The World Business Council for Sustainable Development's SPHERE provides a holistic environmental assessment framework for packaging. It collects all aspects required to evaluate packaging from an environmental sustainability perspective, and is conceptualized to support decision-making for packaging strategies spanning company departments.
The framework is based on six principles, including packaging efficiency circularity, impact on climate change and biodiversity loss, absence of harmful substances and waste mismanagement, and can be used in two ways:
- a portfolio assessment to identify potential hotspots across a range of packaging from a company-level perspective
- an eco-design approach to evaluate different packaging options for a specific product
SPHERE allows companies to prioritize action and monitor their performance. By driving impact and owning their sustainability journey, they will inspire others all over the world to minimize their packaging’s contribution to climate change and nature loss.