Sustainable Packaging Innovations

As the population’s environmental awareness increases, more focus is placed on methods to reduce the carbon footprint on our planet. One of these helpful methods is using sustainable product packaging. There have been many noticeable changes in this area, especially in recent years, with more and more consumers demanding environmentally friendly processes from companies.

Packaging, in general, gives a lot of opportunities to create environmental action. There are so many simple ways to cut our carbon emissions in this area, with recycling growing and innovative ideas developing to create less harm to our world. Through these methods minimizing our devastating environmental impact, companies also ensure food safety and convenience for their customers. Therefore, the same standard product is delivered with less harmful effects. So, what innovations are taking place?

Bioplastics Made from Marine Seaweed

Seaweed, being a plant, is a renewable resource in plentiful quantities. This resource is affordable and proliferates quickly, making it efficient in the packaging process. The polymers in seaweed are similar to those found in bioplastics now used in food applications. They break down naturally without producing any harmful waste and can be disposed of through regular packaging collection and food waste.

Corona has launched a campaign, ‘pay with plastic,’ in which customers can exchange plastic waste for beer in some countries to demonstrate their commitment to environmental awareness.

Pulp Bottle Technology

The company Pulpex has introduced a sustainable packaging innovation in the form of a new pulp bottle technology. This is entirely renewable, driving towards greater environmental awareness and the reduced use of plastic packaging. This technology can package spirits, for example, and takes significantly shorter to decompose than ordinary glass bottles.

So, what specific things are companies doing to act on sustainable innovations? Let’s look at a few examples.

Nature Valley Bars

Nature Valley bars have made a change in their packaging, introducing a plastic film wrapper for its granola bar product. This type of material is recyclable with its developed film processing with polyethylene polymers. Wrappers and cartons with this brand have been cleverly marketed to include recycling information on the label, helping people recycle the packaging correctly. The producers also made the bold statement in allowing other producers to use this film technology in hopes that other brands would follow suit in environmental awareness.

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Corona Beer

Corona has launched a sustainable packaging innovation in the form of barley straw. This material packages the brand’s six-pack product through the process of making barley straw into paper fibers. Thus, using less water, harsh chemicals, and energy than traditional processes. The benefit of this innovation is that the packaging is still very durable and reduces the need to obtain virgin timber to produce cardboard for its previous packaging. Corona has launched a campaign, ‘pay with plastic,’ in which customers can exchange plastic waste for beer in some countries to demonstrate their commitment to environmental awareness.

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Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola has launched a campaign to remind and encourage people to recycle their bottle products. The campaign is called 'round in circles' and appeared both outdoors and in print, focusing on transport hubs. The information it advertises is cleverly woven into circular artwork, which is also supposed to demonstrate Coca-Cola’s dedication to helping a circular economy. As well as using sustainable packaging, the marketing this brand has used continues to encourage people to recycle and enjoy the product. By putting information on the product’s label and in adverts, consumers might be more likely to buy these products. Simply having the recycle logo printed on your packaging can help a great deal!

There’s so much you can learn from this article to help expand your business while reducing the harmful carbon emissions you release into the atmosphere.

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Key Takeaways

• Simply swapping plastic materials for paper materials, when possible, can reduce environmental harm significantly.
• Customers are more likely to purchase your products if they know they are not harmful to the environment.
• You can guide people in recycling properly by printing clear instructions on your product label.
• You can make a huge difference to help our planet!
  
  

Deciding to act within your company to produce sustainable, eco-friendly packaging can undoubtedly increase your business's chance of success. Even taking simple steps can heavily reduce our negative environmental impact on the planet – especially if your product is mass-produced.

If you are a marketer, you might not have a say in how products are produced and packaged. However, you will be in control of how the products are marketed to consumers. The key takeaway that marketers can take from this article would be that you should generate the idea that your company’s brand is active in environmental awareness for the most success. Give consumers a reason to pick your product over the competition.