The term “eco-friendly” seems to have evolved into “sustainability” which now includes the entire supply chain and not just the materials being used. Having truly sustainable packaging takes into consideration raw materials, transportation across the chain (also known as carbon footprint), production safety and waste, fulfillment practices, and end-user/consumer disposal. In other words, seen as a complete “life-cycle analysis”; see this article here for more.
For my purposes, I’m going to simplify this enormous subject and condense it to just the product packaging (not including packing materials or shipping materials). What I find is that all discussions seem to revolve around 4 basic questions, and these questions, in turn, can be used to qualify and evaluate your packaging before you establish a strategy that fits your brand’s goals.
Sustainable Packaging Questions:
#1) Can the materials used be recycled and/or re-pulped?
First, I’ll define recycle and re-pulp:
Re-pulping: The process by which paper is put into a pulper and thermally broken down into fibers producing pulp slurry. This slurry can then be made back into paper products.
Recycling: “There are three main types of recycling: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary recycling, also known as closed loop recycling, is the process of turning one thing into more of the same thing, like paper into more paper or soda cans into more soda cans. Secondary recycling means turning something into other things made of the same material in essentially the same form. Tertiary or chemical recycling, on the other hand, requires breaking materials down chemically to produce something very different.” [Quote borrowed from ecogreenequipment.com – see the full article here.]
Raw materials used in packaging are plastic, metal, glass, and wood.
Wood (paper) products can, of course, be re-pulped.
Metal (tin/aluminum), glass, and wood materials can all be recycled.
Plastics can be deceiving as they all look similar but not all can be recycled, even if they have a recycling symbol as stated well on the Eartheasy blog
Here is a chart that shows the different types of plastic and whether they are recyclable, reusable, or even compostable.
Plastics that can be recycled locally or added into the “blue bins” should be the types to seek. Stay away from the obvious bad ones such as numbers 3, 6 and most of the 7 category.
#2) Are the packaging materials coming from renewable raw materials?
Renewable: Is a material that is made naturally that can replenished again and again.
Only packaging made out of wood raw materials or paper-based packaging is renewable, such as molded paper pulp used for inserts, paperboard (folded cartons), chipboard (rigid boxes), and combined board (corrugated boxes).
At times, however, paper-based packaging are not enough to preserve and protect products throughout the course of their retail shelf life. To remedy this, some companies apply a plastic lining, or wax, or infuse the paper with other materials such as latex in order to strengthen the paper-based (folding carton) packaging. Keep in mind this renders these folding cartons non-recyclable.
#3) Are the packaging materials being used made out of recycled content?
This is split between 2 main types of recycled content: Industrial waste, also known as pre-consumer waste, and post-consumer waste. The common percentage of content waste in packaging materials is typically 10%, 30%, 50%, 80%, and 100%. There may also be a range between how much is pre-consumer vs post-consumer.
A lot (if not all) industrial (pre-consumer) waste is not tracked or monitored. Simply using recycled content that is untracked is not ideal, especially if the pre-consumer/industrial waste comes from another country because there is no way of knowing all that is in the materials themselves or how much care is taken in the process of recycling. In order to be truly sustainable, the ability to trace the raw materials is essential. Third party certifications are a great resource for ensuring the legitimacy of recycled content and can also confirm that the ecosystem from which the raw materials were derived are managed responsibly.
Whenever possible, choose post-consumer. If certified by a 3rd party, even better. Generally speaking these materials are typically better quality and it helps to promote more consumer recycling. Using 100% post-consumer may be a huge leap for your company, but start out with at least 10% and work your way up to 100%.
Here are links to key companies that handle certifications and that will work with your manufacturer:
#4) Can the packaging be reused and/or repurposed?
I always wonder why packaging, especially box-type packaging, isn’t being designed to be easily converted for the various storage needs of consumers. I believe there is a huge missed opportunity here to develop packaging for repurpose usage at the consumer level, especially if the packaging does not come from renewable materials or cannot be recycled. Not only would it acheive a sustainability goal, but it would also become a compelling story to share with customers as a social marketing strategy. To see examples of how creative people are reusing packaging, check out my Pinterest board
I propose, that during the development stages, engineers and designers think about a 2nd life the packaging can potentially have, and promote quick and easy solutions either right on the packaging itself or within its contents (inside printed message). Perhaps even hold a contest that consumers can participate in and offer a prize for the best concept or idea for repurposing the packaging.
Showing customers how to reuse or repurpose your packaging can improve brand loyalty by strengthening the customers connection and daily associations with it, and also save the packaging from going into the landfill.
So how does all of this affect costs? Well of course it is all relative but if you know me, you know I like to reveal what the industry doesn’t reveal. In my experience I’ve noticed the following:
Generally speaking, if you can endure an increase in your current packaging anywhere from 10 – 25%, you can manage just about any type of sustainable packaging. Does this mean you must sacrifice profits? No! In fact there are recent studies about consumers’ willingness to pay more money if they know the packaging and products are more sustainable. See these articles here, here and here
To get additional resources and information here are two key industry websites:
sustainablepackaging.org
how2recycle.info
If you need help finding a supplier or simply need to be pointed in the right direction, please contact me here.
This has been a part of my tutorial series called How to Buy Packaging 101. So click the link below to head back if you haven’t finished reading it yet. 🙂