8 Quick Sustainable Packaging Trends in 2020
Be the first to jump on the sustainability wagon to get the upper hand in the competitive market place.
We are now in the last couple of weeks of 2019, and the new year is swiftly approaching. We can all agree that the way we package our products is as relevant today as it was 10 years ago.
Whenever we sign up for a subscription box, we’re subscribing to the customized unboxing experience. Whether we understand that or not, we subconsciously realize that the products are coming with the box and not the other way around.
The packaging is the first aspect of the product that we come in contact with. The way the box looks and the way it feels is what gives the first and most valuable impression of you, your brand, and your product. That’s why it’s essential to put in extra effort and consideration when putting together your packaging for your product.
Here are 8 sustainable packaging trends to follow in 2020.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, and return
Starting off the list, we have the most common phrase in sustainability. When I was in elementary, we had speakers come in and talk to us about the 3 Rs all the time. In today’s culture and society, it’s all about reducing, reusing, and recycling.
However, in today’s market, there is a new R: return. Companies like LUSH is all about returnability. They incentivize returning their black pots to the local retail locations for free products in return. The black pots then proceed to collect until they finally get shredded and molded into new black containers ready to be used.
Black plastic is not the easiest thing to recycle. The majority of consumers are also unaware that black plastic is not to be recycled like regular plastics. Here’s why. Recycling facilities use an optical scanner to identify different types of plastic. As the plastic passes through the machine, light is reflected back to the scanner, which provides the machine material information. Black plastics do not reflect light. Therefore the scanners are unable to pick up the necessary information to sort the black plastic from the rest. This will then contaminate the rest of the plastic that is meant to be made into a new product.
Local supermarkets are beginning to emerge as leaders in the black plastics recycling effort. Sweet Potato is a local independent grocery store in the Toronto Junction area that has advertised its recycling program.
Minimize to maximize
This goes along with the idea of reducing. Being able to package a product does not solely depend on how well your product is protected or showcased. Being able to use the empty space provided efficiently is the new norm. Frankly, it’s what customers look for today.
You can go online and search for “horrible packaging.” I guarantee that at least 50% of the search results will be about a small product that occupies only 1% of a huge box. The other 99% is bubble-wrap or a box filler. Another scenario is the excess use of material for a product that takes up less space than a USB key.
Custom packaging is a fantastic solution to this problem. A custom box design allows you to create your box around your product. You save money on storage space, minimize material costs, optimize shipping, and customers love to see a design that relates to your product.
Bioplastics
Imagine bananas that come in its original protective packaging. Mind-blowing right? Well, now there’s bioplastics. It feels like plastic but is wholly made of biomass. Icelandic design studio At10 repurposed animal skin for meat packaging. This reduces biowaste and meat consumption. Neat!
Save the ink
Inks have been a fascinating subject for a while, and companies have experimented with different solutions to become successful alternatives for petroleum-based inks. Many have turned to soy and vegetable-based inks, which do not release harmful gases that affect human health and our environment. Soy inks are also more natural to de-ink and extremely biodegradable. It’s even more efficient in terms of use and coverage compared to waste and cost.
Edible packaging
As a kid, how many times have you thought about snacking on an edible cup, like Gene Wilder in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? It certainly crossed my mind more than a dozen times.
That sort of innovation has now extended over to packaging. For example, Evoware manufacture sandwich wrappers from edible seaweed. Ooho! has also stirred up some buzz in the last few years by providing London’s Harrow Half Marathon with their edible water balls in 2017.
Compostable and Biodegradable
The modern-day plastic bag has been the bane of the Earth ever since it was first invented in 1965 by Swedish company Celloplast. Today plastic bags plague the oceans along with other waste that is littered all over the world. Initiatives have been made in the last decades to get rid of plastics altogether. Compostable solutions have become a popular trend among businesses in countries around the world.
Biodegradability and compostability are at the core of sustainability. Once you’re done with the packaging, throw it away, and it’ll decompose back into nature. Molded pulp inserts are a common material used within packaging today. It is an extremely sustainable alternative to many packaging solutions within the current industry.
Smart packaging
Packaging today can indicate certain information about the product held in the box. Smart labels have been developed to indicate freshness in food packaging. These labels can show freshness based on temperature, acidity, and the level of bacterial growth. These smart labels can also be applied to cosmetics and pharmaceutical packaging. This is just one way that technology has become a sustainable solution within the packaging industry.
Sustainable communication
In today’s market, customers look forward to finding the next big thing in sustainability. In most cases, the next big thing happens with a small independent company with a stylish and sustainable product. This is the brandless era, and smaller businesses are flourishing while larger companies are struggling to catch up.
More than just the physical packaging, companies today are obligated to help spread the message and values of sustainability to their audience and customers. This is how smaller companies today can stand out from the competition of large brands and corporate businesses.
Check out the 18 Sustainable & Eco-Friendly Packaging Ideas for 2020 at PakFactory.com
