Unpacking Plastic Packaging: Carvajal Empaques and the Challenge of Reimagining the Product Life Cycle

At the end of 2018, Ana Milena Munoz, of Carvajal Empaques S.A., a subsidiary of the Carvajal organization, was concerned. She was at a crossroads in her work because of the growing controversy at a global level about the use and disposal of plastic, the company's primary raw material. She had to present the 2019-2023 roadmap on sustainability in a week and had several alternatives on the table. However, she had not been able to get a full picture of the alternatives mentioned during the last meeting of the sustainability committee. Sustainability had made progress, but now, the challenges were significant. In the face of incoming legislation, the company needed to have a response to re-use and dispose plastic. The company had been working with Reciclplas a trade recyclers company. However, despite the support that Recicloplas had been receiving, this organization still had not reached the break-even point and the material it processed could not yet be integrated by Carvajal Empaques into its packaging due to food safety issues. Further, the supply and demand chains for the plastic resins used by the company were not structured in the country. Ana Milena reflected on several strategies to respond to the legislation, fulfill clients' expectations and maintain the social commitment to Recicloplas. These involved reflecting on the types of plastic resins or other raw materials the company would use. ICESI' case collection