Green packaging for durable engineering products in Iraqi markets

Abstract

Packaging plays a significant role in the environmental influence of a product and packaging combination. The distribution and transportation around separate places in different times of the produced goods lead to packaging development. Nowadays supermarkets and shops focus upon modern expressive packaging for link connection between consumption and production. An extensive variety of materials is often used for packaging applications; such as glass, metal, wood, paper, ceramics, plastics or a combination of two or more materials as composites. The fourth source of pollution in China is due to the packing waste; this is one of the reasons that cause the development of green packaging in the packaging industry in many developed countries. In this paper Green packaging for durable engineering products is studied highlighting the four R’s; Reducing, Recovering, Recycling and Reusing material for sustainable packaging toward choosing an ecological package material and standardization of packaging for waste reduction. The research methodology takes into consideration three main factors categorization; these are eco-material selection, minimize waste and minimize cost, and then a choice is decided upon ten factors for assessment by applying analytical hierarchy process technique (AHP). A case study in Iraqi industrial companies is accomplished taking into consideration experts’ opinions for different affecting factors to compare different packaging materials and styles for green packaging. AHP is applied according to the predefined steps using excel sheets for calculations and plotting. Based on AHP assessment and discussion the choice is for Cartonas the most preferable green packaging material, followed by plastic.