Over the years, the packaging industry has been shifting toward more sustainable practices. With businesses wanting to reduce their carbon footprint, there’s been a wave of innovative, eco-friendly options and alternatives. One way companies can make a big impact is by adopting sustainable custom packaging, which offers both environmental and practical benefits.
Let’s dive into four ways custom plastic packaging is helping businesses hit their sustainability goals!
Using Recyclable Materials
Even the most innovative sustainable plastic packaging design won't make a difference if you're using materials that can't be recycled. Plastic waste polluting the environment and harming wildlife is a serious issue, so choosing the right materials is crucial for sustainable packaging.
Traditional plastics with high resin codes are difficult to recycle because their chemical bonds are essentially permanent. On the other hand, thermoplastics can be melted down and reused, making them a much better option for sustainability. Materials like PET, PCR, or even HDPE have lower recycling codes and are easier to break down. This makes materials like these ideal choices for eco-friendly packaging.
Strive for Optimized Designs
Have you evaluated your packaging design lately? Finding ways to upgrade and optimize it could be well worth your time.
Older packaging designs are often inefficient, with lots of empty space. This translates to excessive plastic use, heavier gauge materials needed, and, in turn, more packaging waste—especially if it isn't made with eco-friendly materials. As such, rethinking your packaging design and developing a more optimized package for your product could result in the use of lower gauge materials, drastically decreasing your overall environmental carbon footprint and financial burden.
Freight and Shipping Impact
Shipping boxes from location to location can not only have an environmental impact, but it can also be costly if not done efficiently. While your business may not have full control of shipping and the supply chain, you can potentially lower the total number of trips with more optimized packaging designs. Designs that nest together and fit the product perfectly are practical and environmentally sustainable.
An inefficient packaging design can cause each package to take up more space than needed during transit, meaning that you'll need more vehicles and boxes to ship them to customers and vendors. However, designing the right package will allow your staff to stack and fit more of them into each shipment, lowering your cost and environmental impact.
For Custom Eco-Friendly Packaging Solutions, Turn to Munot Plastics
If you're interested in sustainable packaging solutions, Munot Plastics has you covered. We develop, design, and manufacture optimized packaging products using recycled materials for almost every industry. We can help bring your packaging idea to life, from concept to completion.
To learn about the materials we use and our other services, give us a call today!
