4 ways to make your packaging more sustainable

Sustainable packaging is a hot topic. With the move to more green packaging practices across the supply chain, the shift to more sustainable packaging is firmly on the agenda for all businesses.

By definition, sustainable packaging is packaging that has been designed to ensure minimal environmental impact as possible when used. This could include packaging that has been designed with more eco-friendly materials, items with a lower environmental impact or that uses less plastic than alternatives. There are many ways in which sustainable packaging can be used and implemented into your packaging operations, and throughout the supply chain.

The term packaging covers a broad range of products, with an incredible amount of purposes. Here at Lindum, we specialise in transit packaging and work with companies across the UK and Europe to help make their pallet packaging operations become more sustainable – ensuring innovative products, processes and practices can help to make your pallet packaging both more efficient and helping with sustainability goals.

How can you make your pallet packaging more sustainable?
We’ve put together our top tips for helping you to look at your pallet packaging operations and make your packaging more sustainable, whilst increasing efficiencies.

1. Look at minimising plastic
Plastic is a staple material in the packaging world, and eliminating completely from many areas of the supply chain is hard, or impossible to do. One thing we help businesses with, in their bid for more sustainable pallet packaging, is to reduce their plastic usage. When using stretch film less is often more. By looking at all kinds of factors, plastic can be reduced – on average we save our customers 53% in plastic waste. This not only impacts your plastic and CO2 usage, but can have a big impact on your bottom line too.

2. Analyse your existing packaging use
It may sound simple, but looking at your current products and processes and seeking out any areas for improvement can result in surprising results. We carry out countless packaging audits each year with FMCG clients, and on average have saved them 53% in plastic waste, 27% in packaging costs, not to mention the associated CO2 savings with those too. By looking and analysing current packaging, slight tweaks and changes can result in more sustainable packaging outcomes for you.

3. Reduce the volume of packaging that you use
Are you using the right product for the job? One thing we see time and again is pallets being overwrapped or the wrong stretch film being used for the specific job in hand. The results? Too much plastic being used per pallet, or incorrectly applied film that leads to snapping or movement in transport problems – neither ticking any sustainability boxes. By looking at all angles of your packaging operations, you can find areas for improvement which ultimately lead to less packaging used. Our free packaging audits are a great way to look at this.

4. Use innovative materials
When it comes to pallet wrap, there are plenty of innovative options to allow for more sustainability within your packaging. Innovative nano stretch films are made using multiple micro-layers that result in a strong film, with excellent stretch characteristics. What does this mean? It means that 1m of film can stretch to 5m when wrapped onto a pallet. Additionally, stretch films are now available with 30% recycled content – not only utilising recycled material, but also using less virgin plastic than standard films.

Both innovative options help to minimise the plastic in your packaging, and mean you are using less plastic and as a result, minimising your CO2. Both a great way to help make your packaging more sustainable.

If you would like help choosing sustainable packaging, please get in touch on +44(0)1469 574480 or info@lindumpackaging.com.