Packaging Design
8 Actions To Design Sustainable Packaging.
Here are examples and practical actions to design more sustainable packaging solutions.
In 2017, all packaging materials waste resulted in a total volume of 77.5 million tonnes of waste, only in Europe.
At Possibility™, we have been using design and sourcing to lead more sustainable solutions for every packaging experience we design. For example, in our Compakt Case Study, we had the opportunity to share our 7 sustainability achievements — Learn more here.
As business leaders and designers, we have the responsibility to demand and implement change. To prevent the problem and diminish the packaging waste, here are eight actionable solutions to design more sustainable packaging:
1 — Remove or simplify your packaging.
Find ways to remove or simplify your packaging by dissecting all the materials and elements. Using fewer resources means less space in transit, less shipping costs, less packaging for your customer to dispose of and less negative impact.
Be creative. Less is more. Our planet and future generations will thank you for that.
2 — Encourage consumers to reuse or dispose of it properly.
Packaging can have a life beyond shipping. Design strategies to extend the packaging life cycle by using materials that can be reused/ upcycled. Or show your customers practices to give a second life to it.
- Kit Kat origami — designed a paper packaging for the chocolate bars that you can turn into origami.
- Compakt Packaging — A packaging with a learning experience printed directly on its inside — inspiring consumers to cherish it for a longer period of time.
- Find here 25 more creative ways to upcycle packaging.
If extended experience isn’t possible, design your packaging with clear recycling rules and share disposal best practices.
3 — Make smaller packages.
Reducing the carbon footprint can be as simple as reducing packaging size and materials.
By optimizing your packaging, you reduce costs, materials, resources, space and emissions throughout the supply chain before entering at the door of your customer.
Evaluate your product sizes and sales patterns to find the best strategy to optimize your packaging. Study different packaging layout to optimize the number of products you can fit into a standard size shipping palette. The more you can ship in the least amount of space, the better impact you can have.
You either can optimize various sizes for product assortments or use a “one-size-fits-the-most” strategy route.
4 — Avoid mixed/virgin materials.
By mixing materials, you are making packaging that won’t be recycled. To make sure that the packaging can be recyclable, select only one type of material to design your entire packaging. If you can use recycled materials to build packaging, you reduce the need for new resources extracted from our planet.
For example, Piranha Tattoo Supplies packaging was entirely made out of cardboard, a free-glue assembly system and printed on the minimum necessary surface area.
To reduce the long term environmental impact of Piranha’s disposable products, we worked with more sustainable materials and designed a glue-free assembly system.
5 — Use alternative sustainable materials.
During the last years, we have seen the rise of new materials destined to be eco-friendly alternatives to the common fossil fuels materials. New materials which are biodegradable and compostable.
From cork to fruit fibers, and from beer waste materials to bio foams, the number of alternatives is immense. You need to choose the best materials to create your edible packaging, plant-based packaging, recycled packaging or plantable packaging. Here are some examples of materials:
- Mushroom Mycelium Packaging;
- Ecovative Mushroom Packaging
- Orange peel — TIPA
- Alternative materials for more sustainable packaging
6 — From linear to circular — Push circularity in your packaging.
Why does packaging need to be used only one time?
Find solutions to extend the life of your packaging to the maximum. Think beyond the single-use packaging.
For example, Loop is an e-commerce platform that delivers products to customers in zero-waste durable packaging. Loop packaging is collected, cleaned, refilled and reused, extending its life to more than 100 times.
7 — Improve your supply chain and use local manufacturing partners.
The closer your packaging manufacturer is to your shipping warehouse, the smaller the transport carbon footprint will be.
Find local manufacturing partners that match your supplier sustainability criteria. Together you will build more sustainable solutions.
8–Make sustainability a joint effort with your team and stakeholders.
Inspire your team and stakeholders to collaborate on building a more sustainable path.
Introduce conscious possibilities to inspire new thinking and establish sustainability criteria at the start of every project.
Nowadays, everyday products get to us quickly, always wrapped in packaging that have short lives but long-lasting impacts on our planet.
Sustainability is not one isolated effort. It’s an integrated journey. ´
At Possibility™, our integrated approach between product, branding, packaging and marketing allows an overarching perspective of the products and brands we design.
Our approach eagle view has been proven to be fundamental in the way we can help our clients lead more sustainable solutions across brand and product experience touch-points.
If you want to learn more about our approach — let’s have a conversation 👉 hello@designpossibility.com.
What other actions are you implementing to design a more sustainable packaging?
👇 Feel free to share your tips. Let’s explore better solutions together😀
