Packaging is a necessary mechanism to transfer our products to our customers; one that requires significant consideration and forethought to ensure that our products are delivered with maximum efficiency and a minimal environmental impact. Our Global Environmental Packaging Reference Guide and Packaging Protocol have been developed to assist the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies in efficient and effective packaging design.
We also work to reduce the weight of our packaging and the energy used to make and transport packaging, and to increase the post-consumer recycled, sustainable and biodegradable materials used.
We achieved our Healthy Planet 2010 goal to ensure that at least 75 percent of our paper-based packaging contains at least 30 percent post-consumer recycled (PCR) content or fiber from certified forests. In fact, by the end of 2010, 97 percent of paper-based packaging met these criteria. Looking ahead, we will continue our efforts to continuously improve the design, sourcing and manufacturing of our products that use paper-based packaging.
We have also established minimum requirements for PCR content for glass, certain plastics and metals in our Consumer Products sector and have set a goal to reduce the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in packaging across the company. PVC is used both in primary packaging (which comes into direct contact with the product) and secondary or tertiary packaging (which does not come into direct contact), such as bottle cap seals. See the section on PVC Elimination for additional information on our efforts to reduce PVC in packaging.