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The term ‘sustainable packaging’ has a few possible interpretations. It could be:
Ideally, it’s all of the above. First of all, because your customer demands it. A product that’s overpackaged is seen as environmentally damaging, and for modern, eco-conscious consumers that leaves a bitter aftertaste to their purchase.
They’re not wrong: one of the biggest problems with overpackaging is empty space. The environmental cost? Roughly the equivalent of the annual carbon emissions of countries such as Belgium, Pakistan or Argentina.
Apart from their perception problem, overpackaged goods are also plain annoying. After all, Amazon didn’t declare war on wrap rage for nothing.
The above is backed up by a study conducted by Mintel in 2018 in five European countries:
Another reason to go sustainable – ergo: minimal – is because any superfluous packaging is costing you tons of money. Returning to the empty space problem: solving that issue alone could result in about $ 46 billion a year in potential savings, globally. And that’s a conservative estimate.
By now, you might be wondering: won’t all this minimalism hurt my product during transport? And also: won’t it be … boring?
“No” on both accounts.
To answer the first question: the reason why most packages use a lot of void fill material is because of the aforementioned empty space problem. The better the box fits, the less the product within will be able to shift and shake and the less material you’ll need. Moreover, there’s tons of ways to test beforehand if your packaging is fit to survive the e-commerce supply chain.
And to the second question? As the old saying goes: less is more. Thinking minimal it’s a great incentive to challenge your packaging designers to come up with clever design ideas, adding to a pleasant unboxing experience.
We collected a few examples of companies that took sustainability to the next level through their packaging designs.
Pushchair company Joolz delivers their goods in packaging that contains printed instructions on how to turn the cardboard into a variety of useable objects. Think chairs, birdhouses, or even a lamp shade.
The printed instructions are on the box by the way, instead of a separate piece of paper.
Natural cosmetics company Farmacy won several awards for their nifty box that draws inspiration from the key ingredient of the product: honey. The hexagonal design reminds of a honey comb and unfolds like a bloom.
The entire box is made of a single piece of cardboard, which makes it easy to flatten and recycle.
Again, instead of adding an insert with brand information, the brand story is printed on the inside. Thinking this could work for your brand too? Digital printing is a great, versatile solution that offers a lot of creative freedom and works brilliantly for short runs, as well.
Beauty company Birchbox sends their customer a variety of samples to try each month. The contents are always different, and so is the packaging. By offering limited edition boxes – like a Mad Men one, for example, to honour the series finale – they’re playing into current trends and turning their packaging into collectible items. This way, customers are encouraged to reuse it.
Already, major packaging companies are leading by example. At DS Smith, 85% of all packaging is made from recycled materials. But that’s not all: the company is making an active effort to collect and recycle boxes and make them back into new packaging – a process that takes no more than 14 days.
CEO Miles Roberts explains why:
Book a visit at our Impact Centre to see what’s possible.
