The dark side of sustainable packaging: Battling with sustainability tensions

Abstract

The sustainable packaging industry plays a significant role in tackling the major sustainability challenges of municipal waste and plastic consumption. While innovative sustainable packaging products offer alternatives to plastic packages made from fossil fuels, their production also poses sustainability problems, defined as tensions in this study. This study explores the different tensions of sustainable packaging production using the field of biobased packaging as an example of an innovative emerging industry. Moreover, the study illustrates different management strategies companies adopt to avoid, lower, and facilitate the identified tensions by taking the paradox management theory perspective. Based on qualitative, semi-structured interviews of 14 international companies working in various supply chain phases of the industry, this study identifies 20 distinct types of economic, structural, psychological, and behavioral tensions, demonstrating their characteristics and 12 strategies companies have adopted to manage these tensions. High investment and operating costs, lacking standards and guidelines, varying regulations among countries and regions, changing regulations, lack of knowledge of policy makers, consumers and end of life management companies are found to be causing most of the tensions. Joining associations, partnering with NGOs, obtaining labels and certifications, conducting LCAs are found to be among the most popular management strategies to the tensions. Overall, this study contributes to the emerging literature about the dark side of sustainability and answers the call for empirical research on the unintended consequences of sustainable production and their management; especially in the emerging industries. From a managerial perspective, this study provides insights into potential management actions of sustainability tensions and situations where government intervention is needed.