The Pak-Check: Your Checklist for Choosing Sustainable Packaging

Choosing the right packaging is an opportunity for brands, manufacturers and retailers to decrease their environmental footprint and improve their sustainability efforts. But vague sustainability claims can make that decision overwhelming. At PakTech, we understand that businesses want to make well-informed decisions. That is why we have put together the Pak-Check – a checklist to help you choose the right packaging for your organization. Does the packaging provider you are considering check the boxes or a hard pass?

Pak-Check 1: Responsible Manufacturing

To evaluate the sustainability performance of packaging, the environmental impact of its manufacturing process must be examined. As manufacturing procedures are complex processes, evaluating their environmental impact may seem like a daunting task. However, a simplified criteria can guide you with where to look and enable you to ask the right questions. Make sure to address the following points to evaluate the environmental footprint of a packaging’s manufacturing process:

• Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
• Ozone depletion
• Water resource depletion
• Water contamination
• Energy source
• Energy consumption
  
  

Ask the packaging provider you are considering if they have the data related to the above aspects – it will show you how serious they are to their sustainability commitments while also allowing you to see how their solutions compare with alternatives available on the market.

Pak-Check 2: Alignment with the Circular Economy

Businesses looking to choose the most sustainable packaging solution must also consider how the packaging of their choice adopts a circular economy model. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the circular economy is a “systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution.” In a nutshell, designing packaging in a way that is consistent with the circular economy enables us to transition from a “use and waste” linear model to a circular model where recycled material is repurposed into new products.

So, which questions should you be asking when gauging the level of circularity of the packaging in consideration?

• Does it use recycled content? If so, how much?
• Is it reusable to elongate its current useful life?
• Is it recyclable?
• Is it infinitely recyclable to ensure a waste-free future?

You can rest assured that the packaging solution shows high alignment with circular economy principles if it checks all the above requirements.

Pak-Check 3: Designed for Sustainability

Perhaps you are browsing through packaging catalogs and before you start reaching out, you want to assess if the packaging in question meets your sustainability expectations at a glance. In such cases, assess whether the packaging under evaluation is designed for sustainability:

• Does the design ensure an efficient product-to-packaging ratio to minimize material use?
• Is the material durable to reduce waste generation during transportation and in storage?
• Is the design minimalist in format to minimize resource use and reduce volume for transportation efficiency?
• Does it use lightweight material to improve transportation and energy efficiency?

If the packaging under consideration does not pass this initial test, you may want to consider an alternative solution.

Does PakTech Pass the Pak-Check?: A Resounding Yes!

As the Pak-Check demonstrates, there are a myriad of dimensions that determine the sustainability of a packaging solution, making clear criteria important to make robust evaluations.

At PakTech, we are proud of our holistic approach to the environment by embodying responsible manufacturing practices, and principles of the circular economy and designing our products with sustainability on top of minds:

• By manufacturing with 100% recycled HDPE, PakTech generates 78% fewer greenhouse gases, uses 90% less energy, and reduces demand for virgin petroleum.
• PakTech handles are 100% recycled, reusable, and infinitely recyclable to be perfectly aligned with the circular economy.
• 80% of the energy used at PakTech’s production facility in Eugene comes from 80% carbon-free hydroelectric energy.
• Minimalist, lightweight, durable, and circular, PakTech handles are designed to eliminate waste generation while maximizing transportation, energy, and resource efficiency.
  
  

We have also set ambitious sustainability objectives to continually evolve when it comes to our commitment to the environment.

With PakTech handles, you will rest assured that your business is choosing the best in class when it comes to the most sustainable secondary packaging solutions.

Reach out to our sales team at handlesales@paktech-opi.com today.