Here’s what you need to know
At Atlantic Packaging, sustainability isn’t a buzzword—it’s a responsibility. As part of our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship, the team leading our Sustainability Program, including Caroline DeLoach and Gabie Giers, are actively exploring how brands can assess and adopt alternative materials to replace plastic and reduce environmental impact without compromising performance.
For a current look at this exploration, Gabie wrote a piece for Packaging Technology Today – Assessing Alternative Materials for Packaging.
What are Alternative Materials for Packaging?
Alternative materials you can find today include upcycled agricultural waste, seaweed, mycelium (mushroom-based), and fiber-based or paper packaging. These offer strong “beginning-of-life” sustainability benefits, such as reducing virgin plastic use and promoting circularity. For any brand considering switching to these materials, further testing and assessment is needed on a case-by-case basis to see which of these, if any, is the right choice for you.
Challenges & Opportunities
In her piece for Packaging Technology Today, Assessing Alternative Materials for Packaging, Gabie offers a look at the challenges and opportunities in this space. While Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws and bold sustainability goals from major consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are driving the push to explore alternatives to single-use plastics, these alternatives are not always ready to serve as direct replacements and more careful testing is needed.
Switching to these materials requires brands to assess factors like moisture and temperature exposure, barrier properties, printability and clarity, and overall product protection and presentation. Our team of engineers at the Packaging Solution Center are often testing for these factors to help our customers successfully navigate these changes to their packaging. With their help, we’ve seen great success with companies making the switch, like Wild Idea Buffalo using the Cruz Cool, and Ilmor moving to a fully corrugated solution for their ION electric outboard motor.
Recycle or Compost?
In addition to assessing these factors, it’s also important for brands to assess the “end-of-life” sustainability benefits, including whether the materials are recyclable or compostable. Recyclable materials are generally preferable due to broader infrastructure. 91% of U.S. residents have access to recycling, compared to only 11% for composting programs that accept packaging. With that said, we are also committed to working with composters to increase acceptance of regenerative materials like Sway Seaweed Packaging and upcycled materials like Cruz Foam.
Gabie lays out a more detailed forward look in her Packaging Technology Today piece. Be sure to check it out!