The eCommerce and business worlds continue to witness packaging challenges and issues constantly. In most cases, the existing packaging ways pose a significant threat to the environment.
Today, however, engaging in sustainable packaging like mailer bags and using edible or plant-based packaging are becoming increasingly popular.
Multiple small and large-scale organizations call for more eco-friendly and collective efforts to keep the planet cleaner and greener.
This article will find all the necessary details about different types of sustainable packaging to incorporate into your organization.
What is considered sustainable packaging?
Sustainable packaging refers to the development, sources, and use of packaging solutions with minimal carbon footprint and environmental impact. It is entirely eco-friendly and does not cause any further damage or depletion of the earth’s natural resources.
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) works alongside the government and businesses to help reduce environmental complications of packaging in Australia.
The criteria for sustainable packaging can be defined as:
- Safe, healthy, and beneficial for individuals and communities throughout its lifespan
- Fits the market criteria for cost and performance
- Sourced, transported, manufactured, and recycled using renewable and natural resources
- Enhances the use of recycled or renewable source materials
- Manufactured using safe cleaning and production technologies
- Manufactured from healthy materials throughout the life cycle
- Physically designed to enhance materials and energy
- Can be recovered effectively and reused
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What are the advantages of sustainable packaging?
A lot has been said about sustainable packaging strategies and solutions, but very little is understood about the benefits and impact on the environment.
This section will give you a brief understanding of the advantages of sustainable packaging.
Helps you expand your customer base
As the world is becoming wiser by the day and choosing more eco-friendly products and services, using sustainable packaging will help you win your customers’ trust and boost loyalty.
Many customers are actively choosing which brands to purchase products or services from as they are more aware of the environmental complications.
Efficient storage
One of the biggest challenges faced by standard packaging strategies is the amount of waste material and sources produced by them. Sustainable packaging beats all these issues by minimizing waste and reducing packaging materials.
This way, you can limit the space required to store your products and lower storage costs.
What are some sustainable packaging strategies?
Now that you know the benefits of sustainable packaging, it’s time to read up on some practical strategies.
Mailer bags
Taking a greener step, one active choice at a time is all that matters. With digital sales going up rapidly, there is an increase in packaging bags that are incredibly harmful to the environment.
However, many buyers are aware of this issue and actively choose brands with sustainability programs that offer sustainable packaging options, including these bags. There are many different types of mailer bags available such as recycled paper bags, poly mailers, compostable mailers, and biodegradable mailers.
Plantable packaging
These types of packaging are one of the fastest-growing ones and are precisely what they sound like. These packages or materials have embedded seeds that will help your customers plant them after they have used them.
This type of packaging is actually ideal for small and lightweight items like jewellery, stationery, etc.
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Compostable and biodegradable
Packaging made of compostable and biodegradable materials can be easily composted at home and commercially. They are generally made from plant-based polymers that quickly break down in compost.
Depending on the quality and materials used, it can take anywhere between 90 to 180 days for these packages to compost fully.
Final thoughts
Shifting to greener options is a conscious choice that many business owners worldwide are making, one step at a time. While it’s necessary to address the climatic and environmental issues arising and growing every day, it is equally important to find solutions that will help reduce the scale of these issues.
Making this choice will be one of the best decisions you will make.
Would you like to read more about eco-friendly packaging ideas-related articles? If so, we invite you to take a look at our other tech topics before you leave!
