7 Advantages of Sustainable Packaging

About 36 million packages are delivered per day in the United States. With this rate exponentially increasing, sustainable packaging solutions will have a major impact on the future of our planet. Obviously, a sustainable environmental future is the greatest advantage of sustainable packaging. Using flexible, collapsible packaging can help to increase your product-to-package ratio, which significantly decreases waste. By using less material in your packaging, this will decrease your overall greenhouse gas emissions, as less material requires less energy consumption to be produced.

Sustainable packaging solutions are very versatile and can be used for a variety of markets and products. With many e-commerce companies selling a diverse range of products amongst many different industries, having versatile packaging solutions is essential. ITB Packaging’s sustainable packaging solutions serve an array of markets including automotive, food, beverage, health & beauty, moving & storage, pharmaceuticals, and more. When fulfillment centers use versatile packaging solutions, this will allow them to stock less packaging material decreasing cost, space, and energy that goes into producing packaging solutions. In addition, many solutions can be reused which also decreases material cost and waste.

When many people think of sustainable packaging, they only consider the type of material used to create it and the amount that went into it. Another way to increase sustainability is by automating your packaging process. By automating your packaging process you’ll be able to increase throughput and decrease yield loss. Robotics and machinery are able to package products at a faster and more accurate rate. This will waste less time, energy, and material, magnifying your sustainability efforts.

A simple way to increase the level of sustainability of your packaging solutions is by properly fitting your packages to the products being shipped. Having ill fitted packaging takes up excessive amounts of space during transit and in warehouses. With freight cost at an all-time high, having packages that take up a minimal amount of space can significantly decrease shipping costs. Not only will you see a decrease in cost, but this will also help to decrease material waste. With each package taking up less truck space, you will also be able to fit more on a truck, equating to fewer trucks on the road and emitting less greenhouse gases.

Gen Z’s and millennials are highly motivated to buy sustainable products. By acquiring sustainable packaging solutions, this will increase the likelihood of a repeat customer or customer referral among these two generations. According to Shopify’s Future of E-commerce report, 73% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for products that use sustainable packaging solutions. A Study by GlobalWebIndex also shows that 61% of consumers are likely to switch to brands that have incorporated sustainable packaging.

Sustainable packaging uses less material, takes up less space, and can even be reusable. All these things contribute to lowering costs and increasing profit margins. Many companies find up to a 25% cost reduction when switching to sustainable packaging solutions.

With awareness of sustainable packaging becoming more prevalent, acquiring sustainable packaging solutions can positively affect your companies brand image to help increase sales. 78% of consumer between the age of 18-72 felt more positive about purchases with eco-friendly packaging.