Jason Forrester: Chief Packaging Developer - Arla Foods

As a senior packaging developer at Arla Foods, Jason brings deep expertise and a holistic understanding of the opportunities and challenges that define sustainable packaging. His perspective combines technical knowledge with strategic foresight, offering valuable insights into how industry players can collaboratively advance circularity and meet both consumer and regulatory expectations.

The packaging landscape is evolving rapidly, driven by increasing consumer awareness of environmental issues and tightening regulatory requirements. This puts businesses under pressure to innovate and adopt sustainable practices to reduce waste and carbon footprints. For Jason Forrester and Arla Foods, this means embracing collaboration, foresight, and innovation to ensure packaging solutions align with sustainability goals.

Jason’s reflections highlight the importance of industry-wide collaboration, the use of futures thinking, and the integration of new technologies. Together, these elements demonstrate how businesses can navigate the dilemmas of packaging sustainability while responding to consumer and regulatory expectations.

Value of Collaboration in the Industry

Jason emphasises that genuine progress in packaging sustainability requires collaboration across the value chain. Too often, suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers work in silos, optimising the goals of their own organisations, without consideration for broader and long-term impacts. This fragmentation has the potential to erode sustainability progress, hence different approaches and different kinds of ‘business thinking’ are needed.

The participation in the Collaborative Group for the Future of Packaging made Jason more aware of both sustainability challenges and opportunities, and the potential synergies in developing joint solutions and sharing ideas, capital and resources collectively. Collaboration has enabled progress in areas such as waste reduction and material optimisation that no single actor could achieve alone.

Future States Mapping

Through the work of the Collaborative Group, Jason explored possible roadmaps to a sustainable packaging future. These roadmaps should define milestones and success indicators, ensuring accountability and continuous improvement. Shared goals foster joint responsibility, strengthen consumer trust, and demonstrate commitment to environmental stewardship. For example, companies can cooperate on waste optimisation building circular solutions together. Such engagement across stakeholders drives the process of continual improvements in the supply chain.

In addition, Jason notes that the common goals and objectives developed among players in the industry have the capacity to develop a sense of joint responsibility. This, he states, could be a powerful showcase that the brands are dedicated to meaningful environmental management.

A Broader Perspective

The Futures & Foresight programme has changed Jason’s thinking about packaging strategies. He critiques the industry’s tendency toward short-term, reactive approaches and calls for more proactive, long-term planning. Futures thinking equips organisations to anticipate disruptions, adapt to regulatory changes, and leverage emerging technologies. Jason believes that by using future thinking, businesses can develop proactive thinking, which enables resilience and flexibility in innovation. For example, investing in innovations in material science and recycling technologies allows companies to expand their sustainability offerings and strengthen their environmental impact.

The Volume Challenge

Arla’s production of 1.3 billion litres of milk annually creates significant packaging demands. Jason acknowledges the burden that this places on reducing CO₂ emissions and tackling plastic waste. Milk packaging is under scrutiny by society, often seen as an environmental villain, thus, it becomes crucial that the corporation explores all sustainable solutions and prepares for future developments.

Navigating Public Perception

In the age of social media, public perception can shift quickly. Jason notes that negative publicity and misinformation spreads fast, making the case for open and transparent communications with consumers. Publishing information on sustainable progress and developing direct relationships builds trust and strengthens brand reputation.

Commitment to Sustainability

Arla Foods has embedded sustainability across its operations, from farm-level practices to dairy operations. Initiatives include installing renewable power sources such as solar energy and converting waste into biodiesel. These measures align with Arla’s long-term vision of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. As a cooperative, Arla incentivises farmers to adopt sustainable practices by offering higher remuneration for environmentally conscious choices, such as using grass instead of soy for feed./h2>

Arla has also pioneered closed-loop recycling for its milk bottles, which are made of HDPE plastic. Used bottles are collected, washed, and processed into pellets for reuse. Since 2014, Arla has committed to including a minimum of 30% recycled content in all new bottles. This initiative demonstrates how collaboration among farmers, recyclers, and regulators can produce scalable, sustainable solutions.

Future Roadmap

Although Arla is undertaking many initiatives for green transition, Jason recognises that more can still be done in this space. For example, providing detailed, individualised information about the packaging’s environmental impact with insights on recyclability, carbon footprints, and material origins would build transparency and strengthen consumer trust. Environmentally conscious consumerism is growing, Jason observes, and Arla Foods will strive to become a sustainable leader in packaging.

Another aspect of future landscapes lies in the development of better policy frameworks to support circular packaging. A common industry treaty on standardised collection and recycling would help align efforts across stakeholders. Government incentives could also reduce financial risks and accelerate the adoption of innovative reuse systems. According to Jason, government action could support a more united and environmentally progressive response from organisations. The existing regulations, such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) are designed to incentivise circular solutions. However, more understanding from policymakers is needed in reducing the risks associated with the investment costs associated with business model changes. For example, the development of circular ‘reuse’ systems fundamentally change how commercial entities operate within existing economies.

Conclusion

Jason Forrester’s experience underscores that sustainability in packaging requires teamwork, creativity, and open communication. With Arla Foods taking a leadership role, the path forward depends on collaboration among industry stakeholders, policymakers, and consumers. By embracing innovation and transparency, the packaging sector can minimise its environmental impact while delivering value to society.