Sustainable packaging entails more than just recycling. When compared to other elements such as transportation, water, and energy usage, packaging is a minor contributor to overall environmental effect. The leading sustainable packaging manufacturers will undertake a thorough life cycle evaluation to identify a product’s environmental effect to decide whether or not it is environmentally friendly.
Recyclable materials, such as PET or HDPE plastic, cardboard, and paper wrappings, are used in environmentally friendly packaging. Once properly separated for recycling, these materials can be shredded, pulped, or melted down and reused as raw material for new packaging. Cardboard retains its qualities, but plastics deteriorate each time their polymer chains are broken down and can only be recycled a limited number of times before being burnt.
Other environmentally friendly materials, such as industrially compostable PLA and cellulose-based polymers, are utilised for sustainable packaging since they have similar properties to plastic but biodegrade only in compost. These biodegradable materials can be used to make food containers and packaging.