Despite the important role packaging plays, it is often regarded as a necessary evil and directly increasing the cost of seemingly basic goods. Furthermore, many consumers consider packaging is, at best, somewhat superfluous, and, at worst, a serious waste of resources and an environmental menace.
Such views are common often because the functions that packaging has to perform are either unknown or not fully considered. By the time most consumers come into contact with a package, its job, in many cases, is almost over, and it is perhaps understandable that the view that excessive packaging has been used gains some credence.
Packaging has been defined as a socio-scientific discipline which operates in society to ensure safe delivery of goods to the consumer of those products in the best possible condition in relation to their use.
The International Packaging Institute (IPI) defines packaging as the enclosure of products, items or packages in a wrapped pouch, bag, box, cup, tray, can, tube, bottle or other container form to perform one or more of the following functions: containment, protection, preservation, communication, utility and performance.
Therefore, if a device or container performs one or more of these functions, it is considered a package.
Other definitions of packaging include a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, distribution, storage, retailing and a means of ensuring safe delivery to the ultimate consumer at optimum cost.
It is important to distinguish between the words ‘package’, ‘packaging’ and ‘packing’. The package is the physical entity that contains the product. Packaging is as defined above, yet can also be seen as a discipline in its own right. The verb ‘packing’ can be defined as the enclosing of an individual item (or several items) in a package or container.
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Photo by Food Photographer | Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash
