Sustainable Packaging – Why Your Business Needs It
                     SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING 
W–HY YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS 
IT
oxopackaging.com.au
REDUCED WASTE:
The focus  on susta inabi l i ty  is ga in ing  ground among  compan ies  and  consumers.  
The three “Rs” o f  susta inabi l i ty  – reduced  waste, recyc led content  and  reuse – are  
 key areas  o f  focus. Companies  reduce waste by  redes ign ing single-use 
mater ia ls   and  swapping them fo r  more susta inable options. This e f fo r t  has 
spawned a   growing body o f  susta inable packag ing  materia ls.  L isted below are  
some  examples. The fo l lowing examples show how manufacturers  and  retai lers 
a re   tack l ing  the prob lem o f  packag ing  waste.
To ach ieve this, packag ing  mater ia ls  must be  decoup led f rom fossi l  feedstocks  
and  solve the prob lem o f  pers istent p last ics in the environment. I n  the EU, fo r   
example,  i f  100 mil l ion tons o f  o rgan ic  waste are  converted  into 50 mil l ion tons 
o f   compost,  that ’s  over 50 mil l ion metr ic  tons o f  ca rbon  dioxide. Bio-based 
mater ia ls   should be  b iodegradab le  and  home-compostab le  by  2050. Bio-based 
packag ing  is  a lso an  ideal  solut ion to  the pers istent prob lem o f  p last ic  waste 
and  is in  accordance  with the EU Circular
ECONOMY STRATEGY:
Innovat ive packag ing  is another  opt ion to  reduce  
waste. Some innovat ive mater ia ls  produce  the same 
 e f fec t  without  the need fo r  excessive packag ing.
Carlsberg, f o r  example, rep laced p last ic  r ings ho ld ing 
 s ix-packs o f  beer  with dots o f  glue. I n  addit ion, ICA  
Gruppen is exper iment ing  with laser etch ing  to  rep lace 
 labels on f resh fru i ts  and  vegetables. Companies 
are   a lso develop ing water-soluble f i lms fo r  laundry  
detergents  and  edib le  coat ings  to  keep food  fresh.
REDUCED SHIPPING 
COSTS:
A growing number o f  consumer and  shipper-or iented companies  are   
turn ing  to  sustainable  packag ing,  which can  reduce sh ipp ing costs by  20  
per  cent  or  more. Accord ing  to  J o r ge  Izquierdo,  PMMI ’s  v ice pres ident  o f  
 market  development, sustainable packag ing  not  only helps pro tec t  
the  env ironment but  a lso increases prof i tabi l i ty.  I n  fact,  a  recent  
survey o f   mil lennial  consumers found that  near ly three-fourths are  
wil l ing to  pay   an  ext ra  5% fo r  environmental ly  f r iendly  products.
The f i rst  step towards implement ing  susta inable  packag ing  is to  rep lace 
 a  few products. I f  you have an  ongo ing  supply o f  c lothing, you can   
rep lace  one size o f  a  garment  with susta inable  packag ing.  Once you’ve  
mastered this step, you can  then progress  to  larger  orders. I n  add i t ion  
to  reduc ing  sh ipp ing costs, susta inable  packag ing  minimizes waste and   
increases the e f f i c iency  o f  storage.  I n  turn, i t  can  reduce s torage  costs  
and  create  add i t iona l  space.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
Whi le packag ing  fac i l i ta tes  sa fe  p roduc t  d is t r ibut ion and   
del ivery,  i t  a lso  cont r ibutes  to  the  growing  g loba l  stat ist ics   
o f  two bi l l ion tons o f  mun ic ipa l  sol id waste per  year. I n   
deve lop ing and  underdeve loped countr ies,  th is burden is  
even greater .  Ach iev ing susta inab le  packag ing  des ign  
means  tack l ing  severa l  cha l lenges  a t  once.  These cha l lenges 
 inc lude rap id ly  chang ing  c l imates, po l lut ion o f  
waterways,  spec ies ext inc t ion and  o ther  env i ronmenta l  
cha l lenges  o f   l a rge  scale. Susta inabi l i ty  c an  improve the  
bo t tom l ine o f   businesses by  cont r ibu t ing  to  a  more  
susta inab le  future.
CONTACT US
oxopackag ing.com.au/
(02) 7228 8555
[email protected]