The Packaging Association of Canada (PAC) and U.S. based Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) are coming together to make it easier for businesses to make product packaging across the US and Canada more eco-friendly.

Together these organizations are developing a curriculum to help educate packaging professionals on ways to "achieve more sustainable packaging solutions."

The partnership comes after Wal-Mart recently announced plans to get its 60,000 suppliers to reduce uneccessary packaging and develop more environmentally responsible ways of packaging goods.

These two associations have already been working towards more sustainable packaging for a few years now in the design process and in the supply chain. According to their website, the SPC is "an industry working group inspired by cradle to cradle principles and dedicated to transforming packaging into a system that encourages economic prosperity and a sustainable flow of materials."

Cradle to cradle, based on the Hanover Principles, was developed by William McDonough & Michael Braungart as a new way to think about design. When applied to packaging, this idea means that when packaging is redesigned, all aspects are thought about - the materials of the packaging (where they're sourced from, if they're toxic), how the packaging is produced (using renewable energy, making sure it is cost effective), the use and aethetics of the packaging (how it looks on store shelves), and what happens once the package is finished its intended use (when the customer no longer needs it).

This new curriculum will help best practices spread across the industry, and make it easier for people dealing with product packaging to get to sustainable solutions faster.

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