As modern customers tend to support businesses with sustainable practices, eco-friendly packaging has become a standard in the market. This eco-friendly move creates a better alternative for both consumers and businesses to limit their daily usage of harmful materials—free from toxins.
But aside from reducing one’s carbon footprint, eco-friendly packaging offers great flexibility for suppliers and even expands a business’ customer base much quicker. Let’s go through the best sustainable packaging strategies that you can adapt to.
Promote proper disposal
Sharing the best practices for recycling or disposal is a great way to start with a sustainable packaging campaign. However, take note that the actions you need to take or recommend for this should be in line with the city’s recycling process or standards. Still, you can always share general practices by providing clear labeling recyclable or reusable packaging.
Shrink your packaging size
Shipping your products in smaller packaging can help you cut down on material and shipping costs, as well as your ecological footprint. You can opt to use smaller bags, containers, and boxes and fewer filler materials to ship the orders. You also have the option to use a one-size-fits-most method or different packaging sizes for various product assortments. Evaluate your order patterns or product line to decide on the best packing sizes to go for.
Use reusable packaging
Another smart and cost-effective way to promote sustainable packaging is to use materials or containers that are reusable. For instance, you can find many beauty and cosmetic brands today that are using quality glass bottles to store their products, which are 100% recyclable. You can encourage customers to reuse the bottles or offer a refilling service to reduce the production of such packaging materials.
Aside from glassware, you can also choose to use inflatable air pillows that are made from 100% recycled materials. This packaging material is popular for being biodegradable, recyclable, and reusable. And compared to other cushioning options, they offer a more minimal packaging.
Switch to mono-materials
Did you know that composite packaging can reduce the recycling capacity? For such reason, many manufacturers and retailers are making an effort to switch to mono-material packaging for their products. Take note though that this solution tends to be bulkier and heavier than composite counterparts. Also, you might need to use other additives. But if you are looking for something the requires less energy consumption for production and can help you achieve better recyclability, mono-material packaging is worth considering.
Avoid over-packaging
It’s an obvious fact in the retail supply chain that packaging materials are plentiful. As a matter of fact, items are already bundled, baled, or bagged before you could receive them. To minimize the use of packing materials across the chain, be sure to optimize how the products are moved or transported. You can work with your vendors and suppliers to avoid overproduction of items, encourage the use of eco-friendly materials, and consolidate the shipments. Other steps to avoid over-packaging in your supply chain include using proper case sealing, the right void-fill material, and pre-stretch film.
Try minimal packaging
Reducing packaging waste is another great way to help the environment. Want to create less waste? Then utilize minimalist packaging. Apart from shrinking your packaging sizes, it’s recommended to protect goods using shredded cardboard or recycled paper. For wrapping options, you can opt to use a lower gauge of film. And while biodegradable film options seem to be an eco-friendly choice, keep in mind that they are typically a bit costly. You can talk to your supplier about newer biodegradable options that can work for your products or goods without affecting your budget,
Reuse the shipping materials
If you want to maximize sustainable packaging, you can provide your customers with the option to return the shipping materials to you in person or by mail. This is more ideal for the local customers of your business as shipping costs can get pretty expensive. Offering this kind of option to consumers will give them the opportunity to take part in your sustainable efforts.
To encourage frequent returns of the shipping materials, you can give the participating customers a special reward or discount. For example, you can include coupons or samples to the packages, providing both an eco-friendly and memorable unboxing experience to your customers.
The growing trend of eco-friendly packaging is quickly overshadowing the use of traditional packaging materials. From reducing the use of harmful plastics to shipping costs, this sustainable practice is no question a satisfying investment. Create a better image for your business today with these green packaging techniques.
