Wasteful packaging – industry’s Achilles heel

The theme of this year’s World Environment Day once again shines a spotlight on one of our most pressing environmental challenges: beating plastic pollution. But for manufacturers, the solution goes far beyond swapping plastic straws for paper ones or encouraging the use of reusable coffee cups.

From excess packaging to emissions-intensive materials and poor disposal practices, the industrial sector faces mounting pressure to clean up its act. Regulations like the EU's Ecodesign Directive are stepping in to close the gap between ambition and reality, pushing for more energy-efficient and circular product life cycles.

Industry must recognise that change doesn’t happen with targets alone, but through tangible change at every touchpoint. At ABB, we build electric motors; from design to disposal, our factories, suppliers and packaging teams have taught us that sustainability has to be engineered in. And when done with intention, waste can be cut without compromising quality or efficiency.

Sustainable from the ground up

While product innovation often gets the spotlight in discussions around sustainability, we have found that one of the most impactful changes happens long before a motor ever reaches a production line: in supply chain packaging and logistics.

Through close collaboration with suppliers, we’ve learned that the right packaging decisions can help reduce non-recyclable waste and improve overall product integrity. ABB’s packaging manual for suppliers ensures standardised practices across the board and helps to make sure that every level of our supply chain is doing its part for the environment.

When packaging is standardised, recyclable, and designed to align with transport and handling requirements, it not only prevents damage to goods, but it also improves traceability and lowers implementation costs while supporting a more circular economy. Even small changes, like replacing staples or adding protective interfaces between straps and finished surfaces, can make a difference in reducing waste and enabling reuse. To support a more sustainable supply chain, packaging materials must be recyclable and non-toxic, and manufacturers should lean into thoughtful design choices that minimise waste and extend material life. In a climate-conscious industrial landscape, smarter packaging can’t be the cherry on the cake — it has to be a key ingredient. 

Packaging with purpose

For ABB, the true power of sustainable packaging comes to life on the factory floor — nowhere more vividly than in our recent innovation journey in China, where an insight from a customer sparked a re-think of how packaging is designed and reused. 

Customers receiving large motors from ABB’s China facility raised two key problems with nail-assembled wooden crates: first, the safety risk and time required for disassembly; second, the damage caused to the crates during opening, which made the packaging impossible to reuse or repurpose. Working directly with both customers and suppliers, we shifted to self-tapping screw assembly mechanisms that enabled full reuse of crates without compromising stability or robustness.

The changes even eliminated the risk of injury during unpacking and created immediate downstream savings for customers, reducing their new material requirements by up to 40%. Most notably, the new design is expected to conserve approximately 1,200m³ of wood annually by extending the usable life of over 25,000 motor crates — an innovation projected to generate more than 5 million CNY (around US$700K) in direct economic value every year.

The project is testament to how packaging design isn’t just a logistics issue. When done right, it can be a win for profits and for the planet.

While upstream packaging improvement — designing packaging to minimise waste from the very start — is the best-case scenario, it’s crucial that even the waste that does enter a facility can be viewed as a resource. ABB’s IEC Low Voltage sites in India have proven that it’s feasible, but only if managed correctly.

ABB’s factories in Faridabad and Bangalore, both now certified 'Zero Waste to Landfill' sites, have adopted a circular mindset built around the 5R model: Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover. Initiatives have included the full refusal of single-use plastics and strict sorting protocols to ensure waste is sent to authorised recyclers. But what truly sets these sites apart is the recovery element of their strategy. For example,  paint sludge — a hazardous and costly substance to get rid of — is now transferred to cement plants where it is used as an alternative fuel.

As a result, both factories diverted 99.99% of their waste away from landfill in 2024, contributing not only to emissions reduction goals but setting a new operational benchmark for industrial organisations. 

A universal path forward

This World Environment Day, we must scale up the conversation around pollution and recyclability. Every link in the industrial supply chain, from OEMs to distributors to end users, should be putting sustainability first.

ABB’s experience shows that sustainability doesn’t require headline-grabbing innovation; it requires continuous action across the entire value chain. From designing reuse-friendly packaging to partnering with compliant suppliers and recovering energy from what was once considered pure waste, every choice matters. As we continue our push toward zero waste by 2030, the lessons learned from ABB’s own manufacturing operations are ones the wider industry can replicate — one simple improvement at a time.