Eliminating single-use plastics is a tough challenge for any business. There is an outrageous amount of plastic used in our supply chains. Just think of the time you opened a new consumer product or toy and how many poly bags are used. A lot of it is also completely out of sight of the end consumer such as the packaging used to transport components and sub-assemblies to factories.
One of the main reasons why it’s such a difficult challenge is because for only a few cents the plastic bag does an amazing job of protecting the contents from four potential hazards which can happen at any point on its journey from the factory to the end-user:
- Moisture from the environment or accidental spills of liquid
- Packaging dust from corrugated cardboard inserts and cartons
- Scratches and scuffs from packaging cartons that touch the product
- Grease and dirt that can be left on the device during handling or fulfilment
Redesigning the packaging to remove the plastic bags therefore needs a careful and measured approach. The product needs to be adequately protected from these hazards by using sustainable and easy to recycle materials. The packaging designs also need to be as efficient as possible to reduce the total shipping costs and minimise wasted space. The goal is to find the appropriate solution for your product and at a comparative cost and quality. This is much easier said than done!
One approach that works well is to critique the existing packaging design and ask questions like:
- What level of protection does the product really need?
- What are the likely risks for your product and its route from factory to end-user?
- If the device was shipped without the poly bag what are the likely issues?
- Are there ways to address those issues or test to check our assumptions?
- Are there product features that could be used as part of the packaging design?
- Can we use other contents inside the packaging to help protect the device?
Another approach is to look at reducing the amount of packaging materials and making parts multi-purpose. Is there a simpler way to package the goods together that reduces the total packaging? After all, reduction is a worthy milestone along the road to elimination.
