As climate awareness becomes more and more widespread, a lot of companies have turned to more sustainable packaging to both attract more customers and to minimize their carbon footprint. However with Greenwashing, it can often be difficult to tell if a package is actually “sustainable”. Here is a closer look at the different kinds of sustainable packaging.

Sustainable packaging is a difficult thing to achieve since packaging must ensure that the does not spoil, or spill out. In a study done by Rokka and Uusitalo, one third of customers priortise environmentally friendly packaging when purchasing their products. In fact, it has been proven that switching to sustainable packaging may even increase company profits in the long run. To know what is environmentally conscious, let’s first look at the three categories of sustainable packaging: Renewable, Recyclable, and Biodegradable.

Renewable packaging is produced from renewable materials such as sugar cane, fiber, starch. Biodegradable packaging is when the packaging can be degraded into water or carbon dioxide, and other organic molecules over a few months. Recyclable packaging typically means made with materials such as paper and glass that could be placed in the recycling. There are also other subdivisions in these categories such as compostable, Non toxic, ozone friendly, and packaging can also be made from recycled materials.

There are different criteria for what qualifies as “sustainable” packaging by lots of different organizations such as the green seal (its certification is often seen on products) and more, the criteria put forth by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition states: Sourced from materials that each remain healthy throughout the lifecycle.

• Manufactured using clean technologies and best practices, to optimize materials and energy, thereby meeting/ exceeding competitive performance and cost standards.
• Transported efficiently via fossil fuel alternatives, helping to develop renewable energy markets.
• Recycled, recovered, and utilized in closed biological/ industrial loop cycles.

Plant based packaging is a popular alternative to traditional plastic packaging, used in many grocery stores for meat and others. Plant based packaging used to not be able to compete with plastic packaging, but recently with technology advances, they have been able to bridge the gap between the two. The latest plant based packaging have been able to sustain the same shelf life and are around the same cost.

Paper packaging is also quite a popular type of sustainable packaging, with the Enviormental Protection Agency stating that around 80.9% of recycling rates being paper—an example being boxed is water, a water company producing packaging in paper boxed water bottles, the company claims the packaging is ¾ recyclable made from paper and shipped flat which allows for more space on transport vehicles. Another boxed water company claims its manufacturing produced 52% less green house gas emissions.

All in all, as we progress with climate activism and new innovations are made, the field of sustainable packaging will progress and continue to bring unforeseen benefits.


Image Credits: 

3 Ways to Make Your Packaging More Sustainable - The Packaging Company

Works Cited

Oloyede, Omobolanle O., and Stella Lignou. “Sustainable Paper-Based Packaging: A Consumer’s Perspective.” Foods, vol. 10, no. 5, May 2021, p. 1035. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10051035.

Sustainable Packaging Program – Green Seal. https://greenseal.org/programs/sustainable-packaging/. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Szporer, Ryan. “A Beginner’s Guide to Sustainable Packaging.” GlobalVision Blog, 24 July 2018, https://blog.globalvision.co/proofreading/a-beginners-guide-to-sustainable-packaging/.

The Whole Package: Is “sustainable Packaging” Another Buzzword, or Can It Actually Cut Waste? | GreenBiz. https://www.greenbiz.com/article/whole-package-sustainable-packaging-another-buzzword-or-can-it-actually-cut-waste. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

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