Consumer Packaged Goods

Holistic packaging solutions for safety, performance and sustainability

As e-commerce continues to grow globally, the shipping of goods is an increasingly important factor in customer satisfaction, experience and product differentiation. Products that arrive damaged result in returns and lost revenue. Additionally, consumers are increasingly aware that packaging waste has negative environmental consequences.

Therefore, packaging is an essential component of a product and deserves the same care and attention as the product itself. Packaging can represent a significant portion of the cost of goods and serves the critical function of delivering value to the consumer, whether in preserving the quality or safety of the product or delivering it in an easily consumable format.

This is why taking a holistic approach to the safety, quality, performance and sustainability of your products’ packaging can be extremely beneficial for retailers business.

UL Solutions’ full range of performance, sustainability and chemical content solutions for packaging — as well as our qualified status as International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) and Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier Network (APASS) testing laboratories — enable retailers and manufacturers across a variety of industries that their products arrive intact while addressing the sustainability and chemical impacts of packaging.

Areas of expertise

Physical and performance testing

Performance and physical testing on your packaging can help determine whether the packaging will hold up during transit and is durable enough to stay intact all the way to retail shelves.

ISTA Testing
Amazon APASS and ISTA 6 Testing
ASTM D4169 - Standard practice for performance testing of shipping containers and systems, including medical devices
Packaging validation and stability studies for device transport and storage

Chemical and microbiological testing

Chemicals can be present in packaging materials to achieve specific performance goals or unintentionally due to contaminations or impurities. UL Solutions provides a wide portfolio of chemical testing according to current legislation of your target markets, such as:

Heavy metals according to Packaging Directive 94/62/EC
Short-chain chlorinated paraffin (SCCP) and flame retardants according to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP) Regulation 2019/1021
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalates, dimethyl fumarate and flame retardants according to REACH Regulation 1907/2006
Substances of very high concern (SVHCs) on the Candidate List of substances subject to notification and communication obligations according to REACH Regulation 1907/2006

person's hand holding a packaged bread product

Food contact materials testing

Testing requirements become even stricter when dealing with packaging that will be in contact with food. UL Solutions’ food contact experts know exactly how to evaluate these types of packaging with chemical analysis, testing and advisory services, such as:

Global migration to different food simulants
Specific migration and determination of the total content for various substances, heavy metals or of primary aromatic amines (PAA)
Labels, warnings, and risk assessments
Protocol development for your target markets
Supply chain management solutions

Sustainable packaging

Whether conducting carbon footprint measurement to begin assessing the true environmental impact or embarking on a comprehensive effort to overhaul packaging starting with sustainable design, UL Solutions can help.

person's holding a rectangular box in front of a green background

Recycled Content Validation according to UL 2809, the Environmental Claim Validation Procedure (ECVP) for Recycled Content, which authenticates post-consumer and pre-consumer closed-loop or total recycled product.
For product recyclability needs, UL Solutions offers validations for the calculation of estimated recyclability rate according to UL 2789, the Environmental Claim Validation Procedure for Calculation of Estimated Recyclability Rate
UL 2485, the Environmental Claim Validation Procedure (ECVP) for Recyclability of Paper-Based Products.
Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) provide information disclosure of a product’s environmental impact from a life cycle perspective.
Our Product Carbon Footprint Verification Program will help you verify that the carbon footprint of the packaging meets industry standards such as ISO 14067.