How to Reduce EPR Packaging Fees Without Compromising Product Protection
Brands are under growing pressure to reduce packaging material, improve recyclability and account for packaging under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs.
That can make “use less packaging” sound like the obvious sustainability strategy. In reality, the equation is more complicated.
Packaging has a job. For food and other sensitive products, it may need to control moisture or oxygen, manage gas exchange, protect against light, maintain freshness or withstand a demanding distribution environment. Remove the wrong material or component and the result can be a shorter shelf life or more product waste.
A better goal is to optimize the package: understand what every component is doing, preserve the performance the product requires and identify where material, weight, complexity or EPR exposure can be reduced.
Start With the Job the Package Has to Do
Before asking how much material can be removed, ask what the package needs to accomplish.
Depending on the product, those requirements can include maintaining freshness and shelf life, providing moisture or oxygen barriers, protecting against light, surviving filling and distribution, running correctly on packaging equipment and communicating required information to the customer.
Those functions establish the baseline.
From there, brands can evaluate whether the same performance can be achieved with a lighter structure, different material, fewer components or a more recycling-compatible design.
Lightweighting is only successful if the redesigned package still does its job.
Less Packaging Doesn’t Always Mean Less Waste
Food makes the tradeoff particularly easy to see.
Packaging material has an environmental impact, but the food inside the package required resources to grow or manufacture, process, transport and store. If a packaging change causes that food to spoil sooner, reducing a few grams of packaging material may create another form of waste.
That does not mean every layer or component should stay. It means brands need to understand why it is there before removing it.
Several familiar food packages demonstrate just how much engineering can be hidden inside something consumers barely notice.
The Salad Bag Is a Packaging Science Problem
A bag of salad looks simple. The product inside it is not.
Fresh produce continues to respire after harvest, exchanging gases with the environment around it. Packaging for fresh produce can therefore be designed around factors such as gas transmission, moisture and the needs of the particular product.
The package has to create an environment that supports the required freshness and shelf life without preventing the produce from doing what it naturally does.
That makes a produce bag a useful lesson in packaging optimization. A film or layer should not be changed solely because it adds weight. First ask what performance it provides and whether a proposed alternative can deliver the same result.
Why Coffee Bags Have Degassing Valves
Coffee provides another example.
Freshly roasted coffee releases carbon dioxide after roasting. If that gas cannot escape, pressure can build inside a sealed package. At the same time, exposure to outside oxygen can work against freshness.
That is why many coffee packages use one-way degassing valves: they allow internal gas to escape while helping limit outside oxygen from entering the package.
The valve adds another component, but it is there for a reason.
For a brand looking to optimize a coffee package, the useful question is not simply, “Can we eliminate the valve?” It is, “What function is the valve performing, and how would the redesigned package provide that function?”
Fortis offers flexible packaging solutions that can incorporate degassing-valve requirements as part of the complete package design.
Pet Food Bags Show Why Package Structures Can Get Complicated
Pet food packaging can also combine several requirements in one structure.
The package may need to protect freshness, manage moisture and oxygen exposure, survive shipping and handling, and maintain product quality after the consumer brings it home. The original package also carries lot and date information that can be important if a product is recalled.
What looks like “extra packaging” may therefore represent several different functional requirements.
Where EPR Changes the Packaging Conversation
EPR adds a financial dimension to packaging design.
Under EPR programs, producers may be responsible for fees associated with the packaging they introduce into a market. The exact structure varies by jurisdiction, but material choices, package weight and design characteristics can become relevant to cost.
That makes packaging optimization more measurable.
Instead of asking only, “How can we use less packaging?” brands can ask:
What does this package need to do, and where can we reduce unnecessary material, weight or complexity without compromising performance?
Use Fortis’ EPR Calculator to Understand the Current Package
Fortis has developed an internal EPR fee calculator to help customers evaluate their packaging and understand potential fee exposure where calculator data is available.
The calculator is available through the Fortis customer portal and gives brands a practical starting point for packaging conversations.
A team can review the current package, enter the relevant packaging information and estimate applicable EPR fees. From there, Fortis can work with the customer to explore alternative packaging scenarios and identify where changes may make sense.
The calculator does not change the first rule of packaging design: protect the product.
Instead, it adds another data point to the decision. A lower-weight or lower-fee structure is useful only if it still delivers the barrier, shelf-life, production and distribution performance the product requires.
How Fortis Can Look for EPR Optimization Opportunities
Once a brand understands its current package and potential EPR exposure, the next step is to look for meaningful changes rather than simply remove material.
Depending on the application, opportunities may include:
- Eliminating packaging or components that are not necessary
- Lightweighting or right-sizing the package while maintaining performance
- Evaluating recycle-ready material structures
- Increasing post-consumer recycled content where appropriate
- Reviewing label materials and adhesives
- Reconsidering shrink-sleeve material or coverage
- Reducing coatings or laminations that are not required for package performance
Not every strategy applies to every package. The purpose of the exercise is to identify where the package can change without sacrificing what it needs to do.
Five Questions to Ask Before Lightweighting a Package
Before removing a layer, changing a material or redesigning a package, ask:
1. What function does each layer or component perform?
A layer may provide barrier, strength, sealability, printability or another function that is not obvious from looking at the finished package.
2. What happens to product protection or shelf life if it changes?
The answer should be based on the actual product and performance requirements.
3. Can the same performance be achieved with less material or a different construction?
This is where material science and packaging expertise can create real optimization opportunities.
4. How does the change affect recyclability and EPR fees?
Material weight is only one variable. The complete package design matters.
5. Will the new package work in the real world?
The redesigned structure still needs to run on equipment, survive distribution, protect the product and perform for the consumer.
Optimize the Package, Not Just the Material
A salad bag manages conditions around a living, respiring product. A coffee valve addresses gas released after roasting. A pet food bag may combine barrier, storage and handling requirements in a single structure.
Those examples make an important point: packaging is not just material surrounding a product. It is a system designed to perform specific jobs.
EPR gives brands another reason to examine that system closely.
The opportunity is not to remove as much packaging as possible. It is to identify material or complexity that is not necessary, evaluate better alternatives and preserve the components that protect the product.
Work With Fortis on Packaging and EPR Optimization
Fortis can help brands evaluate both sides of the packaging equation.
Using its EPR calculator where available, Fortis can help customers understand potential packaging fees and identify opportunities to optimize materials, weight and design. At the same time, Fortis’ packaging expertise keeps the product’s actual performance requirements at the center of the conversation.
The result is a more useful sustainability question:
Not “How little packaging can we use?”
But “What is the most efficient package that still does everything this product needs?”
