Eco-friendly packaging, a boost for brand reputation

Packaging design will become increasingly green

We are well aware of the importance of packaging in the purchasing process: it is not just packaging, but serves as a business card, of the product and the company (and yes, it is still a powerful driver when it comes to choosing the product we want to take home). But if companies carefully study packaging design (materials, colours, graphic elements) in order to stand out on the shelves, nowadays it is not enough to have packaging that is pretty and in line with the brand image: sustainability is becoming an increasingly essential element in packaging design. Here’s why.

Sustainable packaging: the UN is asking for it, baby

Among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of theUN 2030 Agenda is to reduce packaging waste. And if that sounds like a distant date, well, by 2025 65% of packaging will have to be recycled and packaging companies are (rightly) working in this direction.

Trending sustainability: a serious issue

Yes, sustainability-conscious consumers are growing steadily: more and more people are changing their daily habits as well as their consumption habits, paying more and more attention to the production processes behind what they buy (especially in the food sector) and to corporate policies on sustainability. Forthis reason ,a company that embraces eco-friendly packaging has a competitive advantage in building a relationship of trust with a customer base increasingly oriented towards sustainable practices.

What is meant by sustainable packaging: examples

When we talk about eco -friendlypackaging, it iseasy to understand that it ispackaging with a low environmental impact. But specifically, what are the elements that classify a packaging as environmentally friendly?

For the avoidance of doubt, we speak of sustainability when:

1. The packaging is made of recyclable materials (e.g. paper, cardboard, glass) and can be reused or recovered for composting or biodegradation.
2. The packaging has a minimalist design, i.e. small dimensions and an optimised design to reduce waste of material and resources used.
3. The packaging is produced from recycled or waste materials.

Food waste for innovative, eco-friendly packaging

Fibre from fruit and vegetables, residues from cereal production and dried fruit shells are taking their revenge: from food waste to raw material to give life to the most innovative sustainable packaging on thecurrent scene, and also the most interesting in terms of design: just think, for example, of Favini’swonderful Crush, a collection of papers produced from the residues of citrus fruits, coconuts, cocoa nuts, grapes, cherries, lavender, maize, olives, coffee, kiwi fruit, hazelnuts and almonds rescued from landfill.

From cocoa beans: the sustainable packaging of Pasticceria Marisa

Crush by Favini is precisely the paper we used to renew the packaging of Pasticceria Marisa,abenchmark in the national pastry scene thanks to a bronze medal at the World Pastry Cup in Lyon and prestigious awards from Gambero Rosso.

For Pasticceria Marisa, we have created a new sustainable packaging that, in addition to the material used (Crush Cacao, a paper produced with EKOenergy and GMO-free, which saves the cocoa bean husk residue from the landfill), is also environmentally friendly in design, studied to reduce packaging waste by 30% .If you got a bit curious, check out the case study on our award-winning sustainable packaging.

Well, with the UN agenda, the environmental emergency and consumers becoming more and more aware of sustainability, starting to think about eco-friendly packaging is, dare we say it, a must: for the future of the planet, but also to meet customer expectations and improve brand perception. If you don’t know where to start, let’s talk about it here!