Sustainable packaging design and circular economy

Today, more than ever, eco-sustainable packaging is a priority for the vast majority of companies.

The reasons are different, but mainly concern the overall problem of environmental pollution and the disposal of an increasing amount of waste.

The good news is that, in recent years, the environmental awareness of companies has increased a lot driven by the need to satisfy consumers who are more and more attentive to green issues.

Obligation and Deadlines to comply
with the single use plastic Directive

Regulatory measures that promote sustainability

In addition to the responsible choices of various companies, usually large ones, various measures to limit the proliferation of single-use packaging have been added.  

In the first case, giants such as McDonalds have set an example and have made a commitment to review the concept of their packaging, making sure that they are totally eco-sustainable by 2025.

In the second, it is worth recalling the European Union Directive 2019/904 of 5 June 2019 on reducing the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, better known as the SUP (Single Use Plastics) Directive.

A regulation that imposes progressively stricter prohibitions or restrictions on the sale of various single-use plastic items.

Sustainable packaging design as a response to market demand

In this overall context lies the vision of the last generations, which increasingly supports brands responsible both socially and environmentally.

The numbers show, in practice, that eco packaging design is not a passing trend at all, but a necessity of companies to conquer new market slices

Characteristics of sustainable packaging

Eco packaging is a type of packaging designed and manufactured with a precise purpose: to limit its environmental impact or, at least, that it is able to reduce it.

We can talk, more generally, about green packaging with a direct link to the principles of circular economy.

Green packaging can be achieved in several ways:

• First of all through the use of 100% recycled materials. In this context we also insert rPET, i.e. PET (polyethylene terephthalate) recycled from other bottles of the same material. The advantage of this material is that it is highly eco-friendly and produced from non-polluting sources.

• But we talk about eco packaging design also in relation to particular containers, such as bottles, always in normal PET, which provide for a reduction in weight (and therefore of saving virgin plastic) compared to traditional models.

• Eco-sustainable packaging is also achieved by reducing the use of supply chains and production chains. These processes can reduce the environmental impact, because they reduce the CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

• Let us not forget the aspect of container reuse. In many cases the packaging is no longer conceived as disposable, but studied in such a way that it can be reused many times.

All this, including the last point, is the basis of a circular economy of sustainability.