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In our ongoing efforts as individuals and businesses to reduce waste and fight pollution, eco-conscious packaging emerges as a crucial consideration. While various initiatives like rightsized and reusable packaging can help address these mounting challenges, the question remains – what about the packaging material itself? Notably, eco-friendly packaging materials fall under three significant categories – recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable.
As consumers, we are quite familiar with recyclable packaging. Recycling cans and bottles from our homes is an action most of us take, but it’s not enough. Thanks to recent progress, we’ve taken greater strides in recycling other materials like packaging film and bags. Recycling them can be hard as we cannot recycle them from our homes, and it requires us to drop off these materials in special recycling locations. Fortunately, companies that can benefit from recycling this type of waste are emerging, offering more solutions for us. One of these companies, Trex, has taken a practical approach, adding recycling drop-off zones and providing educational programs for our youth. The aspiration is for more manufacturers that use post-consumer recyclables (PCR) to follow suit, promoting the sustainable recycling practice of other packaging materials like films, thereby reducing waste.
Compostable packaging, as certified material, has the potential to contribute to compost facilities while its elements, including ink featured in its design, decompose into organic matter. Although such certification may increase the packaging’s cost, the plus side is that they don’t produce any harmful emissions while decomposing, giving back to the earth. Therefore, identifying the symbol on the packaging is vital. This ensures proper disposal since it can’t be recycled but has the potential to contribute to keeping our environment happy and healthy.
Using biodegradable packaging material ensures the product will decompose into carbon dioxide, making it environmentally friendly. When using biodegradable packing materials, it is crucial to dispose of them correctly. If you place them in a landfill where they are covered, not enough oxygen is present for proper biodegradation. This takes even longer with biodegradable materials compared to compostable ones, so care must be taken to dispose of both correctly.
More and more consumers are actively seeking to buy from eco-friendly brands. While the slightly higher cost of these materials may seem discouraging at first, the benefits of transitioning to this strategy are certainly worth considering. We offer a free consultation for our clients to find the right packaging solution for their business. Choose the ideal way to package your products with the right solution that fits the needs of your business.
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