Sustainable packaging continues to attract significant interest from both manufacturers and consumers. However, achieving true sustainability requires innovative, smart functions, as a handful of vague measures won’t suffice.
First, you need to familiarize 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 through:
- using the minimum number of resources
- having the lowest environmental impact possible
- having the highest possible degree of material recycling and energy utilization
Therefore, thorough assessments of all links in the value chain are necessary. Smart choices early on, particularly in the design and purchasing phase, can have a 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 approximately 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 use Kenyan packaging and labels? 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: Do you have a sustainable plan for your packaging and labelling?
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 within an economic cycle for as long as possible, 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, the right material must be used for 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 measures you can and should take to ensure that the product is correctly sorted and recycled:
- Avoid using unnecessary label material. This measure applies to various kinds of label materials. A local label manufacturer can help you determine the correct label size for your specific product.
- The label should be easily distinguishable from the packaging used in the deposit scheme. If the label is too firmly attached to the substrate, the entire product may be misidentified and incorrectly sorted out of the recycling cycle.
- Juice bottles should have water-soluble labels. Without a water-soluble label, the product might be misread and sorted for incineration instead – never ending up on a store shelf again. Plastic bottles can usually be recycled 2-3 times or more if 'virgin' plastic is added. Prohibiting this possibility also prohibits the reuse of plastic bottles.
If you want to learn more or have any questions about sustainable packaging, you’re welcome to contact us.
