5 environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic packaging

Do you and your company think environmentally when choosing your packaging? Packaging is the first physical impression customers make of your company and their order. That paper outperforms plastic in this respect is probably no surprise – which is why we’re here to present 5 brand new and innovative alternatives to your plastic packaging.

What are the benefits of cardboard and paper packaging:

[1] Natural look: paper is one way to improve your company’s green image. This is not unusual when you know that 45% of consumers value companies with an environmentally responsible image ^.

[2] Renewable: paper is made from wood, a renewable raw material that can be recovered and recycled up to 7 times.

[3] Easy to sort: As you know, plastic can be complicated to have to sort, as there are many types of plastic. With paper, it’s easier – as all kinds of paper materials can be sorted together and then recycled (or even composted).

1. Bubble wrap paper

One of the most popular protective materials is undoubtedly bubble wrap. Traditionally, it is made of plastic, more specifically polyethylene. This new paper bubble wrap is made from completely renewable raw material – 100% recycled paper – and is therefore easy to sort, recyclable and shows customers a green image.

The paper is made using a unique production technique capable of producing paper with a slightly wavy relief structure. By composing two layers of paper in this way, the shape of an air bubble structure is mimicked and the result is a material that absorbs shock – perfectly on a par with traditional plastic bubble wrap. What’s even more convenient is that customers can sort it along with their cardboard box.

2. Paper straps

Another heavyweight in traditional packaging is the strap. Strap is used, among other things, to secure and stabilise pallet loads and here the choice of materials is usually limited to polypropylene, polyester and steel. But now you can finally get strapping made of paper. An environmentally friendly, FSC-certified strap made from 95% kraft paper and 5% vegetable glue. A lightweight and flexible form of strapping that is good for manual strapping – the average tear strength is between 45 -55 kg.

3. Paper stretch film

Another innovative paper innovation is stretch film made from 100% kraft paper – this type of stretch film has just won the Scanstar award for innovative packaging in 2022. Normally stretch film is made from plastic but this eco-stretch stretch film is 100% recyclable and can be easily disposed of.

The stretch film is for manual wrapping and can be applied by hand. With a sticky inner layer, this eco-friendly stretch film will stick and make it easy while wrapping your pallet. When you’re done, tear it (by hand) and secure with paper tape. Thanks to the tear resistance of the pallet wrapper, you can be sure that a standard pallet load will remain stable during transport.

4. Padded paper envelopes

Among all these innovative paper novelties, we also find an alternative to the traditional bubble envelope. The padded paper envelope is lined with a honeycomb structure which is a perfect shock absorber. The structure inside is further covered on both sides by a layer of kraft paper – making the whole envelope a product of only one material – paper (Mono-Material). Here in 2022, the envelope has just won the Scanstar award for innovative material and the jury gave it this comment:

“Innovative! Only one material is replacing the previous packaging. Just paper. The mono-material solution gives multiple possibilities. If you compress it, it stays compressed. May be suitable for new applications next year. “

5. Paper tape

Now that we are in the paper packaging and recycling process, we can’t avoid tape. Separating plastic tape from cardboard packaging takes a long time and is a demanding process – but you can avoid it completely if you choose paper tape with natural rubber adhesive. The tape has the same good properties as ordinary plastic packaging tape and is made from silicone-free kraft paper that is recyclable with cardboard packaging.

Need help optimising your packaging for new environmentally friendly alternatives…

… our specialists are ready to help! Via our website you can write to us in the live chat. You can also send us an email at info@rajapack.dk or give us a call on 44 58 77 00 and together we will find the right optimising solutions for your business.

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