The Sustainable Packaging Coalition recently released its upgraded version of COMPASS (Comparative Packaging Assessment). Developed in 2009, the design-phase web application creates comparative environmental profiles of packaging designs.

“With nearly 100 companies using COMPASS, we were looking to make the system more robust and decided to evaluate and upgrade the software, along with the server system,” says Minal Mistry, project manager for SPC.

In addition to assessing consumption and emission metrics, the 2.0 version will look at the transportation impacts associated with packaging distribution, assess the environmental impact of multipack scenarios, compare single-use packages with refill alternatives and include an enhanced user interface.