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How Kenvue is Turning Sustainability into a Real-time Design Decision: Packaging World · Through the Line: Packaging and Processing

• 0:03
  Speaker: Welcome to Through the Line, the podcast exploring innovations and information across the packaging and processing landscape.
• 0:11
  Speaker: From topics impacting consumer packaged goods and healthcare packaging to the latest technologies in food processing operations.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Hello, I'm Ann Marie Mohan.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: I'm the senior editor with Packaging World.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: And I'm here with Gayatri Kesgar.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: She's the global packaging materials science leader at KenView.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: And she just got off the stage presenting on some of KenView's formulation and packaging changes and how KenView, the methodology that they're using to be more sustainable.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: So welcome, Gayatri.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Excited to be.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: So, as I just mentioned, you talked about the fact that KenView really set out to fundamentally change how you were approaching your product formulation and your packaging.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: And you really wanted to go from a retrospective analysis of the products and packaging to really being proactive.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Can you talk a little bit about what brought that about and what that looks like?
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: So a few years ago, we realized that we had a serious problem because sustainability was often treated as an afterthought.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: And the impact, environmental impact assessments, they were made fairly late in the innovation process.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: They were high-level, rarely data-driven.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: So meaningful ways to improve were very hard to come because it was so late in the innovation process.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: So that realization led us to make sure that we are rethinking the way we are approaching our total product, so both the formulation and packaging sustainability in a way so we can put data-driven insights directly into the hands of our developers at exact moments when decisions are made.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Because most of the time the decisions are made during the development process.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: And so those earlier decisions would help us identify areas for improvement.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: And this is based on our sustainability innovation profile and tool that we have been working on and recently shared publicly.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: It was quite an eventful journey in order to develop something at that scale.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: But it's such an insightful tool because it lets you compare two different formulations, two different packagings in real time, making it possible to understand the impact as you are making changes during the development process, allowing you to think holistically as you are developing both on the product and for packaging side.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Can you talk a little bit about those innovations and some of the advantages that they brought, both sustainability and otherwise?
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, certainly.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: So whenever we are developing a new packaging or new product at Kenview, we want to have it based on a consumer inside, making sure that it's bringing delight and bringing superior experience for consumers.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: So all the three examples that I shared during the presentation, in addition to making sure that they are lowering the impact based on the ingredients or use of post-consumer recycled content, also making sure that they are recyclable at the end of life.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: But all that started by keeping the consumer experience at center.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: So, for example, in case of OGX, initially the previous bottle we used was made out of PET.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: So it's harder to squeeze.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: So by changing to HGPE, we were able to make sure that actually the consumer experience is improved because it's much easier to squeeze.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: It requires 30% less squeezing force for dispensing or evacuating the product.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: On top of that, because it was also colored PET, which is not widely recyclable, so moving to HGPE gave us that natural opportunity to make sure that we can also use 100% recycled content as well as design the bottle for recyclability.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: So they worked side by side.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: It wasn't necessarily trying to compromise the consumer experience just because you're launching something which is sustainable.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: At the crux of it or at the center of it, is how we can improve and elevate the consumer experience.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: And when doing that, also do it in the most sustainable manner.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: So that was a really great example, and that's where the sustainable innovation profiler that we talked about just now helped us to make the impact of material change visible through carbon footprint tracking.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: So it gives you that quantitative way of evaluating different materials as you're making these changes, both on the formulation and the packaging side, and then allowed our team to come together with a packaging that is not just sustainable, but it's also delightful for consumers.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: I think that's a great takeaway because I think a lot of times sustainability is viewed as, you know, it's going to be more expensive and it's more about brand perception or just about recyclability, but there are so many other benefits that can be achieved by making that change that can bring in other benefits beyond sustainability.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: So I think that's a great takeaway.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: So very exciting.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: You announced recently that KenView is going to be partnering with AI waste analytics company Greyparrot.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: And uh last year at this event, they announced their Deep Nest platform, which allows brand owners to really track their packaging through a MERF to get a better understanding of what's going through, why.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: Can you tell me a little bit about why can be you decided to do this and what are you hoping to achieve with this data and how are you planning on using that data?
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: So, in the light of upcoming regulations, we already have seen how EPR is evolving here in the United States.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Also, we have PPWR in Europe.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: So it's becoming more and more clear that we need to understand not just what's happening as we are developing these packaging or during the use, how the consumer interactions are influenced by our packaging decisions.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: But it's equally important for us to understand what happens at the end of life when the package leaves the consumer's hand and enters the real world waste management system.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Because just designing for recyclability is only half of the equation.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: You need to understand exactly what happens in these facilities.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: And some of that information can be used in order to, and that's where we are really looking forward to our in partnership and getting the data from the Deep NES platform, is those testing out the what-if scenarios before the prototypes are made, understanding the true impact of our packaging design decisions based on both the recyclability of it and obviously the financial impact as well, given the potential EPR implications of that.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: So, this is helping us move from recyclability assumptions into more evidence-based insights that can help us drive smarter design decisions.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: That's very exciting.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: We had a couple of tours before this event started at MERFS, and a couple of brands have come away and said, well, you've been said that yes, that you didn't realize that some of these larger packages are also a problem.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: So not only are you, you know, learning that, but you're getting to really see that data up close.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: What is actually getting through the system?
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: I guess so in today's world, data is king.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: You need to have data.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: And with both these platforms, like through our sustainable innovation profiler, as you are developing new product and packaging, and also through platforms like Deep From GreyParrot, what happens to them after they leave your like facility after they leave the consumer's hand.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: Data is powerful to help us understand how we can shape our strategy to make sure that we are able to drive measurable impact.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: That's very exciting.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: I can't wait to see the outcome of this and how it translates into future package designs.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Really excited and looking forward to it.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for joining us.
• 8:55
  Speaker: My pleasure.
• 8:55
  Speaker: Thank you.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 8:59
  Speaker: Thank you for listening to Through the Line Packaging and Processing.
• 9:02
  Speaker: You can listen to more episodes on all streaming platforms.
• 9:06
  Speaker: Be sure to visit us at packworld.com, profoodworld.com, and healthcarepackaging.com for more packaging and processing news.
• 9:15
  Speaker: This podcast was edited by Bri Guntz.