Talking About Green

By using recycled materials in your packaging, you can reduce the environmental impact of your business, whilst simultaneously saving costs. There are some general points you should consider when choosing a recycled material for your product packaging.

Packaging:

Make sure to specify and confirm the technical performance of your chosen recycled material with the supplier.

Ensure that there is no chance for any potential contamination, especially if your product is intended to be consumed by humans or animals in any way.

Use the ‘Green Claims’ code to better understand the percentage of recycled materials found in your product packaging.

Plastic Packaging:

Choose plastics that are recyclable by the consumer/business that has purchased the product.

Alternatively, use biodegradable plastic where available to minimise the environmental impact of the packaging once the product has been used and the packaging has been disposed of.

Try to reuse and recycle any waste from the production process (an often overlooked material source).

Paper and Board Packaging:

Make sure that there are high levels of recycled materials in corrugated packaging.

Use cartonboard with high levels of recycled material in products which don’t contain food or drink, or other ingestible consumables.

Micro-flute board allows for much more cost effective and pain-free printing.

When using cartonboard for food products, ensure that there is no metal contamination.

Glass Packaging:

When sourcing packaging from outside the UK, opt for clear glass as the most desirable option. The UK has a large quantity of imported green glass.

When sourcing packaging from inside the UK, opt for green glass to use up the high quantities of green glass available. Brown glass should be the second option.

The use of organic coatings and plastic sleeves will allow you to use any colour of glass in your packaging.

Glass packaging can have a high level of recycled materials without compromising the quality of the packaging.

Metal Packaging:

Both aluminium and steel are highly recyclable materials, so both are good options for metal packaging.

The key to utilising recycled and recyclable packaging is to ensure it meets the exact needs of the product it contains. Although a priority should be put on reducing the amount of packaging used, it is extremely important that the consumer or business receives the product in perfect condition. The trade-off of using recycled materials shouldn’t mean that products arrive in unsatisfactory condition.

Polythene UK, the UK’s largest supplier of polythene, specialises in environmentally friendly compostable bags, machine stretch film, and pallet wrappers.