LONDON — Improving packaging sustainability is not only about using recyclable materials or reducing plastic consumption. Eliminating small production inefficiencies can also deliver significant environmental and operational benefits, according to Mark Richards, UK Sales Manager at industrial automation company Beckhoff.

Richards argues that seemingly minor issues—including brief machine stoppages, production drift and product rejects—can accumulate into substantial material, energy and productivity losses across high-volume packaging operations.

Hidden Waste Extends Beyond Packaging Materials

While sustainability initiatives often focus on material innovation, Richards says manufacturers should also pay closer attention to production efficiency.

Small deviations in machine settings or poor synchronization between production equipment can result in problems such as:

• Misaligned labels
• Damaged packaging
• Product rejects
• Additional rework
• Increased material consumption
• Higher energy use

These issues not only generate unnecessary waste but also reduce production yield and increase manufacturing costs.

The article references Water UK, which estimates that a dripping tap can waste 5,500 litres of water annually, using the comparison to illustrate how small, continuous losses can create significant impacts over time.

Downtime Increases Energy Consumption

Short production interruptions can have consequences beyond lost operating time.

According to Richards, restarting production lines often requires additional energy and may generate further waste while machinery returns to stable operating conditions.

Reducing unnecessary downtime can therefore improve both sustainability performance and production efficiency by increasing output from the same amount of raw materials and energy.

Automation Improves Process Control

Richards highlights modern automation and data collection technologies as important tools for reducing waste.

Real-time monitoring systems allow manufacturers to detect process deviations earlier and make adjustments before quality issues occur.

Technologies supporting this approach include:

• Precision and proximity sensors for machine synchronization
• Energy monitoring systems
• Real-time production data collection
• Integrated automation platforms
• Machine-to-machine communication systems

These technologies help manufacturers maintain consistent production quality while reducing material losses and energy consumption.

Smarter Manufacturing Supports Sustainability Goals

Richards concludes that improving production efficiency should be considered alongside sustainable material development as manufacturers work toward environmental targets.

By reducing rejects, minimizing rework and maintaining stable production processes, packaging manufacturers can increase resource efficiency while lowering waste generation and operating costs.

As sustainability expectations continue to expand across the packaging industry, process optimization and digital automation are expected to play an increasingly important role in improving both environmental performance and manufacturing productivity.

Last Updated on 21/07/2026 by Jota Machinery