Pack4Sustain tool helps companies design more recyclable, circular packaging from the start

Sociedade Ponto Verde, the packaging waste management body, developed Pack4Sustain with the CENTIMFE technology centre and NOVA FCT university. The online tool assesses how sustainable and circular a package is and suggests ecodesign improvements, so that it becomes easier to recycle and has a smaller environmental footprint. The researchers built the scoring method, criteria and algorithms, testing them repeatedly with the body's team. It is open to all of its packaging clients. Retailers such as MC, the Sonae food retail arm, helped test it and say designing for recyclability early is vital, while Os Mosqueteiros applies ecodesign criteria with its own-brand suppliers. The episode is part of a web series marking the body's 30th anniversary.