Eco-friendly packaging seems an ideal measure in a world where pollution levels are often rising, especially in the face of increasing uses of plastic and low recycling rates.
Packaging products are necessary in the economy, to have the opportunity to mobilize the products in both the national and international market.
Packaging has a somewhat complex manufacturing process involving paper pulp, dyes, adhesives and even plastic.
Large amounts of energy are used during the manufacture of the materials used in this process and depending on the machinery used, it may or may not emit greenhouse gases.
Packaging tends not to be reused, so it ends up in landfills or badly disposed of in some of the ecosystems.
For that reason, packaging made of materials that are environmentally friendly and have the ability to be recycled or reused has been developed to reduce the amount of waste.
Learn more about this type of packaging and join the change to use ecological, practical, functional and environmentally friendly packaging.
Table of Contents
What is ecological packaging?
Companies need packaging to store the products they make so that consumers can move them more easily.
With the change of habits in favour of pollution reduction, ecological packaging is the priority for people who buy any product.
So far it has not been possible to develop a type of packaging that does not cause any harm to the environment, but methods have been developed to make it biodegradable.
Ecological packaging is divided into three types: reusable, ecological and minimum.
Reusable packaging
The reusable packaging takes the packaging that has been used to store new products.
An example of this type of packaging is thick packaging, which is often used to protect products that are fragile and need special protection.
They also sort glass bottles that, after a thorough washing process, are used again to store beverages.
Ecological packaging
This group includes the packaging in which the products used to be and, due to their composition, they are disposed of in a recycling container suitable for sending them to clean points.
With their recycling, new packaging is produced that is in better condition and that meets the qualities of resistance.
Minimal packaging
Finally, there is the minimum packaging. This is nothing more than reducing the production of packaging for products that do not need it, a clear example of this is the packaging used for fruit.
With the application of this measure, industries do not have to manufacture more packaging than is necessary, which reduces company costs and pollution from waste or gas emissions.
Materials used to manufacture ecological packaging
The materials used to make new ecological packaging come from clean points, places where they take care of separating the waste that can be processed according to its material.
Years ago, packaging was made of cardboard or plastic, because of the reputation that this type of product had for its qualities of resistance and hardness.
However, they have gradually been replaced by fabrics, paper and even cardboard, mainly because of the growing capacity to extract their raw material and use it to create new products.
Kraft paper is generally used for the creation of packaging. This is used to make gift bags and boxes to store the items that customers purchase after shopping in your store.
Kraft paper has gained a great reputation for its firmness, strength and the different thicknesses with which it can be manufactured
With each of these characteristics, it is difficult to find a type of packaging that cannot be made from kraft paper.
In addition, organic raw materials such as sugar cane, cellulose, or cornstarch have also begun to be used in the production of packaging.
It is common for packaging made from organic raw materials to be used to store food, as it is transparent, suitable for microwave ovens and some of it keeps the temperature.
These packages are manufactured with biodegradable qualities, which degrade much faster than the materials used in the manufacture of common packaging, and can also be used to make compost.
In addition, they are environmentally friendly in producing packaging that is adapted to the products to be introduced. This allows for a reduction in energy consumption.
Why use eco-friendly packaging?
Ecological packaging has great benefits for the care of the environment, for personal and business economy.
Using eco-friendly packaging reduces waste in landfills, as it can be reused to package other products, and also offers the possibility of recycling and building new packaging media.
Eco-packaging is no less than regular packaging. On the contrary, it has all the qualities of strength and durability acquired at low cost.
They are even being developed with materials for superior packaging, compared to products made from petroleum-based raw materials.
Finally, it is worth noting the possibility of bio-decomposition in a short time and without leaving harmful traces on the planet, as happens with plastics that decompose into microplastics that end up killing fish and birds.
How do I use environmentally friendly packaging?
Changing packaging or starting to apply the green packaging method is easy.
There are three fundamental aspects that must be taken into account in order to completely replace common packaging with environmentally friendly packaging.
It may be complicated at the beginning, but over time it will become a favourable habit for your economy and your business, and you will make an excellent contribution to your brand by being green.
Replaces packaging inks
The inks are used to print details about the products and the company logo in a visible size.
Generally, toxic and greenhouse gas-emitting ingredients were used to extend their shelf life, but – with climate change – many companies have turned to the development of environmentally friendly ink.
For this purpose, the inks are manufactured with organic and volatile compounds, such as ethanol or acetone.
Manufacturing inks with these compounds offers other benefits, such as the possibility of fast drying and a shorter lead time in manufacturing products from scratch, shortening waiting times.
Adopting responsible packaging practices
Because of people’s growing awareness and the importance they place on the environment, they often expect their favorite brands to be environmentally conscious as well.
For this reason, the ideal is to demonstrate to your clients that your business works hand in hand with the three Rs of recycling, when purchasing packaging made from recycled or reusable materials.
Another measure, which is not frowned upon by customers, is to encourage them to bring their packaging from home, thus avoiding the use of products that could end up in a container after one use.
In addition, you can place a recycling bin for customers to dispose of packaging if it is not needed.
In this way, you will take these materials to the corresponding clean points so that they begin with a recycling process and at the end, they will be converted again into packaging for various industries.
Improving waste management
Your business workers should be aware of how waste generated during the day should be disposed of.
In case the products can be reused, they will be separated from the products to be disposed of in the recycling containers.
Applying the right method of waste disposal makes it easier for people to work at clean points and quicker to move them to industries that convert them into new products, including packaging.
