COBRO and SLOPAK

2011-09-19

PLASTiCE – WP4 - Framework conditions for stimulating market demand

WP4.1 –

Transnational

Context Report Compiled by COBRO, Warsaw, Poland

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Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 0

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION 2

CHAPTER 2 - TERMINOLOGY 4

CHAPTER 3 - TRADITIONAL PLASTICS INDUSTRY. 9

CHAPTER 4 – SUSTAINABILITY AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS. 13

CHAPTER 5 - NEXT GENERATION OF POLYMERS – BIOPLASTICS 15

CHAPTER 6 – MARKET RESEARCH - METHODOLOGY 26

CHAPTER 6 – MARKET RESEARCH I 36

CHAPTER 7 – MARKET RESEARCH II 56

CHAPTER 8 – MARKET RESEARCH III 68

CHAPTER 9 - CONCLUSIONS 74

APPENDIX 1 - MARKET RESEARCH I QUESTIONNAIRES 77

APPENDIX 2 - MARKET RESEARCH II AND III QUESTIONNAIRES 80

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Chapter 1 - Introduction The main purpose of this report is to provide readers with comprehensible context on the

types, roles and most importantly industry requirement of new sustainable plastic solutions.

As the new sustainable plastics are most commonly used in the packaging industry, this report

will also reflect on that especially in the market research sections.

The report is divided into two main parts, first one being the theoretical one, where all

particularities of sustainability and sustainable plastics are explained and the second part

containing the market research and conclusions of the findings. Below is the executive

summary of all chapters included in this report:

Theoretical Section

Chapter 2 – Terminology – different terms and definitions connected with plastics and

sustainability are explained here

Chapter 3 – Traditional Plastic Industry – this chapter explains the history, functions

and markets of the traditional plastic industry. From the perspective of new sustainable

solutions in plastics it is important to get the evolutionary context and look at the

traditional plastic industry in more detail

Chapter 4 – Sustainability definition for PLASTiCE project

Chapter 5 – Next Generation of Polymer Materials – this chapter discusses the new

sustainable solutions in plastic industry, it is divided into three sections:

- Biodegradable materials

- Biobased materials

- Bioplastics market

Market Research Section

Chapter 6 – Market Research – Methodology

Chapter 7 - Market Research I – Polish Entrepreneurs and Polish end consumers and

their environmental awareness – Biodegradable packaging – market research prepared

by COBRO

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Chapter 8 – Market Research II – Slovenian Entrepreneurs – Sustainable plastic

materials and packaging – market research prepared by SLOPAK

Chapter 9 – Market Research III – Polish Entrepreneurs – Sustainable plastic materials

– market research prepared by COBRO

Chapter 10 – Conclusions – common conclusions of market research results.

Sustainability as a trend

Recent developments of knowledge in the domain of environmental sciences uncovered that a

given environmental impact of different products, including those from plastics, has to be

considered from the point of view of full life cycle not just on the stage of waste generation.

Due to this, the concept of sustainable development1, design, production and usage is

currently in high demand. In addition to this in business and production practices we can more

often observe introductions of higher standards than it is required by the current law. Many

companies, especially international and global conglomerates, use the standardised Life Cycle

Assessment (LCA) methodology in order to analyse the environmental impacts of their

product and hopefully lower it by means of technical and material solutions. In this way a

company may declare that it is concerned about the environment more than the competition

and the results of assessment form new directions in product design, that include such issues

as: materials and feedstock sources, recycled resources use, limiting „carbon footprint‟ values

etc. Currently observed environmental trends include:

Search for alternative materials, especially use of bio-based resources.

Use of recycled materials

Due to global warming effect, the growing importance of products and materials

„carbon footprint‟ level and incentives to lower it.

Use of biodegradable materials which fulfill the conditions of industrial composting.

This enables the users to recover the material by the means of organic recycling –

composting.

1 To use the traditional definition, sustainable development is "development that meets the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs", in other words ensuring that today's growth does not

jeopardise the growth possibilities of future generations. Sustainable development thus comprises three elements - economic,

social and environmental - which have to be considered in equal measure at the political level. The strategy for sustainable

development, adopted in 2001 and amended in 2005, is complemented inter alia by the principle of integrating environmental

concerns with European policies which impact on the environment.

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Chapter 2 - Terminology Terminology of sustainable plastics is vast and complicated. The following section gives an

overview and clarifies different definitions used in the context. The definition are sourced

from various internationally acknowledged standards, European legislation and European

institutions specialized in the subject matter such as German certification body DIN CERTCO

and European Bioplastics association.

Main standards used:

EN 13432:2000 Packaging - Requirements for packaging recoverable through composting

and biodegradation - Test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging

ASTM D 6400:2004 Standard Specification for Compostable Plastics

EN 13193:2000 Packaging Packaging and the environment Terminology

BS 8472:2011 Methods for the assessment of the oxo-biodegradation of plastics and of the

phyto-toxicity of the residues in controlled laboratory conditions

Sustainability

Sustainability means, for instance, minimizing CO2 emissions and protecting resources, and

making only minimal use of finite raw materials. Bio-based products based on renewable raw

materials are indispensible components of environmentally sound recycling management

[DIN CERTCO]

Sustainable development

To use the traditional definition, sustainable development is "development that meets the

needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own

needs", in other words ensuring that today's growth does not jeopardise the growth

possibilities of future generations. Sustainable development thus comprises three elements -

economic, social and environmental - which have to be considered in equal measure at the

political level. The strategy for sustainable development, adopted in 2001 and amended in

2005, is complemented inter alia by the principle of integrating environmental concerns with

European policies which impact on the environment

[http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/environment/sustainable_development/index_en.htm]

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Sustainable Packaging (EUROPEN)

At EUROPEN, we avoid speaking of 'sustainable' packaging because packaging is just one of

many elements that can help companies meet corporate sustainability goals. Sustainable

packaging cannot be an end in itself, rather there are more sustainable ways of manufacturing

it.

Packaging's Contribution to Sustainable Development: The Vision of EUROPEN

Sustainable development addresses economic, environmental and social objectives.

EUROPEN Members are encouraged to develop and use packaging which contributes to

achievement of the European Union's Sustainable Development Strategy (1).

Such packaging should:

be designed holistically with the product in order to optimise overall environmental

performance

be made from responsibly sourced materials

be designed to be effective and safe throughout its life cycle

meet market criteria for performance and cost

meet consumer choice and expectations and

be recovered efficiently after use

(1) Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy, 10117/06, Council of the European Union, 9 June 2006.

(2) This Vision addresses the environmental element of sustainable development, reflecting EUROPEN‟s area

of expertise. However EUROPEN recognises that our members should also incorporate social and economic

elements in their packaging policies.

Biobased

Biobased products are completely or partially made from raw materials that have absorbed as

much CO2 during their short growth as they emit when they are disposed of and/or burned

[DIN CERTCO]

Biobased: A significant proportion of the carbon in biobased or partly biobased products

comes from renewable raw materials. There are two major advantages of biobased plastic

products compared to their conventional versions: biobased plastic products save oil and

greenhouse gases

[European Bioplastics2].

2 Founded in Germany in 1993 as IBAW, European Bioplastics today represents the interests of over 70 member

companies throughout the European Union. With members from the agricultural feedstock, chemical and plastics

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Biodegradable packaging

Biodegradable packaging waste shall be of such a nature that it is capable of undergoing

physical, chemical, thermal or biological decomposition such that most of the finished

compost ultimately decomposes into carbon dioxide, biomass and water

[Directive 94/62/EC]

Biodegradable

Biodegradable: characteristic of material which allows it to undergo biodegradation to

specific extent within a given time measured by specific standard test methods

Biodegradation: degradation caused by biological activity especially by enzymatic action

leading to a significant change of the chemical structure of a material

Biodegradability: potential of material to be biodegraded

[EN 13193:2000 Packaging Packaging and the environment Terminology]

Biodegradable

Ultimate biodegradability: breakdown of an organic chemical compound by micro-

organisms in the presence of oxygen to carbon dioxide, water and mineral salts of any other

elements present (mineralization) and new biomass or in teh absence of oxygen to carbon

dioxide, methane, mineral salts and new biomass

[EN 13432:2000 Packaging - Requirements for packaging recoverable through composting and

biodegradation - Test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging]

Packaging recoverable in the form of composting

Packaging waste processed for the purpose of composting shall be of such a biodegradable

nature that it should not hinder the separate collection and the composting process or activity

into which it is introduced

[Directive 94/62/EC]

industries, as well as industrial users and recycling companies, European Bioplastics serves as both a contact

platform and catalyst for advancing the aims of the growing bioplastics industry.

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Compostable packaging

Compostable packaging – packaging made of biodegradable materials, that fulfill the

requirements of EN 13432:2000 (or relevant for instance: ASTM D 6400) and are licensed to

the use of a compostable mark issued by a relevant Certification Body

[COBRO]

Compostable products

Compostable products: products made of biodegradable plastic materials can be composted

under specific conditions. If the materials and products have proven their compostability

according to international standards, they can be treated in an industrial composting plant.

Under oxygen-rich conditions, composting produces carbon dioxide, water and biomass. As

only natural substances remain from this process, composting is an additional end-of-life

option for plastic products made of compostable material with a short life cycle.

Bioplastics

According to European Bioplastics‟ definition, bioplastics are biobased, biodegradable and

compostable, or both. This is illustrated in the figure below:

Figure 1. Material Coordinate System for bioplastics according to European Bioplastics

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Degradation

change in initial properties due to chemical cleavage of the macromolecules forming a

polymeric item, regardless of the mechanism of cleavage

Mineralization (aerobic)

conversion to carbon dioxide, water and other inorganic chemicals

Oxo-degradation

degradation resulting from oxidative cleavage of macromolecules NOTE 1 Similarly, prefixes

like thermo (for the action of heat), photo (for the action of light) are to be used whenever one

wants to indicate an identified mechanism of degradation.

Oxo-biodegradation

degradation resulting from oxidative and cell-mediated phenomena, either simultaneously or

successively

NOTE 1 Similarly, prefix like thermo (for the action of heat), photo (for the action of light)

are to be used separately or in combination whenever one wants to indicate the involvement

of various identified mechanisms of degradation.

[BS 8472:2011]

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Chapter 3 - Traditional

Plastics Industry. Everywhere you look you will find plastics. We use plastic products to help make our lives

cleaner, easier, safer and more enjoyable. You will find plastics in the clothes we wear, the

houses we live in, and the cars we travel in. The toys we play with, the televisions we watch,

the computers we use and the CDs we listen to contain plastics. Even the toothbrush you use

every day contains plastics!

Plastic is a general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials

used in a huge, and growing, range of applications from packaging to buildings; from cars to

medical devices, toys, clothes etc.

The term „‟plastic‟‟ is derived from the Greek word ''plastikos'' meaning fit for moulding, and

''plastos'' meaning moulded. It refers to the material‟s malleability, or plasticity during

manufacture, that allows it to be cast, pressed, or extruded into a variety of shapes - such as

films, fibres, plates, tubes, bottles, boxes, and much more. There are two broad categories of

plastic materials: thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics. Thermoplastics can be heated up

to form products and then if these end products are re-heated, the plastic will soften and melt

again. In contrast, thermoset plastics can be melted and formed, but once they take shape

after they have solidified, they stay solid and, unlike thermoplastics cannot be remelted3.

Plastics are derived from organic products. The materials used in the production of plastics

are natural products such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and, of course, crude oil. Crude

oil is a complex mixture of thousands of compounds. To become useful, it must be processed.

The production of plastic begins with a distillation process in an oil refinery. The distillation

process involves the separation of heavy crude oil into lighter groups called fractions. Each

fraction is a mixture of hydrocarbon chains (chemical compounds made up of carbon and

hydrogen), which differ in terms of the size and structure of their molecules. One of these

3 http://www.plasticseurope.pl/

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fractions, naphtha, is the crucial element for the production of plastics. The two major

processes used to produce plastics are called polymerisation and polycondensation, and they

both require specific catalysts. In a polymerisation reactor, monomers like ethylene and

propylene are linked together to form long polymers chains. Each polymer has its own

properties, structure and size depending on the various types of basic monomers used.

There are many different types of plastics, and they can be grouped into two main polymer

families:

Thermoplastics (which soften on heating and then harden again on cooling)

Thermosets (which never soften when they have been moulded)

Examples of Thermoplastics

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene – ABS

Polycarbonate – PC

Polyethylene – PE

Polyethylene terephthalate – PET

Poly(vinyl chloride) – PVC

Poly(methyl methacrylate) – PMMA

Polypropylene – PP

Polystyrene – PS

Expanded Polystyrene – EPS

Examples of Thermosets

Epoxide - (EP)

Phenol-formaldehyde - (PF)

Polyurethane - (PUR)

Polytetrafluoroethylene – PTFE

Unsaturated polyester resins - (UP)

Plastic Industry

Stated below are some key data regarding the state of Plastic Industry as of 2009, they explain

the history of plastic production, the market share of different plastics applications and

demand by plastic type.

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Figure 2. World Plastics Production 1950-2009

Source: PlasticsEurope Market Research Group (PEMRG)

Figure 3. Europe Plastics Demand by Segments 2009

Source: PlasticsEurope Market Research Group (PEMRG)

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Figure 4. Europe Plastics Demand by Segments 2009

Source: PlasticsEurope Market Research Group (PEMRG)

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Chapter 4 – Sustainability and

assessment tools. Chapter 2 introduced several definitions of sustainable development. The definition of

EUROPEN focused directly on sustainable packaging, but addressed the issue of sustainable

thinking not only in packaging design but throughout the lifecycle of a given product. In

addition to this EUROPEN definition mentioned a very crucial aspect of sustainability – its

multidisciplinary objective based view. This definition seems to be most fitting and

appropriate to use as a basis in the PLASTiCE project “Innovative Value Chain Development

for Sustainable Plastics in Central Europe”, but requires few adjustments and more practical

approach to be applied and understood properly. In practice, it has to be noted that, when

introducing a new product to the market, all three objectives of sustainability introduced in the

definition – that is, environmental, economic and social objectives have to be considered as

equivalent. This is illustrated on figure 1.

Figure 5. Area of sustainable development

It is only when the three objectives overlap where one can speak of sustainable development

in the market of plastics. The main question remains, how to account and assess whether all

Sustainable Developement Area

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objectives can be sustainable. Fortunately all sciences involved in this sustainability model

have their own tools of measurement.

Environmental aspects:

Life Cycle Assessment – a standardised tool that enables the researcher to environmentally

asses all components and processes required for a product to live its full life cycle, also often

called „from its cradle to the grave‟.

To put it simply life cycle assessment is a technique for assessing the environmental aspects

associated with a product over its life cycle. The most important applications are:

Analysis of the contribution of the life cycle stages to the environment, usually

with the aim to build operational improvements on products or processes and cut

costs on excessive long term expenses in terms of the environmental legislative

charges (like the mentioned product fee)

Marketing comparison between products.

Economic aspect:

All choices that are made by a small and medium enterprises have to be in accordance to the

rules of economy. If the sustainable solution would drive the product price higher than the

clients are willing to pay for it, such improvement should not be deemed sustainable, as the

company generates excess supply of products.

Apart from the economic, strategic and marketing tools, Life Cycle Assessment Costing may

be used, where all processes are given an estimated financial value.

Social aspect:

Sustainable products have to fulfil the necessary legislative requirements, they have to be

acceptable by households and the society as a whole, society has to know how to use them

and what additional responsibilities / particularities they have to bear in mind when using the

product. Also a working selective collection system and recovery technologies should be in

order. There is little point in creating a sustainable product when the general public does not

know how to use the product properly in order to realise its sustainable potential.

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Chapter 5 - Next generation

of polymers – bioplastics When speaking about new bio-plastics one has to take in account that they can split into two

groups which are not necessary inclusive. Both groups will be considered separately in the

sections below.

Figure 6. Bioplastics distinction

BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS

From an environmental point of view, biodegradable sustainable polymers offer an interesting

alternative to classical plastics. Those materials materials represent a family of polymers that

are designed to degrade through the enzymatic action of living microorganisms. Bacteria and

fungi breaking down the chain of polymer lead to its depolymerisation. Chart below

represents this biodegradation process in more chemical terms. It can be seen that the process

consists of two phases: oxidation or hydrolysis where the polymer chains become shorter and

shorter, and mineralisation, where living organisms turn depolymerised material into biomass,

water, CO2 and/or CH4 depending whether the process took place in the oxygen or non-

oxygen environment.

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Figure 7 – the process of biodegradation

Source: Ching, Kaplan, Thomas: Biodegradable polymers and packaging, Technomic

Publishing Co., INC Lancaster, Basel, 1993.

Biodegradable polymers can be produced by a wide variety of technologies, both from

renewable resources of animal or plant origin, and from petrol industry (Kaeb 2005). A

number of different types of biodegradable polymers are already available on the European

market, some of them are completely made from renewable resources: for instance PLA

(polylactic acid) and MaterBi.

Figure below represents the biodegradation process in 8 steps. It has to be noted again that

such phenomena is only observed in the specially prepared composting environment, and

therefore such packaging will not biodegrade in normal applications.

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Figure 8 – the process of biodegradation

Source: Reske 2008.

Development of knowledge in the environmental sciences and gradual depletion of

natural resources, has led researches to examine possible alternative sources for materials.

One of many taken R&D directions focused on creation of biodegradable polymers that could

substitute traditional plastics retaining their properties. Special interest was given to those

polymer brands that enabled its user to process them on traditional plastics manufacturing

machinery. Industrial production of biodegradable polymers on small scale for packaging

purposes began at 1995. Currently known applications of biodegradable polymers have got

greatly wider scale and scope. In 2007-2008 global supply potential of biodegradable

polymers has reached more than 500 000 tons and in 2011 they are estimated to increase to 1

million tons4,

5.

Biodegradable polymer materials can be distinguished into two main groups, depending on

their feedstock sources. Those groups are described below:

Polymers from renewable resources (including classic chemistry natural monomer

synthesis and microorganism produced so called bio-polymers), including:

- Thermoplastic starch (TPS) – blends of starch with aliphatic polyesters and

aliphatic-aromatic co-polyesters, starch esters, blends of starch and natural

sources,

4 Weber C.J.: Biobased Packaging Materials for the Food Industry, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural

University, 2000. 5 Kaeb H.: Bioplastics – Vision 2020. Market Introduction in Europe. BIOPLASTICS IN PACKAGIN,

Interpack 2008, Dusseldorf, 26 April, 2008.

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- Microbiological hydracids polyesters – PHAs, including PHBV and PHBH,

- Polylactic acid (PLA) and plastics with PLA blends,

- Cellulose esters, cellulose blends, regenerated cellulose,

- Blends of wood and other natural sources.

Polyesters from crude oil including:

- Synthetic aliphatic polyester (PCL),

- Synthetic and semi-synthetic aliphatic co-polyesters (AC) and polyesters (AP),

- Synthetic aliphatic-aromatic co-polyesters (AAC),

- Polymers soluble in water (PVAL).

It has to be stressed that this classification is currently theoretical, as the current trends

of polymer producing manufactures is to produce blends of all of mentioned types of

materials - for instance Ecovio material by BASF is a mixture of PLA and Ecoflex. The

market offer itself is very rich and attractive due to increasing production capacity and hence

lower prices. Biggest market share of materials belong to NatureWorks (Cargill Dow) PLA‟a,

polymer-starch composites named MaterBi (Novamont) and next generation of cellulose films

called Natureflex (Innovia Films).

Analysts forecast that in years 2007-2008 the global output of next generation polymers will

Reach more than 500 thousands tones, and will reach 1 million tons threshold in 2011, which

will lead to decreased price. Nowadays the prices of next generation polymers are on average

twice as high as those of classic plastic material – they oscillate within 1-10 $ for kg range

According to European Bioplastics in 2007 the consumption of biodegradable polymers on

European market reached to about 75-100 thousands tones, which in comparison to standard

plastic polymers (about 48 million tons) is very low. It is however important to observe the

dynamism of growth of next generation polymers, which reaches to about 25% on yearly

basis.

Reske (2008) listed the following main market development drivers of next generation plastic

packaging:

Innovation: Technical properties & functionality is selling

New & efficient options for recycling: Organic recycling

Reduce fossil raw material dependence (escape price hikes)

Reduce global warming

New non food outlet for agricultural feedstock

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Figure 9 – ‘compostable’

symbol

Concept of regional economies, biorefinieries

High consumer acceptance

Corporate social responsibility programmes (CSR)

In the longer term: Economical perspectives

- Conventional plastics: Price increase of 50-80% in 2 years

- Next generation packaging: Significant potential for cost reduction through

economy of scale (today: 1,2 - 4 €/kg)

The organic recycling option is especially attractive.

Experiences from other EU states show that organic

biodegradable recycling systems are cheaper than

material recycling systems for plastic packaging waste.

In Poland, as of amendment of Waste Act,

biodegradable collection systems are accounted for

every municipality. Compostable packaging waste is

also included in the amendment, and is accounted as

well, provided that such materials will be introduced to

the market. In such case certificate of conformity with

norm PN-EN 1342:2002 is needed along with special

„compostable‟ symbol on the packaging.

Implementation of organic recycling systems for

biodegradable waste in Poland still lies in the future, as none biodegradable packaging is

currently present on the market on industrial scale – there are many barriers towards this

development (price of biodegradable materials, lack of state bio-waste collection system,

etc.). On the other hand several factors influencing the development of market of

biodegradable packaging in Poland have been observed:

Legislation (biodegradable packaging is not covered by recovery and recycling

obligations);

Increasing price of petrol products;

Producer‟s interest of biodegradable packaging materials;

A great number of composting plants in Poland;

Social acceptance of organic recycling.

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BIOBASED POLYMERS

Apart from the biodegradable plastic materials in recent years more and more attention is

given to biobased polymers or materials with share of biobased polymers, including

multimaterial compositions with biodegradable/compostable plastics. The rationale of such

materials is that the bio-resources that are used for their production are theoretically limitless

as opposed to the fossil fuels with will one day deplete.

The main material that is being currently refined is Polyethylene produced from ethanol,

the so called „Green Polyethylene‟. The material was developed by Brazilian petrochemical

corporation Braskem and is made from the polymerisation of ethylene from ethyl alcohol that

originates from plants fermentation. The process of „green polyethylene‟ production is

presented on figure 10.

Fig. 10. Green Polyethylene production process6

Many global companies, for example Tetra Pak, have already declared a desire to use

„green polyethylene‟ for their products.

Other example of biobased materials include PET bottles with biobased content. The

technology is based on PET material production with some biomaterials inputs in production

processes. The LCA of such application has proved that such material is sustainable as it

limits the CO2 emission by 25% in comparison to a standard PET bottle. This innovative

6 Morschbacker A.: Biobased PE - A Renewable Plastic Family, Braskem S.A., European Bioplastics

Conference Handbook, 21-22, Paris, November 2007.

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technology is going to be introduced by Coca-Cola Company. The production of this product

(called PlantBottle) is illustrated on figure 11. PlantBottle has got 30% biobased content and

after use it can be recycled similarly to standard PET.

Fig. 11. Comparison of standard PET bottle production and its PlantBottle counterpart

Similar to their competition PepsiCo corporation has announced that in 2012 it will

introduce a new PET bottle produced from 100% plant biomass7. New bottles will be made

from plant based waste materials (grass, cork, corn) which do not constitute of food base

materials. In the near future other natural non-food industry by-products are expected to be

used to produce new biobased polymer materials.

BIOPLASTICS

The sections above have introduced two types of sustainable next generation polymer

materials. They collectively can be called bioplastics. According to European Bioplastics

definition „bioplastics mean biobased, biodegradable and compostable or both‟. This is

depicted with examples of possible materials on figure 12

7 Word’s First 100% Plant-Baseed PET Bottle, Bioplastics Magazine No 2/2011, p.25.

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Fig. 12 Examples of Bioplastic Materials and Manufacturers

Bioplastics are biobased, biodegradable, or both. They are not a single kind of polymer but

rather a family of materials that can vary considerably from one another.

Summing up, there are three groups in the bioplastics family, each with its own

characteristics:

Biobased or partly biobased non-biodegradable polymers such as PE, PET and soon

PVC and PP (drop-in solutions)

Polymers that are biobased and biodegradable, including PLA, cellulose and PHA

Polymers that are based on fossil resources and are biodegradable, such as PBAT or

PBS

Bioplastics can be processed into a vast number of products using conventional plastics

processing technologies. The process parameters of the processing equipment have to be

adjusted to the individual specification of each polymer.

Below are the economical charts and figures presenting current data and forecasts about

bioplastics market.

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Fig. 13 Global production capacity of bioplastics

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Fig. 14 Global production capacities per region

Fig. 15 Global production capacities by material type in 2010

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Fig. 16 Global production capacities by material type – forecast 2015

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Chapter 6 – Market Research

- Methodology The main goal of this translational context report is to provide the insights on industry

understanding of sustainability and sustainable plastics solutions. This will be achieved by

market research of two countries present in the project – Poland and Slovenia. This research

section of the report is divided into three parts – and three different market researches.

The first market research is an extension on the research that was done in COBRO in 2009,

and is targeted specifically to the packaging industry and end consumers of sustainably

packaged products. The second and third market researches respectively contain the results of

the interviews made with Slovenian and Polish companies of packaging, food and consumer

goods sector.

Although the first market research is quantitative whereas the second and third one, being in-

depth interviews are qualitative, they both share the same methodology and similar research

questions. They will be explained in this section, all questionnaires are also included in the

appendix to this report.

The market research section of this report will explore how Polish and Slovenian plastic and

plastic packaging industry and its end costumers understand sustainability and environmental

awareness. In case of the industry this will explore what are their requirements and how do

they rank the importance of different asepcts connected to the sustainable plastics and in the

instance of end consumers this will include exploration of what are their purchasing decisions

on the grounds of packaging functions and potential innovative and environmental friendly

value added. In addition certain grouping questions will test whether the end consumers are

logistically prepared for next generation packaging in terms of home composting and / or

organic waste sorting routines – which is a proper method of next generation packaging waste

disposal from households.

This general description of research aims is translated to the following two main research

questions, divided by specific sub questions, on which particular hypotheses will be tested:

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Question one concerning Polish and Slovenian plastic industry:

Is the industry ready for the production, processing and usage of next generation

sustainable plastic?

More specific sub questions include:

Are next generation plastic materials attractive for the Polish and Slovenian

companies?

What is the importance of next generation polymer economic properties for the Polish

and Slovenian companies? Those economic properties include:

Price

Availability

Processing knowledge

Suitable characteristics of material

Which business aspect of the plastic/plastic packaging is most important for the Polish

and Slovenian companies

What relationship do different determinants of next generation plastic business aspects

have for Polish and Slovenian plastic companies?

Question two concerns Polish end consumers (as it was only prepared in Poland) – potential

buyers of products packaged in next generation plastic packaging:

Are Polish end consumers ready for sustainable plastics?

More specific sub questions include:

Are Polish end consumers aware of environmental friendly terms associated with

packaging?

Are Polish end consumers prepared for the disposal of bioplastics in terms of their

awareness, knowledge and household waste management patterns?

Are Polish end consumers willing to spend more for innovative and / or

environmental friendly/sustainable packaging/products?

Does the innovative and / or environmental friendly/sustainable packaging/product

design influence the purchasing decisions of Polish end consumers?

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As written above, the main aim of this paper is to research two populations that will be

affected – sustainable plastic users and consumers and explore whether they are aware of next

generation plastics, what are their requirements towards them and more importantly are they

willing to utilise / buy it.

This chapter is divided into two sections, one for each of the two populations tested in this

research.

POPULATION I – THE INDUSTRY

Population / Sample / Sampling Frame

The first population consists of the companies who use (pack, fill, mould etc) polymer

products.

In Poland the sampling frame used was in form of internet database consisting of 7 500 plastic

users and packaging producers/users e-mail addresses from Polish Packaging Research and

Development Centre. From those, 2635 addresses were used out of which 2116 e-mail

addresses were operable (i.e. the message was delivered without any errors and passed

through the SPAM filters).

Those addresses were sent previously prepared questionnaires.

Data collection – Market Research I

Market Research I primarily addressed the Polish packaging (packaging producers/user)

sector.

Before issuing the questionnaire to previously selected e-mail addresses it has been pre-tested

with employees of Polish Packaging Research and Development Centre and with 26

participants of monthly seminar concerning packaging waste, out of which 21 participants

matched the questionnaire population. The participants of the seminar were also asked to

provide the author with the feedback about the questionnaire potential validity and whether it

was understood clearly.

After the minor changes done in the questionnaire, a message consisting of a short

introductory text and a MS WORD created questionnaire as the attachment has been sent to

the mentioned 2635 e-mail addresses. From those, 102 questionnaires have been sent back,

29

with the response rate of 3,9% (or 4,8% counting only the 2116 operable addresses) of whole

addresses in the sampling frame. This is remarkably high response rate considering that the

average response rate for e-mail questionnaire was found out to be 2,5% in 2005. (The Direct

Marketing Association 2005)

Collected data has been then been manually coded into STATISTICA 8 specially prepared

questionnaire template.

Data collection – Market Research II

For Slovenia – Market Research II 42 companies – packers, fillers and importers of packed

products, fulfilled questionnaire specially prepared for PLASTiCE project. They represent 23

% of the packaging put annually to the Slovenian market. They put packaging of all sorts of

material to the Slovenian market.

Companies fulfilling the questionnaire were small, medium and large enterprises. The

majority ( 29 companies) were medium sized companies putting to the Slovenian market from

100 to 1000 tons of packaging annually. 27 % of largest Slovenian enterprises were present,

and only 7 small companies ( 1% of all small companies).

All Slovenian companies that put packaging on the market and are partners of Slopak were

invited. According to the presence at the seminar the most interested ones in the topic of

biodegradability were medium sized companies.

Data collection – Market Research III

From the sampling frame of 2116 companies, COBRO chosen 50 representative companies

and tried to arrange interviews with them based on a questionnaire. Out of 50 companies only

37 responded positively, but out of 37, in the end 28 companies participated in the actual

interview that was based on the questionnaire below. The interview questionnaire can be

found in the appendix of this report

Description of the questionnaire / Statistical methodology

Questionnaire I consisted of six questions in total. As advised by Polish Packaging Research

and Development Centre employees, a great care has been taken not to exceed the total length

of one page in the questionnaire. Experience with questionnaire research with packaging

industry shows up that the longer the questionnaire the less likely the response rate will be.

30

The first two questions of the questionnaire were intended for grouping nominal scale

responses.

First question asked for the size of the company (according to the number of employees, as

defined by the Recommendation 2003/361/EC), between small (up to 50 employees), medium

(from 51 to 250 employees) and large (more than 250 employees).

Second question referred to the sector of the operation. The respondents had a choice between

production of packaging or usage of packaging, if such situation was applicable and a

particular company was vertically integrated (packaging producer and user at the same time),

a choice of both checkboxes was possible.

Third question asked the researched companies about their perceived importance of five

identified business aspects of packaging in their particular operations. This was done via

relative ranking scores of a five point Likert scale. This general ranking question is followed

by a question more specific to the reports subject. Fourth question was designed specifically

to check the awareness and willingness of companies to produce / use the next generation

plastic packaging. The question asked whether the company already uses any next generation

plastic packaging technologies, whether it would be eager to produce / use it, whether it will

not be using it at, or whether it is undecided about it. It also asks the companies to rank the

attractiveness of next generation packaging on the scale of one to five. This question was

followed by Likert scales where respondents were asked to rank on the scale from one to five,

the significance of particular business and operational aspects of packaging (identified in the

theoretical sections of this paper), with regards to potential investment into the next

generation biodegradable packaging. The issues included:

Most obvious element of price – operational element connected to all five business

aspects.

Knowledge about processing and usage – operational aspect that stems from awareness,

the significance of logistic and strategic aspects

Properties of the material – operational aspect connected to marketing, logistics and

legislative business aspect of packaging

Availability – how much of the material is available for use – operational element that

influences long term strategic business aspect

Law regulations – the significance of legislative benefits that next generation plastic

packaging offers.

31

Organised waste collection systems in Poland – environmental and legislative aspect of

the packaging

Environmental awareness of the society – marketing and environmental business aspect

Marketing strategy of the company – marketing and strategic business aspect.

The last question in this survey concerned the ratio of price level in percentage that companies

were willing to pay for next generation packaging in relation to the price of traditional

plastics. Companies had a choice between six different answers between less than 100% of a

traditional plastic cost and more than 250% of traditional plastic costs categories.

Limitations

The following limitations of this research are consciously listed:

It is possible that a majority of specifically environmentally aware companies have replied

to the questionnaire, considering its contents. Even if the results are anonymous, the e-

mail medium is not, and due to the anti-SPAM regulations of the data base the companies

had to be informed that the questionnaire came from Polish Packaging and Research

Development Centre‟s database.

If possible the questionnaires were sent to the CEO‟s and managing directors of

companies found in the database in the first place and then if no personal emails were

available, to the marketing departments. However in many instances, no distinctive

address has been available, therefore the possibility that the answers where sent from an

incompetent source is relatively high.

Due to the compromise of achieving maximum response rate possible, the questionnaire

itself was relatively short. There are many more possible questions regarding the subject

that one could ask, but they would ultimately increase the size and time required for filling

out the questionnaire.

Question six concerned the ratio of price that a company might be willing to pay for the

next generation polymer / packaging. What the company is willing to pay, and what it will

pay provided that it decides to pursue this technology are two different issues. As it is very

difficult to receive the answer for the second option, the willingness will have to suffice,

however the notion that question six represents the „wishes‟ of Polish packaging

companies has to be conscious while analysing the research.

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POPULATION II – END CONSUMERS

Population / Sample / Sampling Frame

The second population consists of Polish end customers, i.e. the general public as whole and

potential end users of the next generation packaging. Due to these characteristics the

population of second research is much dispersed and therefore an appropriate method of

sampling must be used.

It was decided that the research will be limited to the citizens of Warsaw; this was done for a

number of reasons:

Convenience reason – the research is based in the city of Warsaw, Poland.

Warsaw being the capital of Poland has statistically significant amount of cross country

immigrants, which increases the chances of sampling someone who is not originally from

Warsaw

According to Polish Packaging Research and Development Centre, Warsaw is one of the

first cities where next generation packaging will be commercially available, and indeed it

is the case of one of the leading French hypermarkets chains

It was decided that the sampling method used will be the quota sampling, where 20 people

from each of the four age groups will be targeted. The questionnaires were distributed by the

author himself to potential end customers in the commercial areas of Warsaw – near Sadyba

Best Mall shopping gallery, near Złote Tarasy shopping gallery and near Arkadia shopping

gallery. Involvement of the author in the sampling process guaranteed full and correct

answers by all quota targeted population – 80 questionnaires in total.

Data collection

Before issuing the questionnaire to general public it has been pre-tested with employees of

Polish Packaging Research and Development Centre, who were very helpful in providing

appropriate feedback on the composition of the questions and the potential information it can

also contain. The questionnaire was specifically not distributed in Polish Packaging Research

and Development Centre to exclude any possible bias of answers. Collected questionnaires

have been coded electronically into STATISTICA 8 suite, where they will be tested.

33

Description of the questionnaire / Statistical methodology

Questionnaire II again consisted of six questions in total. In order to facilitate the collection of

data similarly to above the questionnaire was limited to one page only. It is very important to

add that great care has been taken not to hint in the questionnaire itself that it deals

specifically with next generation plastic packaging. It was suggested by Grochocka (2008),

that such direct technological focus to end consumers may bias them towards their answering

pattern. The blank questionnaire form is available in the appendix 2.

The questionnaire consists of two nominal scale grouping questions one multiple choice

question and one section of seven step Likert interval scale, where respondents were ranked

several different statements.

Question one and two are standard grouping questions with regards to gender and age, which

will allow presenting categorical graphs and observe different trends.

Question three and four are simply yes / no nominal scale questions, which check whether the

sample is practically prepared to next generation packaging in terms of ownership of

composting bin (home composting) or sorting of the organic waste from other waste

categories.

Question five is a ranking type question, based on a similar question used in an American

environmental and next generation plastic packaging awareness research conducted by Kraft

Food (Appendini 2008).

The question lists various environmental terms applicable to different types of packaging and

asks the respondent to choose two that sound as the most environmentally friendly. If any of

the terms was not understood by the respondent, there is also a column available for

signifying such occurrence. Answers to these questions will help to understand whether

people distinguish between the terms and how environmentally aware they are.

Stated below are the definitions of the terms used in question five:

Recyclable packaging – packaging made from material which can be recycled; usually

this is signified by a special Moebius strip symbol.

34

Recycled packaging – packaging made from already recycled materials, this fact is

sometimes marked on the packaging, but it is not a statutory requirement to do so

(Żakowska 2008).

Biodegradable packaging – the commercial and technical (at the same time) name for the

next generation plastic packaging. Packaging made from biodegradable polymers is

changed into H20, Biomass and CO2 in certain, easy to achieve condition within a short

amount of time

Degradable packaging - Most of the products using the label Degradable plastic, degrade

as result of physical and chemical impact (fracture into smaller pieces of plastic).

Biological activity is not a significant part of the degradation of these products, or the

process is too slow to earn the classification Biodegradable or Compostable (the

biological degradation will typically take many years).

(http://www.biobags.co.uk/faq/biodegradable.htm 2008)

Multi use packaging – packaging that can be used / filled many times for storage,

transport or product use, for example carrier bags, lunch boxes, bottles etc.

Packaging from natural renewable resources – packaging made from resources which can

be grown or seasonally harvested such as corn starch, wheat, linen etc.

Less packaging – more optimised packaging usually equals less total mass of the

packaging per single product, which is both more commercially and environmentally

feasible.

Question six consists of several Likert scale statements in which the respondents rank

themselves on the scale of seven, where four signifies the neutral answer (neither agree nor

don‟t agree).

Particular sections test the following factors, which are mainly attributed to the marketing and

natural environment business aspects of the packaging:

Environmental awareness

Technological awareness

The importance of packaging itself in the choice of the product

The importance of innovative packaging design

The importance of packaging communication with regards to environment protection

The importance of environmental friendly packaging design

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The importance of symbols and information placed on the packaging

Willingness to pay more for better packaging in terms of innovative design

Willingness to pay more for environmental friendly design

Packaging waste awareness

Similarly to previous questionnaire the answers will be statistically tested by the ANOVA and

correlation tables, which will allow observing how different groups of respondents perceive

different aspects of next generation packaging usage, and how those identified aspects depend

on each other. In addition several comparative illustrations between packaging producers /

users and end consumers will be made.

Limitations

The following limitations of the end consumer population have been identified:

The research was conducted near large commercial areas; therefore the sample might have

consisted of more commercially aware people, who tend to be generally more conscious

about various aspects of packaging.

Due to the nature of authors‟ personal involvement in conducting the questionnaire,

answers to some of them, especially to the one which asked the respondent to mark the

term, which he does not understand fully, might have been biased, as people generally do

not want to show their potential incompetence to strangers.

Even though, composting bins for flats are commercially available, they are still a novelty

in Poland. Due to the fact that question about whether a respondent lives in house with a

garden or a flat is not ethical, one cannot determine if respondent owns infrastructure to

possess a composting bin but does not or cannot do it, because he/she lives in a flat.

36

Chapter 6 –

Market Research I The results of the research are divided into two sections - one section for each main research

question.

RQ I: Polish plastic packaging industry is ready for the production, processing and

usage of next generation plastic packaging

The study will specifically research different groups of packaging producers / users and

present the differences between the willingness of next generation packaging usage:

Following four hypotheses will be tested to prove or reject the RQ I:

H1: Next generation plastic packaging materials are attractive for the Polish plastic packaging

producers / users. (i.e. responses higher than scale average of 2,5)

H2: Price, availability, processing knowledge and suitable characteristics of next generation

polymers are important operational aspects for the Polish plastic packaging producers / users.

(i.e. responses higher than scale average of 2,5)

H3: Marketing, logistics, legislative, environmental protection and long term strategic

business aspects of plastic packaging are important for the Polish plastic packaging producers

/ users. (i.e. responses higher than scale average of 2,5)

H4: Polish plastic packaging producers / users connect benefits of next generation packaging

to their own understanding of packaging business aspects. (i.e. responses higher than > 0,5)

RQ II - Polish end consumers are ready for next generation plastic packaging.

The study will specifically research different groups of consumers (based on gender and age)

and present the differences between their awareness of next generation plastic packaging.

37

Following four hypotheses will be tested to prove or reject the RQ II:

H1: Polish end consumers are aware of environmental friendly terms associated with

packaging?

H2: Polish end consumers are prepared for the disposal of next generation packaging in terms

of their awareness, knowledge and household waste management patterns

H3: Polish end consumers are willing to spend more for innovative and / or environmental

friendly packaging?

H4: Innovative and / or environmental friendly packaging design influences the purchasing

decisions of Polish end consumers

THE INDUSTRY

Testing Research Question I

Polish plastic packaging industry is ready for the production, processing and usage of

next generation plastic packaging.

Descriptive statistics

The following graphs and tables present the basic information obtained from the researched

companies. These mostly present the distribution of different grouping properties of

companies that will be used throughout Population I analysis. These specifically are:

Size of a company

Type of a company

Attitude of a company towards next generation packaging

Price expectations of next generation materials (as a % ratio)

The descriptive statistics for those four factors are presented below:

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The majority of respondents belonged to the medium group of employing between 50 and 250

people (41%), followed by the small enterprises with 31% and large ones with 27%.

The majority of respondents belonged to the „packaging producer‟ group with 53%, followed

by packaging users (34%) and the smallest group of vertically integrated entrepreneurs who

39

both produce and use produced packaging with 13%.

As one can see more than 55% of the respondents are planning to produce or use the next

generation plastic materials / packaging in the near future. Only 6 percent is not interested in

those materials whatsoever and 27% of respondents do not have a clear opinion on this

subject yet, or are unaware of such materials. 11 percent of companies who completed

questionnaires are already using next generation polymers.

40

This histogram presents how much companies are willing to pay for next generation

packaging in relation to the costs of traditional plastics. As can be seen on the graph over 50%

of respondents would not want to pay more, and 18% would even like to pay less, with only

31% willing to pay more than 100% of standard plastic materials.

Listed below are the categorised descriptive statistics for mean responses of Likert scale

questions in questionnaire I:

41

42

Research Question I

RQ I: Polish plastic packaging industry is ready for the production, processing and

usage of next generation plastic packaging

H1: Next generation plastic packaging materials are attractive for the Polish plastic

packaging producers / users. (I.e. Responses higher than scale average of 2,5)

It has been generally discovered that while over 65% of all researched companies plan using

or use next generation materials, larger companies find those materials to be more attractive

than the medium and small one. The reason behind this may be explained by the plastic

packaging producer/users industry structure in Poland, where small and medium companies

are usually locally based and concentrated and therefore less concerned with the new

technologies and lack funds to invest in it, especially given the fact than many large

packaging producers/users have much foreign capital employed or are directly Polish

subsidiaries of foreign packaging conglomerates. This of course does not signify that all small

43

and medium companies are not in a position to use next generation packaging. Indeed the

mean score for the attractiveness is generally high, spanning the values of 3,25 for small

companies and 4,18 for large ones, where five is the maximum. This is especially apparent in

the statistically significant test of attractiveness of next generation packaging over the attitude

towards next generation packaging, where companies who are not interested in the technology

or who do not have a clear opinion on the subject score the subsequent means of 2 and 2,79,

in contrast to 4,11 for companies planning using, and a very high 4,73 for companies already

using next generation packaging. The last figure is alone very interesting to analyse, as it

shows that companies who already use the next generation packaging are satisfied. Also the

willingness to pay ratio shows that the more company is willing to pay for the next generation

packaging, the more attractive it is.

Those significant observations therefore conform to H1, which states that the next generation

polymers are attractive for Polish packaging industry.

H2: Price, availability, processing knowledge and suitable characteristics of next generation

polymers are important operational aspects for the Polish plastic packaging producers /

users. (I.e. Responses higher than scale average of 2,5)

Results of H2 with respect to company size show an interesting relationship with the

operational factor of next generation packaging costs. It appears that medium and large

companies rank the importance of costs as high with the mean of 4,43, while it is not that

important to small companies (mean of 3,91). This can be linked to the competitive advantage

theory of Michael Porter, where firms can compete on either price or differentiation. It is

impossible for small companies to compete on price especially given the costs of next

generation polymers; therefore the companies understand that a potential investment in such

materials equals to their competitive niche market or differentiation strategies.

With regards to the type of company, it appears that packaging users are most concerned

about the availability of the materials, it is understandable as the packaging users are the ones

that introduce the product in the next generation packaging to the market, whereas packaging

producers can switch their input materials at ease. With respect to those answers it is very

surprising that vertically integrated companies who both produce the packaging and then pack

44

their products score so low on the availability scale (3,23). This could be due to the low

response rate of such companies – only 13% of all population, and therefore this result shall

be discarded, it still scores however above the scale average of 2,5, which supports the H2.

Other interesting and significant results within this hypothesis present that companies already

use the next generation polymers are less concerned about its price than any other company,

except for those who are not interested in using next generation polymers. This signifies that

they are conscious of other characteristics of next generation packaging that offset the issue of

higher price. Although many variance tests performed for this hypothesis are insignificant, it

can be noted that all characteristics for all companies interested in next generation packaging

score higher than the average scale score of 2,5, which signifies that operational aspects of

next generation packaging are important for Polish packaging industry and therefore support

the H2.

H3: Marketing, logistics, legislative, environmental protection and long term strategic

business aspects of plastic packaging are important for the Polish plastic packaging

producers / users. (I.e. Responses higher than scale average of 2,5)

With regards to company size and business aspect of next generation packaging the results

show that marketing value is most important for small companies and least important for large

ones, which supports the previous relation of next generation costs significance for company

sizes. Due to the fact that small companies can choose the competitive strategy of

differentiation it is important for them to express differentiated features through marketing

activities.

Legislation is also considered less important for medium and large companies. The reasons

for that remain to be explored by future research, however according to the interviews with

industry specialists from Polish Packaging Research and Development Centre small

companies are more concerned in legislation due to the potential penalties for not conforming

to packaging law. Those penalties are easier to avoid and are less financially burdensome for

larger companies hence the observed trend.

45

In terms of strategic management the trend is reversed. Large companies rank this importance

as highest with a mean of 4,54. Considering the structure of the Polish packaging industry,

with many small and medium regional companies, this result supports the observation that

large companies have a higher long-term orientation of their business endeavours.

Strategic management business aspect is also most important to the packaging users, though

the difference between packaging producers is relatively small. It is also understandable due

to reasons exclaimed above – packaging users introduce their products to the market –

therefore the potential contact of next generation plastic packaging with next participants of

packaging value chain finishing at end consumers is much more complex than producing

packaging and directing it to packaging users, therefore the strategic orientation is more

profound.

The attitude towards next generation packaging is interesting when discussing the legislation

business aspect. The companies who are already using next generation packaging rank it as

the highest (4,09), therefore it can be concluded that they understand the benefits. It is also

notable to add that companies who plan using or those who do not have a clear opinion on

next generation packaging rank legislative importance similarly and considerably smaller than

those who already use them. This requires more research on the subject matter, however it can

be initially concluded that they do not understand the legislative benefits of those materials as

well as current users who discovered them in practice.

Trend of environmental protection issues and strategic management‟s aspect with regards to

companies attitude show that three abovementioned groups are equal. This contrasts

significantly with companies not willing to use next generation packaging, and therefore

serves as a perfect illustration of H3 acceptance. All other significant variances and

categorised means also portray that H3 can be accepted.

H4 - Polish plastic packaging producers / users connect benefits of next generation packaging

to their own understanding of packaging business aspects.

H4 will be tested by gamma correlation method of Likert scale ranked questions. According

to Zieliński (1999) gamma correlation produce more viable results than Spearman r and

46

Kendal Tau when the sampling population level is above 40 and in addition the ranks are tied,

which the case of the questions posed in the questionnaire.

Also Zieliński (1999) stated that the significant value of 0,5 and higher or -0,5 and lower

signify a strong positive/negative correlation. Therefore the discussed correlated results will

be both statistically significant at p < ,05 and have a value of more than 0,5 or less than -0,5.

This particular test expects the following pairs to be strongly and significantly correlated:

Importance of marketing with marketing strategy aspect of next generation polymers

Importance of logistics with processing knowledge and suitable characteristics of next

generation polymers

Importance of legislation with legislation aspect of next generation packaging

Importance of environmental protection with waste collection system benefits of next

generation packaging and environmental awareness of the society

Importance of strategic management with costs and availability of the next generation

plastic materials

Packaging business aspect: Marketing

Significant correlation with:

Variable

Gamma Correlations MD pairwise deleted Marked correlations are significant at p <,05000

Cost Processing knowledge Suitable characteristics Availability

Importance of marketing -0,21 0,3 -0,06 0,17

Importance of logistics -0,16 0,57 0,29 0,18

Importance of legislation -0,07 0,38 0,16 0,31

Importance of env. protection 0,11 0,4 0,11 0,39

Importance of strategy 0,66 0,21 0,23 0,73

Variable

Gamma Correlations MD pairwise deleted Marked correlations are significant at p <,05000

Legislation waste collection system

Environmental awareness

Marketing strategy

Importance of marketing 0,24 0,13 0,32 0,68

Importance of logistics 0,36 0,31 0,33 0,28

Importance of legislation 0,73 0,48 0,32 0,35

Importance of env. protection 0,43 0,63 0,71 0,31

Importance of strategy 0,24 0,42 0,35 0,12

47

Marketing business aspect of next generation packaging on a level of 0,68.

The excepted pair matches the test therefore H4 is proved

Packaging business aspect: Logistics

Significant correlation with:

Processing knowledge of next generation packaging on a level of 0,57. However the next

excepted pair (suitable characteristics) is only significant on the level of 0,29. Therefore the

H4 cannot be proved in the instance of logistics business aspect.

Packaging business aspect: Legislation

Significant correlation with:

Legislation business aspect of next generation packaging on a level of 0,73.

The excepted pair matches the test therefore H4 is proved

Packaging business aspect: Environment protection

Significant correlations with:

Waste management system business aspect of next generation packaging on a level of 0,63.

Environment protection business aspect of next generation packaging on a level of 0,71.

The excepted pair matches the test therefore H4 is proved

Packaging business aspect: Strategic Management

Significant correlations with:

Costs of next generation packaging on a level of 0,66.

Availability of next generation packaging on a level of 0,73.

The excepted pair matches the test therefore H4 is proved

Gamma correlations of Polish plastic packaging industry importance of five business aspect

of packaging with benefits of next generation plastic packaging show that H4 can be generally

48

supported. Almost all predicted correlations were statistically significant and exceeded the

correlation value of ,5. The lone exception to this rule was the logistics aspect where suitable

characteristics operational aspect correlation was not strong enough. Observing other

responses concerning logistics factor lead to conclusion that packaging producers / users are

not that concerned about this business aspect. The response to this observation may be found

in the population of the research – namely the primary packaging producers / users. As

discussed in the theory section, primary packaging is not the main actor of logistics supply

chain – i.e. primary packaging is packed in secondary and then tertiary packaging before

shipping and moving goods. While it is still important for the primary packaging to preserve

and protect the product, their fraction of significance is smallest (interview Nowakowski

2008). Therefore it is safe to assume that H4 can be accepted given the research sampling

decisions.

Result of RQ I

As all four sub hypotheses of H I were accepted given the tests requirements it can be

concluded that indeed the Polish packaging industry is ready and willing to use next

generation packaging. It is very important to add at this point that other stakeholders and

external forces need to be tested for their readiness to support such materials before

concluding whether Poland as a nation is ready for such solution. This is especially important

with regards to the waste collection system – namely the organic recycling infrastructure and

the awareness of the end consumers. Testing the Polish waste collection system preparation

requires significant amount of resources and many feasibility studies to be performed. This

task is beyond the scope of this report, but it is notable research field for the future

considerations. Other factor – the end consumers‟ awareness has been tested in Research

Question II.

49

THE END CONSUMERS

Testing Research Question II

Polish end consumers are ready for next generation plastic packaging.

Descriptive statistics

The following figures present the distribution of the responses of the Population II

questionnaire.

Similarly to the previous questionnaire are grouping questions are used, these specifically

concern:

Gender

Age group

Ownership of backyard composting bin and or disposal of organic waste

50

51

Question I - I rank my environmental awareness as high

Question II - I rank my awareness of new technologies as high

Question III - Packaging is important for my purchase decision

Question IV - I gladly choose innovative looking packaging when buying goods

Question V - I gladly choose packaging advertised as environmental friendly when buying

goods

Question VI - I gladly choose environmental friendly looking packaging when buying goods

Question VII - I take notice of the symbols and special markings on the packaging

Question VIII - I will pay more for product in innovative packaging

Question IX - I will pay more for product in environmental friendly packaging

Question X - When buying a product I think what I will do with used packaging

52

Results

RQ II - Polish end consumers are ready for next generation plastic packaging.

H1: Polish end consumers are aware of environmental friendly terms associated with

packaging.

The table below represents the answers given to the question concerning choices of most

environmentally friendly terms:

Environmental packaging terms that link directly to next generation packaging are

„biodegradable‟ and „from natural / renewable resources‟. As can be seen those terms scored

on the second and fourth place, with „biodegradable‟ term having most answers in total. It is

also interesting to note that Polish end consumers generally did not understood the term

Degradable.

End consumers have to be aware of various packaging environmentally friendly terms in

order to understand how to deal with potential packaging waste. As discussed above next

generation packaging has to be disposed differently than standard packaging materials. It has

53

to be placed in the organic waste disposal bins to be of any use for composting and to end the

circular characteristics of next generation polymers.

The H1 test was based on a similar American research done by Appendini for KRAFT

FOODS (2007) where random population have been asked about various terms associated

with packaging disposal. Polish customers responses show that two terms describing the

majority of next generation packaging (biodegradable and made from renewable/natural

resources) score subsequently on the second place and third place, which can be considered

very high, given the novelty value of such packaging. The reason for this may lay in the major

advertising campaign made by CARREFOUR hypermarkets who introduced next generation

carrier bags in the Polish market as of 8th

of June 2008 as the first major retail chain in

Poland. The sub hypothesis 1 is therefore accepted based on the results of the quota sampling

questionnaire.

H2: Polish end consumers are prepared for the disposal of next generation packaging in

terms of their awareness, knowledge and household organic waste management patterns

Even though the variances between responses of different end consumers‟ groups (gender, age

and organic waste disposal methods) are generally not statistically significant it can be

concluded that typically end consumers rank their environmental awareness as high (mean of

4,59 for female respondents and 5,15 for males), which is far above the middle point of seven

step Likert scale (3,5).

With regards to the innovation awareness, males tend to be much more aware of the new

technologies, and therefore should understand the next generation packaging better than

females.

Third question for this sub hypothesis - markings and symbols about the packaging waste

directions ranked lower than expected, however an interesting age trend can be observed. Up

to the 50 + category the younger the population the less it is interested in such markings, with

50 + population being interested in between the 26-34 and 35-49 category.

Surprisingly no statistically significant variances have been observed between the organic

waste disposal methods used in Polish households and the awareness about environment,

innovation and what to do with used packaging. This may signify that while many Polish end

54

consumers sort their organic waste and use backyard composting bins, they are not yet aware

of next generation packaging composting potential – i.e. they do not know that next

generation packaging needs to be disposed in organic waste bins and can be composted even

in their own households.

Therefore this hypothesis needs to be rejected even with relatively promising average

response rates to the testing questions.

H3: Polish end consumers are willing to spend more on innovative and / or environmental

friendly packaging

Results of questions prepared for this sub hypothesis show significant variance between age

and the importance of the packaging on the final purchase decision. It appears that young

populations from groups < 25 and 26-34 are most willing to base their purchase on the basis

of packaging, while older categories are less packaging conscious on the mean level of 3,95

and 4,1, which gives a potential signal to the packaging producers / users about their

packaging marketing decisions.

Variance between willingness to pay more for the packaging in innovative and environmental

friendly show a very interesting relationship with regards to gender. Male respondents are

more willing to pay more for more innovative packaging, while female respondents will pay

more for more environmentally friendly packaging. As next generation packaging is both

innovative and environmentally friendly it gives a wide strategic and marketing orientation

potential for potential producers and users of such packaging. This however is connected with

another very interesting finding in the MANOVA table for willingness to pay more for

innovative packaging and the organic waste disposal methods used by the respondents. It

appears that people who do not sort their organic waste and do not possess a composting bin

are willing to pay more for innovative packaging, which means that for more environmentally

friendly conscious consumers (in terms of waste management) the innovation aspect of

packaging is not important. This factor should be investigated in future research as it can

provide many insights on how to brand the next generation packaging in order to attract both

environmentally and innovation conscious populations, which as presented in the gender

comparison split between male and female respondents.

55

In general it can be concluded that Polish end consumers are indeed willing to spend more for

both innovative and environmentally friendly packaging, but the particular decisions depend

on gender. Therefore the H3 can be accepted.

H4: Innovative and / or environmental friendly packaging design influences the purchasing

decisions of Polish end consumers

Results of H4 show that again female respondents are more willing to buy products in

environmentally friendly packaging. The answer applies to both packaging looking as

environmentally friendly and advertised as such. Also the ownership of composting bin

influences the decision to purchase more environmentally friendly packaging. This hypothesis

once more shows the differences between genders in terms of purchasing decisions, and again

should to be investigated further in future market research.

As both males and females statistically significant variances show means above the middle

scale point of 3,5 it is safe to assume that H4 can be accepted.

Result of RQ II

While three hypotheses of research hypothesis II were accepted, the H2 about the preparation

for next generation disposal needed to be rejected. Therefore it can be concluded that while

generally Polish end consumers are ready for next generation packaging given their

innovative and environmental friendly value, they do not yet fully understand its potential and

they do not know how to dispose of it properly. This area presents the plastic packaging

producers / users with the marketing potential to achieve competitive advantage – i.e. the

Polish society needs to be educated about how to deal with next generation packaging.

As the requirement for accepting the H II was to accept all of four sub hypotheses, the H II

cannot be accepted, which means that Polish end consumers are not yet fully ready for next

generation packaging.

56

Chapter 7 –

Market Research II

Data about companies fulfilling the questionanire:

42 companies – packers, fillers and importers of packed products, fullfilled questionnaire.

They represent 23 % of the packaging put annually to the Slovenian market. They put

packaging of all sorts of material to the slovenian market.

Companies fulfilling the questionaire were small, medium and large enterprises. The majority

( 29 companies) were medium sized companies putting to the slovenian market from 100 to

1000 tonns of packaging annually. 27 % of largest slovenian enterprises were present, and

only 7 small companies ( 1% of all small companies).

All slovenian companies that put packaging on the market and are partners of Slopak were

invited. According to the presence at the seminar the most interested ones in the topic of

biodegradability were medium sized companies.

QUESTION 1: How do you in your company understand

sustainable development?

Results: 31 % of answers know the defintion of sustainable development and use it as

such in the companies strategies, 31 % of companies use the term sustainable

development more focused on their specific processes ( see examples in column specific

comments below), 38 % of the companies have no idea what the term sustainable

development means.

57

Summary of answers:

According to the

definition1

No answer Specific Comments

13 companies 16 companies All together 13 companies

Life today, tommorow

Separated collection of waste

Constant care for customers and lowering the

impact to the environment

Long term goals for improvemts defined

Increased produstivity, lower cost

Economy with as little waste as possible

Not developed yet in the world

Economy and environemnt work hand in hand

Waste managent and reuse of recyclates

Development of the company considering all its

points – employees, quality of products,

satisfaction of owners and partners

Increased competitvness, new technology, waste

management

Lower energy consumption

Waste separation and recycling

58

1Sustainable development is the development that fullfills the need of our generation without endangering the

future generations to fullfill the same needs. It is based on three pillars; economic, social and environmental.

QUESTION 2: Do you know the difference between below listed

plastic materials? Specify for which type of plastic you know

precisely which characteristics does it have?

Results: The responsible persons for packaging in companies know biodegradable plastics (

83 % of answers claim that they know the basic characteristics of bioplastics). The knowledge

about meaning of bioplastics is equal to knowledge of the Green Dot mark, which is

communicated intensivelly ( 83 %) and more intense than local branding Made in Slovenia (

83 % for bioplastics as opposed to 74 % of local brand production)

Type of plastic Knowledge about its characteristics ( in %)

biodegradable 83 %

sustainable 45 %

compostable 64 %

From renewable resources 64 %

With bio ingredients 43 %

With recycled content 50 %

With certificate Friendly to the environment 50 %

With lower weight, lower volume 45 %

With positive LCA result 9,5 %

With reduced CO2 impact 43 %

Produced in Slovenia 74 %

polyvinylchloride 57 %

59

polyethylene 52 %

Bearing the sign Green Dot 83 %

Produced from polymers 38 %

Produced from artificial substances 33 %

Other – name it BOPP, PET, LINLAM, PAILE,

LINTOP,7FORM, SMART PLASTICS,

OXOPLASTICS

QUESTION 3: What characteristics of the packaging materials are

important for you when deciding which packaging to choose?

Results: 32 % of companies value technical characteristics of material as the most important

factor when deciding about packaging. Most important characteristics of packaging are its

physical, chemical and mechanical properties, which should protect the packed product . 14 %

of customers require that the packaging material is suitable for food contact with legally

binding health certificate. Price is the third decision making factor ( 18%), ability to

recycle ( 15 %), environmental friendly ( 11 %), low weight of packaging is important to 5 %

of customers and 5 % of customers design their packaging as required by their customers.

60

Summary of answers:

Required characteristics No. of answers Detailed answers

SUITABLE FOR FOOD CONTACT

with legal certificate

9

Customer defined 3 As our customer wants it

Mechanical properties 20 Torsion, printing abality,

suitable for filling mashines,

functionalaty

Ability to recycle 9

Price 11

Low weight of packaging element 3

Environmental friendly 7

QUESTION 4: Which are the desicion making factors about using

sustainable packaging materials in your company.

Results: 40 % of companies see price as prevailing factor when choosing the packaging

material. Technological properties of packaging material are most important factor in 25 %,

wishes of the customer and environmental aspects are important to 15 % of decision makers,

only 5 % of decisions are based on legal requirements.

61

Summary of answers:

Deciding factor No. of answers

Customers wishes 3

Cost 8

Tecnological properties ( glue, stability of foil…) 5

Environmental factors ( CO2 emissions, 3

Legal requirements 1

QUESTION 5: Do you know which materials are defined as

sustainable and which criteria define them as sustainable.

Results: 83 % of answers were showing that people have no idea which packaging materials

are sustainable and what criteria should be fulfilled in order that the packaging material is

sustainable. Three persons thought plastic, including nylon is sustainable, other answers show

that reusable packaging is percieved as sustainable.

62

Detailed answers:

Answers No. of answers

Sustainable – cradle to grave approach 1

Plastic 3

Ability to be reused 1

Materials that do not endanger our health 1

Ability to be recycled 1

I have no idea 35

QUESTION 6: Does your company use biodegradable plastic?

Please specify reasons for using and not using it.

Results: 10 % use biodegardable plastics, maily because their clients require it. 64 % do not

use biodegardable plastics, maily beuse it is unsuitable for their application or because it too

63

expensive and because they have not yet considered the idea of using biodegardable plastics.

More than one quater of companies provided NO answer to this question.

Detailed answers:

ANSWER No. of answers REASON

NO 27 We are trade company and have no effect on choosing the

packaging material

Price too high

We promoted bioplastic but got No interest from our

customers,

No because we do not have enough information about the

properties of the material

No, it is not useful for us – we mainly use glass

No because it have bad properties when protecting the

products

No we use very little plastic

Not yet

No, our products are very simple and do not need complicated

packaging

No because it is not suitable for packaging the chemical

64

products

No, we have no idea why should we use it

No, we use PP

No, because the price is too high

No, we tested it but it was not good

No, we could not find the supplier

No, we have not thought about it yet

NO answer 11

YES 4 We use it because it good for the environment and we pay

less taxes

Yes we use it for labels

Yes, our client requested it

Our clients use it, we do not

QUESTION 7: Specify the importance of the following properties

of biodegradable plastics for the use in your company.

Results: The sum of importance show that companies value the most the following

properties of biodegradable plastics: availability and knowledge how to use biodegradable

plastics, almost equally important are suitable properties of biodegradable plastics, processing

knowledge, environemntal benefits, cost of material. The least important is the organisation of

biodegradable waste treatment.

65

Properties: Unimportant:

No. of answers

Little

important

No. of answers

Somewhat

important

No. of answers

Very

important

No. of answers

Cost of materials 12 22

Processing knowledge 13 11 10

Usage knowledge 3 16 16

Suitable properties 2 5 11 16

66

Availability 5 13 17

Current legislation 1 5 15 12

Organised waste collection systems 1 12 17

Environmental awareness of customers 2 14 18

Company strategy 2 17 14

Other – please specify:

No answers: 8 companies refused to answer

QUESTION 8: What cost, compared to conventional plastic, would

your company be willing to pay to use biodegradable plastic.

Results: The results show, that 55 % of companies would pay equal cost, 12 % is willing to

pay more ( up to 150 % ) and 33 % of companies expect lower cost. No company indicated

that they are willing to pay more than 150 % of conventional plastic price.

Interesting remark : it is not important how much the price of the material is, but it is

important how much we can charge for it, how high is the value of bioplastics in the eyes of

our buyers.

67

Detailed answers:

Prepared by:

mag. Barbara Tišler, september 2011

Lower –

Less than 100%

Same

100%

Higher

100%-150%

Higher

150%-200%

Higher

200%-250%

Higher

More than 250%

11 answers 18 answers 4 answers

68

Chapter 8 –

Market Research III

Company data:

28 companies – packaging producers, plastic producers, plastic users, and plastic logistics

industry enterprises fulfilled questionnaire.

Companies fulfilling the questionnaire were small, medium and large enterprises. The

majority (24 companies) were small and medium sized companies. 90% of companies were

Polish companies with no foreign capital.

1. QUESTION 1: How do you in your company understand sustainable development?

Results: In general Polish companies do not understand that term and its application fully.

Most of the answers are partial or do not have a clear orientation on environmental/social

issues focusing rather on legislation and company internal operations/marketing/HR.

Of all answers only 10% were correct according to the definitions provided in this report.

39% of answers were specific/partial, 35% definitions were incorrect and 16% did not answer

this question at all.

Stated below are some common answers to this question by Polish entreprises:

Typical answers:

Sustainable development is about producing goods according to all required legislation

Sustainable development in a company is about providing safe working environment

Sustainable development is about aiming to increase the safety and hygiene of work

environment up to the point of total elimination of random accidents and work related

disabilities

69

Sustainable development equals fair development of personnel‟s qualifications

Sustainable development is achieved when both economic and environmental

decisions are respected and considered equally

Sustainable development is about decreasing the negative environmental impact of

products and company operations

Sustainable development connects with recovery of produced goods (recycling, reuse,

recovery)

Sustainable development concerns the selective recovery of waste in the workplace

Sustainable development is decreasing the energy and resource use in all company‟s

operations.

Sustainable development is an innovation strategy that has to do with increasing the

operational efficiency but with close relation to rational management and protection of

external environment

Sustainable development is about the creation and formulation of final consumers

demand and behaviours that takes into account the protection of environment

Sustainable development has to do with creating workforce awareness of external

environment

Sustainable development is achieved when ISO quality standards are implemented

2. QUESTION 2: Do you know the difference between below listed sustainable plastic

solutions? Specify for which type of plastic you know precisely which characteristics

does it have?

Results: Responses indicate that in Poland most of the companies are familiar with

biodegradable plastics (74%), but only 54% are familiar with term compostable which is most

often related to biodegradable. Polish companies also seem to have good knowledge about

plastics from recycled resources. Also another interesting aspect lies in the LCA and Carbon

Footprint knowledge. Only 12% of companies know of LCA as a tool of environemtnal

impact measurements, but more than 50% are familiar with carbon footprint methodology

which is interesting as the carbon footprint is a part of LCA methodology. In addition to that

many Polish companies are familiar with oxodegradable plastics and seem to regard such

plastics as a sustainable solution.

70

Type of plastic Knowledge about its characteristics ( in %)

biodegradable 74 %

sustainable 35 %

compostable 54 %

From renewable resources 44 %

With bio ingredients 33 %

With recycled content 73 %

With lower weight, lower volume 44 %

With positive LCA result 12 %

With reduced CO2 impact 53 %

Other – name it Nano films – 2%

Oxodegradable – 25%

3. What factors influence decisions to use sustainable polymer material solutions in

your company? (you may choose more than one)

Results: Polish companies regard the market demand as the most important aspect with a

total of 23 companies replying in this matter. Price occupies the second place on the list with

21 companies replying in such way. The third place goes to physical and chemical properties

of the materials with 18 companies replies. Legislation issues resides on the fourth place with

12 companies share. Processing technology and costs related to processing also had 12

replies. The awareness of costumers and final consumers scored 8 replies. Next place in the

hierarchy was given to the existence of selective selection system and recovery infrastructure

of sustainable plastic solutions with 5 replies.

71

4. At which level your company makes the environmental decisions? (technical,

marketing/PR, strategy)

Results: Polish companies seem to regard the technical level as the most important one. 20

companies replied in this manner. Next on the list is the strategic level with 18 responses –

many companies cited that environmental decisions are debated during directors and annual

meetings. On the last place surprisingly is the marketing/PR level with only 4 responses. This

shows that in Poland the companies do not see the direct benefit of agreeing on environmental

decisions based solely on potential marketing advantages, the decisions are first debated from

the technical or strategic point of view.

5. Do you have a written environmental strategy/plan in your company? Does it include

the product?

Results: In Poland half (14) of interviewed companies have some form of a written

environmental strategy/plan. In many companies ISO quality certification procedures were

interpreted as such. Of this half, majority companies (12) had their policies extended to their

products as well. Other half did not have any official document written, but nevertheless 7 of

them regarded themselves as environmentally conscious.

6. QUESTION 7: Specify the importance of the following properties of biodegradable

plastics for the use in your company.

Results: Polish companies treat cost of materials and processing knowledge as most

important aspect of biodegradable plastics, both categories received the same amount of

votes. Properties of the material are up next, along with usage knowledge and availability.

Current legislation was deemed as the most often voted „somewhat important‟ aspect. This

clearly shows that while not the most crucial element of the mix, Polish companies do seem to

observe the legislation and act upon it respectively. Companies are not that interested in

organised and functioning waste collection system, which proves the point of the first

question of the questionnaire regarding the understanding of sustainable development

concept. Also one company pointed out that having had some experience with biodegradable

materials the knowledge about expiry date of materials is very crucial. Although this aspect is

72

already covered in the processing and usage knowledge, the company wanted to stress that in

some cases biodegradable plastics can degrade when stored long enough.

Properties: Unimportant:

No. of answers

Little

important

No. of answers

Somewhat

important

No. of answers

Very

important

No. of answers

Cost of materials 4 20

Processing knowledge 4 20

Usage knowledge 4 6 12

Suitable properties 2 8 14

Availability 12 12

Current legislation 2 16 6

Organised waste collection systems 1 11 10 4

Environmental awareness of customers 10 9 3

Company strategy 7 11 4

Other – please specify:

Demand, market pull 2

Best before date of some biodegradable

materials 1

7. QUESTION 8: What cost, compared to conventional plastic, would your company be

willing to pay to use biodegradable plastic.

Results: Most of Polish companies are not willing to pay for the material much more than

they are paying for the traditional materials. Two companies already use biodegradable

polymers and say that their costs are represented in the 200% - 250 % range. It is also

important to note that similar to the Solvenian results many Polish companies considered this

question unimportant as long as the company will be able to carry the additional costs to the

costumers / end consumers, which shows a market oriented approach to sustainability and

innovation.

73

Lower –

Less than

100%

Same

100%

Higher

100%-150%

Higher

150%-200%

Higher

200%-250%

Higher

More than 250%

14 answers 6 answers 2 answers (companies

already use biodegradable

materials and 200% - 250%

range covers their costs)

74

Chapter 9 - Conclusions As one can observe the cases of for both Slovenia and Poland yielded some interesting results.

In general it has to be addressed that while both Polish and Slovenian companies seem to

understand the principles behind the bioplastics market, they do not know understand the

concept of sustainability well. The term in itself is very vague and therefore open for different

interpretations. PLASTiCE project should clarify this issue and provide a standardised

definition through dissemination activities.

DETAILED CONCLUSIONS FROM MARKET RESEARCH I

Two main research questions have been translated into a number of hypotheses that aimed to

test whether Polish packaging industry and end consumers are specifically willing to accept

the next generation packaging.

Results indicated that the Polish plastic packaging industry is aware of the new technology,

knows its characteristics and market implications and is eager to invest in it. It also portrayed

that the Polish packaging plastic industry is generally aware of the five main business aspects

derived from the theoretical frameworks on this complex subject.

In contrast the hypothesis for Polish end consumers could not be accepted due to the fact the

Polish citizens do not yet fully understand the implications of next generation packaging in

terms of its disposal, which signifies that one of the main benefit of next generation packaging

– its closed circuit in the natural environment could not be realised to its full potential.

This however does not signify that there is a mismatch between the plastic industry

willingness to supply such packaging and end consumers to receive and accept them. The

disposal knowledge while essential for the appropriate functioning of the waste management

system is only a small part of packaging business aspects as described in the theoretical

section of this paper. In addition the next generation plastic packaging offers much potential

for the strategic and marketing business aspects of Polish packaging industry. Communicating

the knowledge about disposal of such packaging could be the driver for the advertising

campaigns presenting the both novelty and environmental friendly value. With skilful and

75

creative marketing strategy this may potentially lead numerous packaging companies to a

competitive advantage that will span and unify all five business aspects of packaging and next

generation packaging benefits in those fields – i.e. marketing value, logistics disposal

benefits, legal short cuts, environmentally friendly image in CSR and long term strategic

advantages.

DETAILED CONCLUSIONS FROM MARKET RESEARCH II

Most interested in biodegardable plastics are medium sized companies. Because 69 % of

companies does not know the official definition of sustainable development it is not

recommended to join in communication the biodegardable plastics and sustainable

development.

Knowledge about characteristics of biodegardable plastics seem to be high ( 83 % of

companies know it in theory). 64 % of the companies do not use biodegradable plastic due to

no expressed interest from their clients, too higher price of biodegaradble plastics and its

unsuitability for the purposes of the company.

When introducing biodegradable plastics into their products only 12 % would pay up to 150

% higher cost, 88 % would expect to pay equal or even lower cost for biodegradable plastics

compared to conventional materials.

The barriers when introducing biodegardable plastics are its poor availability, poor knowledge

of its processing and poor knowledge why should biodegardable plastic be used and its

properties which should protect the packed product as good as conventional plastics.

When introducing biodegradable material its waste treatment is seen as at least important.

Some interesting remarks were made. One of the companies stated that they would be

interested in using biodegardable plastic in the dypers which they produce. The other

company stated that if the perceived value of biodegradable plastic would be high in the eyes

of the consumer, they would be willing to produce more expensive products from

biodegardable plastic.

76

DETAILED CONCLUSIONS FROM MARKET RESEARCH

III

As previously discussed, the term sustainable development is not understood well in Poland.

Only 10% of respondents gave a proper definition of sustainability, whereas 39% gave a

partial response.

In contrast Polish companies understand different terms linked to sustainable plastic material

solutions. Very often sustainability is linked to the „carbon footprint‟ of the product, but not

many companies understand that the level of CO2 equivalent emitted during the life cycle of

the product is only a small part of full environmental life cycle assessment. There are many

more other environmental impacts connected to human health, ecosystem quality and

depletion of natural resources which may have a big impact on products environmental

performance and therefore on sustainability as whole.

Polish companies are very market and competition aware. They seem to value their customers

opinion and demand the most, even more than the price of the material itself, taking a view,

that if a customer is willing to pay more for the offered sustainable solution, the actual higher

price is implied. On the other hand most companies would not want to pay more for

bioplastics than they are paying for traditional solutions.

Polish companies are also pragmatic with regards to the level of implementing innovation.

Most companies want to know the technical properties of material and processing before

agreeing to introduce a bioplastic to their offer.

Similar to Slovenia the organised waste collection systems are regarded very low, which

again shows the lack of knowledge in the field of sustainability.

77

Appendix 1 -

Market Research I

questionnaires

78

Population I – The Industry

1) To which of the following groups does your company belong?

Small (up to 50 employees)

Medium (between 50 and 250 employees)

Large (more than 250 employees)

2) Your company is a: Packaging producer

Packaging user/goods packager

3) On the scale from 1 to 5 please rank the importance of following business aspects of packaging in your

company

Scale: 1 Most

Unimportant

2 Unimportant

3 Neutral

4 Important

5 Most

important

Marketing

Logistics

Legislation

Environment protection

Strategic management

4)a What is your company’s attitude towards biodegradable packaging/polymer? Our company is using these materials already:

Our company would like to use these materials in the future

Our company does not want to use these materials in the future

Our company does not have a clear opinion on the subject

4)b On the scale from 1 to 5 please rank your perception of market attractiveness of

biodegradable packaging Scale: 1

Most

unattractive

2 Unattractive

3 Neutral

4 Attractive

5 Most

Attractive

Market attractiveness of next generation packaging

5) What is the significance of the following factors for the decision concerning the utilization of

biodegradable packaging/polymer by your company?

Scale: 1 Unimportant

2 Somewhat

important

3 Important

4 Very

important

5 Most

important

Costs of material

Processing/Usage knowledge

Suitable properties of the material

Availability

Legislation

Organised waste collection systems

Environmental awareness

Marketing strategy

6) What price ratio of biodegradable packaging/polymer in comparison with classic plastics

packaging/polymers, your company would be willing to accept?

Lower –

Less than 100%

Same

100%

Higher

100%-150%

Higher

150%-200%

Higher

200%-250%

Higher

More than 250%

79

Population II – End Consumers

1. Gender:

Male

Female

2. Age group:

< 25

26-34

35-49

50 +

3. Do you own a backyard composting bin?

Yes

No

4. Do you sort your organic waste (food waste, leaves, grass, dried flowers etc.)?:

Yes

No

5. Rank two most environmentally friendly terms describing packaging from the following selection.

If any of the term is unclear, please state so in appropriate selection table.

First

selection

Second

selection

Definition is

unclear

Recyclable packaging

Packaging from recycling

Biodegradable packaging

Degradable packaging

Multi use packaging

Packaging from renewable / natural resources

Smaller packaging mass

6. Please rank the following statements on the scale from 1 to 7, (where 1 signifies ‘I strongly

disagree’, 4 signifies neutral answer and 7 signifies „I strongly agree‟):

7.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I rank my environmental awareness as high I strongly

disagree

I strongly

agree

I rank my awareness of new technologies as

high

I strongly

disagree

I strongly

agree

Packaging is important for my purchase

decision

I strongly

disagree

I strongly

agree

gladly choose innovative looking packaging

when buying goods

I strongly

disagree

I strongly

agree

I gladly choose packaging advertised as

environmental friendly when buying goods

I strongly

disagree

I strongly

agree

I gladly choose environmental friendly

looking packaging when buying goods

I strongly

disagree

I strongly

agree

I take notice of the symbols and special

markings on the packaging

I strongly

disagree

I strongly

agree

I will pay more for product in innovative

packaging

I strongly

disagree

I strongly

agree

I will pay more for product in environmental

friendly packaging

I strongly

disagree

I strongly

agree

When buying a product I think what I will do

with used packaging

I strongly

disagree

I strongly

agree

80

Appendix 2 -

Market Research II and III

questionnaires

81

Interview Notes

Company

name:_______________________________________________________________

1) To which of the following groups does your company belong? Small (up to 50 employees)

Medium (between 50 and 250 employees)

Large (more than 250 employees)

2) State the business of your company:

3) How do you understand the concept of sustainable development in your company8?

4) Is your company interested in any of the following sustainable polymer material

solutions for your products? (you may tick multiple answers)

Biodegradable polymer products

Compostable polymer products

Polymer products from renewable resources

Polymer products with bio-based content

Polymer products with recycled content

Environment friendly certified polymer products

Polymer products with less mass/volume

Polymer products with positive Life Cycle Assessment

Polymer products with reduced carbon footprint

Polymer products manufactured locally

Other (please elaborate):

5) What factors influence decisions to use sustainable polymer material solutions in your

company?

8 To use the traditional definition, sustainable development is "development that meets the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs", in other words ensuring that today's growth does not jeopardise the growth possibilities of future generations. Sustainable development thus comprises three elements - economic, social and environmental - which have to be considered in equal measure at the political level. The strategy for sustainable development, adopted in 2001 and amended in 2005, is complemented inter alia by the principle of integrating environmental concerns with European policies which impact on the environment.

82

6) At which level your company makes the environmental decisions? (technical,

marketing/PR, strategy)

7) Do you have a written environmental strategy/plan in your company? Does it include

the product?

8) Please choose the importance of the following factors of biodegradable plastics

solution in your company

Scale: 1

Unimportant

2 Little

important

3 Somewhat

important

4 Very

important

Cost of materials

Processing knowledge

Usage knowledge

Suitable properties

Availability

Current legislation

Organised waste collection systems

Environmental awareness of customers

Company strategy

Other – please specify:

9) What cost of biodegradable polymer solution in relation to classical plastics

packaging/polymers solutions, your company would be willing to accept?

Lower –

Less than

100%

Same

100%

Higher

100%-150%

Higher

150%-200%

Higher

200%-250%

Higher

More than 250%

Notes: