Most companies, those that work with physical products, need packaging materials to prepare what they produce for transport so that it arrives undamaged at its destination. Many are now switching to sustainable materials in packaging.
Until now, plastic has been one of the preferred materials, but gradually becoming more environmentally conscious in society. and it seems that present and future laws will be in line with this, so the way products are packaged for transport must be changed.
What is sustainable packaging?
They are those that have taken into account the principles of eco-design during their production process. Here it is important to emphasize that sustainability must be taken into account from the time the box or container is manufactured until it is recycled.
It is worth clarifying this point, because sometimes we talk about sustainable packaging only because it is possible to recycle it, and it may not be sustainable if it has used enormous amounts of energy in its manufacture or if polluting products have been used to do so.
What are the characteristics of packaging made of sustainable materials?
Packaging must have a series of characteristics in order to be considered sustainable. They have to comply with all of them, because if they do not comply with only one of them, they cannot be considered good for the environment.
Recyclables
It’s over to use and throw away materials because the planet can’t take it anymore. When we buy a product and open it, we generate a large amount of waste from the packaging, which must be recycled in its entirety.
A good example of this is thecardboard packagingIt can be deposited in a paper container when we no longer need it and we are seeing more and more of it replacing plastic, which can also be recycled, but it does not comply with some of the points we are going to see below.
Biodegradable
There are times when these wrappings that protect the products we buy are not recycled. There are several causes, but it is not uncommon for them to end up in the field and it is therefore essential that they are biodegradable.
This means that nature itself is responsible for disposing of them and integrating them into the earth without contamination, which is not the case with plastics.
When they are not recycled, they end up in the environment and can take more than a century to decompose, fouling the area where they are and eventually entering the food chain.
Therefore, although plastic is recyclable, it is not sustainable packaging.
Made from recycled materials
Another point for us to talk about packaging that is good for the environment is that its manufacture is made from materials that have been recycled.
Returning to the example of the cardboard box, the paper used to make it must come from paper from the blue garbage cans in our cities, without having to cut down a single tree to make it.
Reusable
Use-and-throw away cannot be a norm so packaging should not end up in the trash or recycling once it has been used once.
It is true that recycling is always possible, but the best way to be sustainable is not to use energy between each use, or in other words, to use it several times before it goes through a recycling plant.
What materials are they made of?
Now that we have seen the characteristics of packaging that can be considered sustainable, we must look at the materials they are made of.
Cardboard
Of all the raw materials that can be used to make boxes or packages in which to store, ship or sell products, cardboard is one of the most sustainable.
It is not the strongest, but when corrugated cardboard is chosen it can be reused, since it is very resistant and does not break easily even if it is subjected to many blows.
In addition, a box as we all know it is more than 80% biodegradable.
Vegetable plastics
It is now possible to manufacture plastics that come from vegetables such as potato or corn starch, and these are the type of plastics that we notice as “strange” and that do not resemble traditional plastics, even though their characteristics are very similar.
It is resistant, 100% biodegradable and comes from renewable sources, which is why it has been chosen to replace the enormous amount of petroleum-derived plastic we have been using until now.
Glass
For consumer and cosmetic products, it is one of the best packaging available, as it preserves the contents very well and is one of the few materials whose recycling is integral, since 100% of a container that we throw into the green container is used.
So much so that it is said that glass has a life cycle that never ends and you cannot distinguish a recycled container from one that has been manufactured for the first time.
Wood
Wood was once the queen of packaging and is now back because it is one of the best materials for its durability, which means that it can be used over and over again, even for years in transport processes.
If it is damaged, it is burned to obtain energy, which is considered clean and renewable.
All companies are increasingly concerned about using sustainable materials in packaging. It is something that your customers demand so you can enter the contact us section if you have questions about how to adapt your company to this new trend that demands us to be more and more sustainable.