Nowadays, a good product is no longer enough to satisfy the ever-demanding consumer. Customers are much more aware of the whole package, and many have an eco-friendly conscience. With this in mind, more and more commercial businesses are looking at ways they can include their green credentials into their products. One of the best ways to showcase environmental responsibility and awareness is through innovative environmental packaging.
Throughout the retail world, organisations are looking at the best eco-friendly packaging products to suit their needs. Here are nine of the best eco-friendly packaging products that your business should consider.
What is environmental packaging?
Environmental packaging is designed to be eco-conscious. It uses products and materials that can be easily recycled and is safe for both the environment and people. Ideally, green packaging will use both renewable and recycled material.
Nine top environmental packaging products
- Popcorn
Popcorn is the ideal packaging for protecting fragile items. It protects products in a comparable way to foam nuggets or polystyrene chips. However, it is much lighter, saving energy during transport. Also, popcorn is entirely biodegradable, customers can simply put the popcorn into their compost bins, and it will degrade and become compost for their plants next year.
With popcorn, you can include another environmentally friendly packaging product, such as recycled cardboard for a full solution that completely eliminates the need for harmful, plastic packaging.
- Bamboo
Bamboo grows particularly fast and has strong fibrous properties making it the ideal green material for packaging. Naturally, bamboo can have a use in a range of products from socks to baby wipes. However, the waste bamboo that can’t be transformed into a product can be turned into a pulp which can then be moulded into the packaging.
Bamboo packaging is wholly natural and requires no toxins in its production making it safe to produce and throw away after use. What’s more, bamboo packaging has been shown to be ideal for food packaging as it is safe to be used in microwaves, ovens and freezers. Even better, throughout this, it still maintains its strength and durability and can be used again and again.
- Biodegradable carrier bags
Using flax fibres from industrial waste can be used to create non-woven carrier bags that naturally biodegrade after a specified period of time. Not only do these bags utilise waste products but they also do not require expensive recycling processes or need to be added to ever-growing landfills.
These bags are ideal for retailers who want their customers to join with the eco-friendly revolution. The can also help to differentiate their business away from typical retailers who use wasteful and damaging thick plastic bags. Biodegradable flax bags are a great way of being noticed for your ethical principles.
- Sea plastic
Incredibly, we can save the planet with packaging. Companies are now retrieving the plastic waste from the oceans to create brand new packaging. The plastic that is collected from the sea can then be combined with durable sugar cane for strength to help make strong new packaging.
Not only does this packaging help to reduce the amount of plastic being produced, but it also is an excellent incentive for fishers and those at sea to capture the plastic and clean up our oceans o help protect the wildlife and keep the waters clean.
- Biodegradable custom moulds
Fragile products often require excessive packaging to help to keep them in position during transportation. Usually, this packaging is costly due to its custom design and uses a high quantity of packaging material to keep it safe.
Now you can find customised moulded packaging that is completely natural and biobased which, with the addition of a natural thickening agent, grows around your product to cradle it into position carefully. These custom moulds can then be reused or your customers can add the packaging to the compost bin as it is entirely biodegradable.
- Air
Air is a lightweight, protective packaging that can be used for all manner of products. Inflatable air packaging can be used for electronics, pharmaceutical products and even glass bottles. Air cushioning fully protects products with its shock absorbing characteristics as well as being customised for the right shape and size.
Air packaging is also lightweight, cutting down energy costs required for transport. What’s more, air packaging needs less space than other packaging methods so you can cut your transport costs too.
- Disappearing envpackaging
There is a growing trend for eco-friendly packaging material that creates no wastage and is utterly convenient for consumers as it completely vanishes. You can now find environmentally friendly packaging that produces absolutely no waste and doesn’t even require any recycling.
Packaging products are made from tree pulp, and bioproducts such as starch and corn can then be manufactured so that they disintegrate in water. The non-toxic residue can be safely washed down the drain which is entirely harmless in water. Many products can utilise dissolvable packaging from the food industry to electronics.
- No-packaging packaging
For every retailer, where possible, they should be looking to eliminate packaging altogether. For many products, it is surprisingly easy to get rid of packaging. For example, food outlets can ask customers to bring in their own reusable containers and rolls of bin bags can be stored in the last bag of the pack. Grocery companies are also waking up to the fact that packaging is no longer required.
Zero-waste packaging may soon be the thing of the future. Many products may have an original packaging element to them, which just needs creative tweaking to keep it safe from damage and present it as a quality product.
- Recycled cardboard environmental packaging
For bulk packaging and items of all shapes and sizes, cardboard may still be the answer. However, cardboard can still be environmentally friendly, providing you choose cardboard from sustainable sources. At Ribble Packaging, all of our cardboard packaging solutions are made from 100% recycled packaging, which is then encouraged to be recycled again.
Despite being recycled, the cardboard is still versatile and durable which makes it ideal for a range of packaging solutions. Ribble Packaging provides all manner of recycled cardboard solutions from bespoke designs to on-demand corrugated card machinery.
By utilising recycled products, we can convert the recycled goods into new packaging and save the planet every single day as the cycle continues.
