Sustainable packaging with innovative and smart functions is still gaining much attention from both manufacturers and consumers. However, sustainability is more complex than implementing a handful of measures with vague effects. You need to familiarise yourself with the correct and most effective measures that will help you care for the environment.
Packaging optimization is not just about reducing the amount of packaging material, but about continuously improving it – throughout the value chain. This means that the packaging must provide sufficient protection using the minimum amount of resources, have the lowest environmental impact possible, and have the highest possible degree of material recycling and energy utilization.
It is, therefore, necessary to perform thorough assessments of all links in the value chain. Smart choices early on, particularly in the design and purchasing phase, can result in great effect.
1. Short-haul packaging reduces the environmental impact
Transport plays a key role when it comes to emissions and energy consumption. In Africa alone, transport accounts for 40% of total CO2 emissions. The Kenyan Ministry of Energy has already launched a strategic plan to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030. Short-haul packaging can contribute to saving the environment from greenhouse gas emissions.
Choosing a national supplier for packaging and labels can help reduce CO2 emissions connected to transport. Additionally, if the product is Kenyan, why not go for Kenyan packaging and labels as well? This way, you get an excellent opportunity to market a holistic, sustainable mindset along with your product and help maintain Kenyan jobs at the same time.
Strict environmental demands and requirements, nationally and internationally, affect the development of packaging and labelling solutions. A local supplier knows these demands in detail and should be able to offer innovative and sustainable solutions for your product. Find out more about Skanem Africa's logistics management.
Read more: A guide for choosing cost-efficient and sustainable label materials
2. Choose materials that contribute to increased material recycling
For packaging to become a part of the circular economy, where the goal is for resources to remain for as long as possible within an economic cycle, it must be designed for recycling. This also includes the label, where small details can significantly affect the recycling rate.
Optimally, packaging and labelling should consist of the same type of material. For example, there are different types of plastics with different properties. A mix of different plastics can reduce, or even prevent, the ability to recycle the package. If the label and the packaging are made of the same type of plastic, it will be easier to sort and recycle.
With the launch of its 'World Without Waste' strategy in 2018, The Coca-Cola Company exchanged, amongst other things, its full-shrink sleeve labels for part-shrink sleeve labels. They can be removed more easily from the product, which makes the recycling process smoother and more efficient.
Read more: How monomaterials in packaging increase recycling and circular economy
3. Choose a label design that makes recycling easier
For packaging to be recyclable, it requires using the right material for the label or the product label. The properties of a label's adhesive or size can cause recyclable products to go to waste. If the label and packaging are made up of different materials, there are several measures you can and should take to ensure that the product is correctly sorted and recycled.
- First, it is essential that the label is not too large. This is to avoid unnecessary use of material on the packaging and applies to various kinds of material between a bottle and the product label. A local label manufacturer can help you determine the correct label size for your specific product.
- Secondly, where necessary, the label must be easily distinguished from the packaging intended for the deposit scheme. With labels too firmly attached to the substrate, the entire packaging product may be read as something other than what it is and, therefore, be sorted out of the recycling cycle.
- Lastly, juice bottles should have water-soluble labels. Without one, the product might never end up on a store shelf again because it was misread and sorted for incineration instead. Usually, plastic bottles can be recycled 2-3 times or more if 'virgin' plastic is added. Prohibiting this possibility also prohibits the reusing of plastic bottles.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about sustainable packaging. If you want to learn more about how you can better balance sustainability and supply chain, download our free eBook:
