Negosentro.com | Sustainable Packaging Brands and How You Can Be One Too | You’re in a day and age where people have grown so concerned about issues in the environment. And since everything seems like a matter of public information, awareness is often fueled by the fact that anything can be read through the internet.
One such awareness is about the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, which is a project of the GreenBlue®. This is about using packaging materials that are developed to improve sustainability and reduce ecological footprints.
Features of Sustainable Packaging
The common misconception about attaining the sustainable packaging status is that it just revolves around what most companies have been trying to include in their vision for many years – the green movement. However, its primary goal is really improving the quality of life and longevity of both humans and natural ecosystems.
To achieve this, some criteria that may be considered in relation to sustainable packaging brands activities that gear toward sustainability and environmental impact. These considerations include having packaging that should be:
- Safe, healthy, and beneficial for all communities and individual throughout the packaging’s life cycle
- Able to meet the market criteria in terms of cost and performance
- Sourced, produced, manufactured, transported, and recycled from renewable energy
- Made from materials that are considered healthy throughout their life cycle
- Manufactured and produced through technologies that are considered clean and having the best practices in place
- Able to enhance the utilization of recycled or renewable resources and materials
- Designed aesthetically in order to optimize or improve the materials and energy being used.
- Able to recover and utilize sustainable packaging in biological and industrial closed-loop cycles.
Brands Known for Sustainable Packaging
If you feel the need to improve your standing to gain the respect and support of green consumers, you may need to look up to some brands to emulate.
Below are some of the most well-known brands in the world that can show you a thing or two on how to comply with sustainable packaging standards:
- Coca-Cola – the number one soda brand in the world has partnered with some firms in order to improve its cans.
The drive was so successful that the recycled cans account for about 3/4 of its supplies in developed markets.
- Colgate – this toothpaste giant has spent five years to come up with tubes that can be more eco-friendly without sacrificing the toothpaste’s quality and flavor.
With the introduction of a new tube that utilized a high-density polyethylene, you won’t be surprised if it can fulfill its commitment to using 100% recyclable materials by the year 2025.
- McDonald’s – the fast-food giant has committed that it’ll be using 100% guest packaging that’s made from recyclable and renewable materials by 2025.
- Pepsi – known as the first soft-drink brand to introduce the two-liter bottle, Pepsi strives to come up with a packaging design with 100% biodegradable materials that can reduce its carbon footprint.
- Nestle – the world’s largest food company has committed to reduce the packaging it uses by around 140,000 tons by the year 2020 and to use 100% recyclable packaging materials by 2025. One example is its “Yes! Bars” recyclable paper wrapper.
- Procter & Gamble – this billion-dollar health and home brand has been ensuring that it reduces packaging per consumer use by 20% and that around 90% of its packaging is recyclable.
- Unilever – the company is looking forward to achieving 100% recyclable and reusable plastic packaging materials by the year 2025. It particularly focuses on black plastic packaging, which used to be an issue but was resolved by developing a new coloring system that removes carbon.
Apart from this, it’s also targeting to reduce the waste from the disposal of its products in half.
How Can You Attain Sustainable Packaging Status?
The criteria previously discussed seem to be very broad, but in actuality, there’s no exact definition for manufacturers to follow. However, there’s a general framework with which these criteria are patterned.
These are the following:
- In terms of materials – the packaging is being checked for recyclable materials content. The more of these, the better.
- In terms of components – the more minimal the contents are, the better the likelihood of recycling, which tantamounts to lesser carbon emission during manufacturing and transportation.
- In terms of efficiency – the packaging should also be able to work as efficiently as intended. An expectation of the packaging is that it should be able to protect the product when transporting it from the warehouse to consumers’ homes.
- In terms of innovation – to be given more weight or recognition, the packaging should undergo thorough research and development or given careful thought and effort.
- In terms of design – sustainable packaging need not sacrifice aesthetics. It should still be appealing despite being environment-friendly.
Parting Words
Companies, including yours, need not be surprised when customers come barging at your stores, knowing full well whether your product’s packaging has complied with health standards or you’re red-marked by environmental authorities. They simply know too much nowadays.
Because of this, you would be working at the mercy of these environmentalists, but all for a good reason. When all the people and the entire planet are the ones who are going to benefit, who’s complaining?
