Mr. Gaurav Jalan is the Founder and Director of Packman Packaging, one of the largest Indian packaging companies that have been serving some of the world’s eminent technology, pharmaceutical, retail, fast-moving consumer goods, food, courier, publication, Jewellery, fashion, e-commerce organizations for the past 30 years. A brilliant academic, a good graphic designer, and a graduate from India’s top management institutes, Mr. Jalan is a visionary businessman and an eminent spokesperson on matters related to the Indian Packaging industry.
There is plenty of packaging going around the globe. Companies such as Amazon, FedEx, and several others ship millions of packages every day. Amazon alone itself ships 5 billion Prime packages every single year, or more than 13 million packages a day. And other industrial shipments add a lot many more to it.
All of these packages moving around the globe are great for everybody’s convenience, but they are not always so good for our environment. Materials such as the cardboard boxes have a less ecological effect, but several other materials, such as plastic packaging and Styrofoam packing peanuts, are not able to biodegrade, while they are also not recyclable. And consumer packaging, like the rings around soda cans or bottles, adds even a lot more waste.
As per the EPA, the packaging alone contributes to a whopping 77.9 tons of municipal solid waste each year — approximately 30% of the total amount of waste. And packaging represents a huge 65% of all household trash.
Packaging also contributes to the high expenses of goods and trash disposal. As per a calculation out of every $10 spent on any commodity, $1 goes toward the expense of the packaging. That is 10% of consumer spending going towards packaging that will eventually end up in the garbage. Furthermore, it costs nearly $30 for each ton to recycle trash, $50 for transport it to landfill sites, and in a range of $65 and $75 to incinerate it, which also releases toxic gases into our environment.
For all these factors, many consumers report a huge investment in environmentally friendly packaging. As per one of the surveys, around 42% of consumers said packaging made out of recycled or sustainable materials would be crucial in their everyday purchase habits. And almost 57% of consumers reported that they are ready to pay a little more for environmentally friendly packaging.
Luckily, there is easy step companies and organizations can take to assist the environment and provide ecologically-minded consumers with what they wish: investing in green packaging. Green packaging is fairly priced and simple to implement, and it provides a variety of benefits both for consumers, businesses, and our planet.
What Is Green Packaging?
Green packaging, also regarded as sustainable packaging, uses materials and manufacturing methods to reduce energy consumption and decrease the harmful effects of packaging on our planet. Green packing solutions mostly include biodegradable and recyclable components in preference as compared to other materials such as plastic and Styrofoam. And green manufacturing methods take steps to lower their power output and reduce the number of greenhouse emissions they form.
Environmentally or Eco-Friendly Materials Used in Green Packaging
The biodegradable or recyclable materials used in eco-friendly packaging could take several different forms. They are any or all of the following:
- Bioplastics, and plant-based plastics
- Recycled paper and plastics
- Post-consumer products, like the recycled bulk bags
Below is a list of some specific green packaging examples present in use across the globe:
- Starch-based biomaterial
- Biodegradable packaging peanuts
- Other plant-based biomaterials
- Mushroom based packaging
- Recycled cardboard or paper
- Corrugated bubble wraps
- Organic fabric
- Post used recycled plastics
All the above said points further prove, that a majority of if not each company is looking to opt for the green with their packaging nowadays. Assisting the atmosphere is simply one benefit of using eco-friendly packaging but the truth is that using eco-friendly packaging products requires fewer materials. This is more sustainable and also yields better results.
Green packaging uses ecologically sensitive techniques as a big amount of energy is consumed up in the production of traditional packaging materials like plastic, paper, and cardboard. Usually, the source of the energy is fossil fuels which spread millions of tons of CO2 and methane into the environment whereas the waste packaging material finishes up in landfills and water bodies.
Green packaging is a method that makes sure cleaner earth. Let us take a look at some of the advantages of green packaging that it brings to our planet.
- Less Carbon Footprint
Eco-friendly or better said green packaging is good for our earth as it is made using recycled waste material which reduces the consumption of resources. Do not focus merely on your financial targets only but look to meet your environmental goals too.
- Biodegradable
Green packaging not merely reduces the carbon footprint and ecological impact but is also beneficial post it has served its complete motive as the packaging materials are biodegradable.
- Simple to Dispose
The sort of packaging one might use is different but it should either be compostable or recyclable. If some of your customers or workers have a compost facility then you can turn that waste packaging into compost. If the packaging has clearly mentioned recyclable packaging then it could be placed into your recycling bin for re-utilization.
- Flexible
Green packaging is diligently flexible and versatile and could be re-used and re-purposed in a majority of the major industries that work with packaging. Whatever one is searching for in a package straight from edibles and electronic devices, there will be an eco-friendly kind of packaging that will meet their requirement and reduce costs.
- No Harmful Plastics
Traditional packaging techniques and materials contribute to global warming and several other ecological issues. Using green packaging lets one decrease the quantity of plastic that one uses. Using non-sustainable petrochemical components that are a part of all traditional plastics requires a lot of energy. Petrochemical products generally, end litter public places and have been linked with specific health problems when used with food.