2020 is expected to be a year of action and reaction for sustainable packaging, building on the fast-growing developments we have seen in the last two years.
What is Sustainable Packaging?
Sustainable packaging is packaging that decreases the environmental footprint over time.
In a variety of ways, this can occur:
- Ingredients: Use of 100% recycled or raw raw materials
- Phase of production: minimizing the manufacturing process, the supply chain and the carbon footprint
- Reusability: the development of a circular economy around the packaging, its lifecycle and usefulness being extended.
It’s safe to assume that sustainable packaging is about the environment altogether. It should also take economic and social variables into consideration. The economic aspect needs to be addressed in Eco packaging. Compared to conventional oil-based / single-use packaging options, it needs to be competitively priced. Not only is sustainable packaging design seen as vital to the circular economy, but just as important to the customer.
Labeling something ‘environmentally-friendly’ doesn’t mean it’s sustainable. Similarly, it doesn’t mean it’s ethical to mark anything as sustainable. Most sustainable packaging; Corrugated cardboard is the go-to option for sustainable packaging since it is organic. Boxes of cardboard come in various shapes and sizes. But another of the benefits of cardboard is … well, its thickness. An unbelievable amount of weight can hold double and triple-walled cardboard boxes.
But here’s why sustainable packaging is important
In fresh goods, packaging plays an important role: it increases the shelf life, maintains compliance with food safety requirements, and decreases food waste. But there are also opportunities to improve packaging, especially when it comes to its environmental effects.
It is also important because it decreases the ecological footprint of all phases of the life cycle of the product. It allows both the manufacturer and the customer to reduce their effect on the environment.
The Sustainable Packaging Union is in turmoil due to the pandemic. Health and safety issues, and the importance of packaging in this regard, have clearly shifted the social needle in a positive direction. The importance of hidden benefits is not known by everyone until those benefits are no longer hidden, and that’s the case right now.
What about Sustainable Shipping ?
Although non-environmentally friendly packaging can be an enormous problem when it comes to global warming and our environmental effects, it is also particularly important to ship goods.
Shipping companies such as Power Forwarding use sustainable shipping strategies to ensure that the shipment arrives with minimal effects on the environment at the target destination. Technology is increasingly making it easier for companies to prioritize sustainable methods of transportation, including the preparation of the most effective and responsible routes for freight transport.
Sustainable packaging and shipping function hand-in-hand, as if you have sustainable packaging and it is more true to the size of the product, there is space for shipping more packages. The less shipments required, the less resources and the lower your carbon footprint is going to be.
The way we treat packaging is expected to evolve and change with a global shift toward combating climate change. Sustainable packaging is only going to become more relevant rather than becoming an alternative option.
