[NL] Top 7 ecological packaging: get inspired here!
6min read
06/09/2023
Did you know that almost 80% of consumers prefer cardboard packaging to plastic? And that 75% of them are willing to pay a higher price for products packaged in an environmentally friendly way? “1 Both for your brand image and for your CSR strategy, opting for ecological packaging is an absolute must. Which eco-friendly alternatives are you already using?
To get you started, the packaging specialists at RAJA collected a top 7 of indispensable ecological packaging. Get inspired below and pull out all the stops for a sustainable image.
1. Packaging that uses less material
Let’s start with the tip that will quickly give you the biggest plus: reducing the volume of a pack. Studies show that e-commerce packages contain up to 40% air.2 A waste of space… By reducing volume weight, you make packaging a lot more compact. That gives your shop two sustainable benefits:
- You easily reduce the amount of packaging material per pack. The less material you use, the less paper and plastic will end up in landfills.
- You make even better use of the available space in a van or truck. Because the more compact your packaging, the more orders you can transport. This also reduces your CO2 emissions.
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An innovative ecological packaging in this area is the variable-height box. The principle is very simple: the box has creasing lines that allow you to adjust the height of the side walls. In this way, you create a box perfectly tailored to your product, with no unnecessary empty spaces. It couldn’t be simpler! |
2. From ecological packaging to letterbox
What if… you could choose ecological packaging that would just fit into the slot of a letterbox? This brings us to letterbox boxes and mailing bags. The big advantage of these is that a parcel can be successfully delivered from the first attempt. Thus, fewer returns take place and CO2 emissions from transport are reduced.
Apart from its compact nature and reduced CO2 emissions, this type of packaging also improves the customer experience. Your customer no longer has to go to a post office to pick up his parcel. And he is left with much less waste at the end of the journey. So nothing but benefits! What are you waiting for?
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Some types of packaging are specially designed to fit into a standard letterbox. This is the case, for example, for the extra-flat letterbox boxes from RAJA. These packages are also 100% recyclable. |
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For those sending non-vulnerable products such as textiles, there is the paper shipping bag. In many cases a perfect alternative to a cardboard box. They are light, flexible and easily give your ‘last mile’ an eco-friendly touch. |
3. Reduce the impact of returns
As a webshop, you want to avoid returns. They have a major impact on your logistics costs and on your overall ecological footprint. Luckily for you, there is packaging on the market that can make returns run smarter.
Whereas in the past, your customer often had to look for a new box when he made a return, you can now offer him a ‘return box’. You can read how exactly that works below. For a webshop, there is another specific advantage: a return box guarantees that your products get back to you in good condition. Then you can easily offer them again in your webshop. Win-win!
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The return box is designed to withstand multiple shipments. To allow returns, this box features a second sealing strip. This eliminates the need for your customers to use new packaging when they want to make a return. This effectively reduces the amount of packaging waste on the market. |
4. Ecological packaging of mono-materials
Mono packaging is made from only one type of raw material. This makes all the components together much easier to sort. Mono-material packaging can have different raw materials as its base: paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, wood, etc. Exactly which material you use is not that important, as long as you choose the same one from A to Z.
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Paper and cardboard combined are the most popular mono-materials in packaging land. One innovation worth mentioning here is the shock-resistant packing paper from RAJA. It forms a perfect alternative to plastic bubble wrap and can be sorted together with a cardboard box. A real must have at your sustainable packing table! |
5. Process used cardboard into buffer pads
What if… you could give waste a new life yourself? Is there used cardboard lying around in your warehouse every day? And do you only occasionally need buffer cushions for stuffing packages? Then a cardboard shredder is worth considering. With it, you can easily reprocess used cardboard into quality protective buffer cushions.
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Cardboard shredders are an eco-friendly solution for any packaging environment. From now on, just recycle your cardboard waste yourself, right? This way, far fewer new raw materials are needed and you save a pretty penny yourself by having to buy less packaging material. |
6. Packaging with natural raw materials
When we talk about natural packaging materials, we automatically think of paper and cardboard. Of course, the wood they are made of is thoroughly ecological and easily renewable (as long as we manage our forests in a conscious manner).
In recent years, innovations in ecological packaging have led to the addition of many other natural raw materials. Great examples are grass paper and vegetable starch. Which innovation would you choose?
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A box made of grass may seem far-fetched, but it is not at all. Using grass as a raw material is a relatively new technique that is increasingly appearing in the world of packaging. Boxes made of grass paper are as strong as standard boxes. Moreover, their production requires less water and CO2 emissions. Sustainability at its best! |
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Using vegetable starch as packaging material? You can! Take a look at the filling chips Flo-Pak Natural. They are made 100% from air, water and starch. A truly environmentally friendly trio. The filling chips are strong enough to absorb shocks and protect your products. |
7. Ecological vreuse packaging
Reusing packaging not once but 2, 3, 4 times (or even more often) is undoubtedly one of the best ways of future-proof packaging. No wonder, then, that this concept has an important place in the new European Packaging Act. To make packaging truly reusable, however, the logistics sector will have to learn to adapt on a large enough scale. Fortunately, a lot of work is being done behind the scenes to make this happen. RAJA Benelux is also doing its bit.
RAJA is actively working on new solutions to bring packaging onto the market that is sufficiently strong, easily pliable and compact to be returned in this way. Preferably, this type of packaging is also renewable and recyclable. Our eye is particularly drawn to innovations using cardboard. We expect to launch the first commercial solutions on the Belgian and Dutch markets in the course of 2023.
Can’t wait and would like more info now? Contact us and we will be happy to explain our trajectory to you (0800 224 24 24 or sales@rajapack.nl).
Sources:
1 Study Pro Carton 2021.
2 https://www.safeshops.be/app/uploads/2021/10/Belgian-online-shopper-survey-2021-release-safeshops-awards.pdf
