The aim of REPACK – Sustainable Packaging for Fast Moving Consumer Good is to achieve a more sustainable packaging for Household Care Products. Procter & Gamble, a leading company in consumer goods, is the principal partner involved in this project. According to the company footprint concerning life cycle, packaging plays a crucial role in terms of environmental impact. Addressing packaging solutions represents a key point; packaging is highly visible and therefore potentially vulnerable: it is in fact the type of waste the consumers interact with more directly. The students were required to consider not only the technical aspects but also the consumer reaction and to take into account retailer needs. Studying possible solutions, the students stressed the 5 R’s concept (Reduce, Recycle, Replace, Remove and Reuse) to evaluate how they could make more sustainable packaging for this project. Certain successful criteria boosted challenging solutions: costs must remain the same or to be lower than for current in-market products and packaging needs to be at least 10% more sustainable according Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) criteria. Furthermore, no significant trade-offs must emerge compared to current technologies. Finally, an equal or better consumer experience than in current execution was required. The students were also asked to design a product with a 3 year shelf life; in this category such a request can be tricky, mostly because detergents contain some very aggressive products, e.g. bleach, that can affect packaging properties. This project required a combination of chemical knowledge
concerning the solution for the material and innovative ideas regarding the effective strategy to promote this product, evaluating its market impact. The two groups focused on sustainable packaging for rigid bottles and flexible laminates, respectively.
Principal Academic Tutor
Roberto Frassine
Chemistry Materials and Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Academic Tutors
Sergio Bocchini
Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Torino
Giovanni Camino
Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Torino
Giulio Ceppi
Industrial Design, Arts, Communication and Fashion, Politecnico di Milano
Marina Foschia
Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Torino
Alberto Franche
Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Torino
Francesco Geobaldo
Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Torino
External institution
Procter & Gamble
External Tutors
Emily Boswell
Procter & Gamble
Christian Gerlach
Procter & Gamble
Bob Rohrbaugh
Procter & Gamble
Team members
TEAM A
Carlo Maria Campelli [Team controller], Chemical Engineering
Raffaele Almici, Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering
Ahmet Aysan, Industrial Engineering and Management
Marco Bonaiti, Materials Engineering
Giuliano Butti [Project Communication Coordinator], Biomedical Engineering
TEAM B
Luca Macedoni [Team controller], Management, Economics and Industrial
Engineering
Serena Camere, Industrial Design
Veronica Ceruleo, Chemical Engineering
Alessandro Stagni, Chemical Engineering