Even though a package is labeled as “recyclable,” it doesn’t mean you can just toss it and forget it. You’re a consumer goods manufacturer, and you’ve invested time and effort into making sure yourproduct’s packaging is sustainable. For example, perhaps you’ve worked with a packaging supplierto develop a flexible package that can be recycled, and […]
Flexible Packaging is Sustainable!
We said it, and it’s true. For specific applications, flexible packaging beats alternative packaging for sustainability hands down. Now you might think that since most flexible packaging is plastic that it doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to environmental friendliness. But we need to look at the sustainable attributes of flexible packaging […]
Sustainability Design Guide: The Road to Greener Packaging
We have all been there: When taking on a project or goal, we often have an idea of what we would like to do but we are not sure where to begin. And sometimes the task is just a vague sense of what we hope to accomplish, without really knowing for sure what the end […]
Need sustainable packaging? Have some flexibility.
Packaging continues to follow other industries in the quest to become more environmentally friendly. Consumers are much more aware of packaging, and many are choosing products packaged in a sustainable manner. This means the packaging is recyclable, or biodegradable, right? Not always. Today’s consumer is concerned with ‘over-packaging’ to a much greater degree than even […]
The Road to Sustainability: Pressure-sensitive Label Edition
When it comes to pressure-sensitive (PS) labels, there are multiple ways to design for sustainability. In developing an earth-friendly package, any of these approaches can be used by themselves, or in combination with others. Let us look at these options: Recyclable Labels Recyclability is probably the first thing one thinks of when designing a sustainable […]
Removing Barriers to Recycling Flexible Packaging
Flexible packaging is very popular due to versatility and marketability of the structures. Flex packaging serves a variety of markets, with a large share found in the food sector, most likely due to the packaging’s ability to be resealed. It’s also lightweight, efficiently transported and provides a very visible brand billboard at retail. Along with […]
Recycling – Coming to terms with the terminology
Everyone knows what recycling means, right? It’s not a new concept, and nearly all of us have been participating in recycling efforts for some time now. We likely have some sort of sanitation receptacle at home where we put all those things we’re told to recycle, and the contents of this container are collected on […]
Life Cycle Assessment Part 1: Revealing more than meets the eye
We’ve all heard the ‘tip of the iceberg’ analogy for explaining how there is more to a given subject than meets the eye. A Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can help reveal environmental impacts, both positive and negative, of a package or label beyond its primary sustainable traits. In fact, an LCA can be run […]
How Green Is Your Packaging? – A Simple Sustainable Packaging Audit
Summer is officially underway, and everything is ‘greening up’ outside. Some businesses experience a little slow down in summer, and that may be a great time to take stock of packaging strategies. A packaging audit can help identify areas of strengths and weakness in your strategy and reveal opportunities to improve performance. In this “season […]
Designing Packaging to Optimize Recyclability
We are all in agreement about recycling everything we can for a healthier world and conservation of resources. Recycling is a key element of an overall circular economy strategy. This is as true for packaging as any other consumable. Yet despite our best efforts, not every package we target for recycling gets recycled. There are […]