn, low cost package solutions are becoming the drivers for new technologies such as “last‐mile” fibre optic Telecom systems, 3G phones, bluetooth and sensors. MEMS devices are a key example of how applications are pushing the technologies to create cost effective packaging.

The emerging packaging technologies, currently BGA's and chip size packaging's (CSP), continue to develop to meet the needs of electronic devices, driven by the “smaller, faster, cheaper” paradigm. However the final manufacturing and testing aspects of such needs are often overlooked and as such the test industry faces a number of severe challenges in terms of handling these new package technologies.

By looking at the market trends and how these new technologies are developing, especially with respect to emerging developments in CSP, flip chip and wafer level packaging, solutions for many of the challenges posed can be determined.

This paper provides a market analysis of the trends and directions of the chip packaging industry. It has taken data from a wide number of sources of market information and compared the expectations of each to actual emerging applications. The resulting information is expected to become a benchmark for this aspect of the semiconductor manufacturing industry.

Develops and exemplifies the proposition that the key factors determining the success of packaging innovation can be unified by considering them as consumer driven, technology driven, and distribution driven. The concept of the packaging and distribution mix is developed to show how organisations can respond, through marketing variables under their control, to attempt to gain a competitive advantage over rivals. A packaging optimisation strategy is described, based on a total systems approach, which proposes a balance between the complex mix of external influences.

The increasing internationalisation and globalisation of business has forced many firms to reconsider what contributes to their competitive advantage. Despite the importance of packaging it is rather anonymous and has received little or marginal research. The purpose of this paper is to study how packaging can contribute to competitive advantage.

Aspects of the packing industry and market are reviewed. Five case studies covering different packages in the supply chain are presented and analysed.

Structural changes within the European food industry are reinforcing a need for competitiveness where packaging can make the difference for many consumer products. The findings from the case studies and the literature review underscore the importance of packaging and packaging design for fulfilling multi‐functions in relation to logistics and marketing in the supply chain from filler to end consumer. New demands due to changes in consumption patterns and habits are requiring innovative packaging solutions in retail outlets.

The main implications for management is to understand and take advantage of packaging as a strategic weapon and marketing tool for the entire business, especially within a highly competitive food industry. This is important in every stage of the supply chain either for the transport packaging or as a consumer package in the supermarket.

This paper fulfils an identified need for recognising the importance of packaging in business strategy.