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We are living in times where not being sustainable is not an option anymore for businesses. Businesses have to make a conscious effort to drive ecologically friendly practices that boost and promote a greener footprint. When it comes to packaging, businesses have to make choices and trade-offs that help them grow their business without harming the environment.
There are a variety of successful strategies businesses can apply to promote sustainable packaging. From the choice of material to overall execution, packaging strategies need to align keeping sustainability in mind. Atlantic Packaging can take over all your packaging requirements to meet your sustainability goals.
What is Sustainable Packaging?
Before we dive into the strategies of sustainable packaging, let’s understand what makes packaging sustainable. There are three factors you need to look into that makes your packaging sustainable:
- The raw materials used for packaging should be 100% recyclable.
- Reducing and streamlining the production process so as to reduce the energy utilization and carbon footprint.
- The ability to reuse the packaging by creating an effective circular economy and increasing the life of the packaging so as to not produce new packaging from scratch.
Sustainable packaging is not just about the environment but also the economic and social cost it bears. For example, going for plant-based packaging or trying to come up with very innovative packaging might come across as sustainable but you might end up endangering plants by cutting trees or clearing up land to grow crops for raw materials. You need to be sustainable and ethical in your packaging to truly be able to serve the environment positively. Check out our sustainability calculator to access how sustainable your packaging is! We’re here to help out your business.
Top Performing Strategies to Make Your Packaging More Sustainable
Location of Packaging Materials
One of the most important factors that affect sustainability is the packaging material and where it is sourced from. Even if the packaging itself is sustainable, it will be negated if your packaging provider is situated far away. The cost of transport and the negative footprint it leaves will not allow your business to reach its sustainability goals. For North American businesses, it is more sensible to go in for a provider situated in Canada or the USA vs South America or Asia. Atlantic Packaging is the leading packaging provider to a variety of businesses situated both in Canada and the USA allowing you to make the right choice when it comes to sourcing packaging.
Amount of Packaging
Make sure to make your packaging compact allowing you to only use the right amount of materials needed. Get rid of unnecessary frills and components that are not adding any value to your end product. With tremendous competition in the market, businesses can tend to get overly creative with their packaging that might require more components than needed that will not only add to your cost but will also make your packaging requirements less sustainable. Customers will appreciate the steps you take to preserve the environment and packaging can be one of the factors for you to focus on. Talk to one of our design experts at Atlantic Packaging who can suggest the best packaging solutions customized for your individual needs.
Size of Containers
Shrinking your packaging and shipping in smaller containers not only reduces your cost of shipping but also the material used. You can either opt for customized packaging for your product to cater to different product sizes. If your business model allows it, you can also opt for one-size-fits-all packaging if your products are standardized or you only require 2-3 box sizes. Look into your product line to understand what your packaging should look like and we can help you customize it as per your needs.
Mixing of Materials
It is not advisable to mix different materials to produce the final packaging outcome. If you mix plastic with paper, the packaging is no longer recyclable for use again. If different materials are fused together, they cannot be separated later for recycling and packaging. Go in for packaging solutions that allow you to reuse packaging material so as to make your endeavors more sustainable. Our corrugated packaging boxes are 100% recyclable allowing you to reuse the boxes again.
Using Less Virgin Pulp
Paper pulp obtained by cutting new trees is known as virgin pulp. In today’s age and environment, it is highly illogical to cut new trees for packaging purposes. Atlantic Packaging is proud to save close to 14 million trees every year as we do not use virgin pulp. Our packaging material comes from recycled materials only allowing us to provide actually sustainable solutions for your business.
Avoid Overpacking
At every step of the supply chain, you must carefully assess and analyze your packaging strategy to be able to reduce the amount of unnecessary packaging. Be it during product manufacturing or retail packaging supplies, there are a variety of touchpoints your business has to cater to. Products are bagged, packed, shipped internally through different processes before being packaged and shipped off. Your final packaging is not the only determining factor of your sustainability index. Talk to manufacturing partners as well to understand how you can reduce waste by avoiding overpacking at different stages.
Atlantic Packaging – Your Choice of Sustainable Packaging Partners
Sustainability drives Atlantic Packaging forward and we have come up with various innovative strategies to provide sustainable packaging to our clients. From using 100% recycled raw materials to coming up with logistic solutions, Atlantic Packaging can truly help you make a positive impact on the environment through smarter packaging. Contact us today to allow us to understand your unique business needs. Our design team will come up with packaging solutions tailored to your requirements. Join hands with Atlantic today to make the earth a greener planet!
