Introduction:

Shifting to biodegradable food packaging materials is a progressively important trend as people are becoming more concerned with recycling efforts and making better environmental friendly decisions. By adapting eco-friendly packaging, or “green packaging,” it shows consumers that your company strives to reduce harmful impacts on the environment. Options like loose fill and Kraft paper rolls have created a better alternative for business owners and consumers alike.

Material Used to Make Biodegradable Packaging:

Before we can understand how eco-friendly food packaging is beneficial, we must first understand what it is. Biodegradable packaging materials are typically composed of biopolymers (organic compounds) found in living organisms, such as cellulose and proteins. These proteins help the material to decompose easier and with less impact to the surrounding environment. Biopolymers have been used to produce copious amounts of biodegradable and recyclable food packaging materials such as shipping containers and materials used to protect products during shipping.

Advantages of Biodegradable Food Packaging

1. Reduced Carbon Footprint:

Since biodegradable food packaging materials are made from recycled materials instead of chemicals and plastics, they are better for the environment. Since the food packaging is eco-friendly, it reduces the amount of wasted materials and consumption of resources. Both efforts help to minimize the carbon footprint of humans while meeting the high standards of environmental compliance.

2. No Harmful Plastics:

Traditional packaging and shipping materials have typically contained harmful plastic materials, and often petroleum-based, that have contributed to environmental issues. The use of non-sustainable petrochemical resources, or plastic substances made from petroleum, requires a substantial amount of energy and resources to create. These products are then, typically, found littering landfills, roadways, parks, and even waterways.  

The use of eco-friendly packaging allows companies to reduce the amount of plastic being used, which can help reduce littering issues, and can assist to make sustainable food packaging.

3. Easy Disposal:

No matter what type of packaging and shipping materials businesses decide to use, they should be either recyclable or biodegradable food packaging. Eco-friendly packaging simplifies the disposal of shipping materials because of the biodegradable composition. The composition doesn’t require as many resources to break down the packaging after its intended use. Consumers who prefer to compost their refuse can easily include biodegradable food packaging and shipping materials with other compost-friendly materials. This process can also have a positive impact on the surrounding environment.

4. Adaptability:

Another great benefit of biodegradable food shipping supplies is the adaptability of the packaging. Packaging and shipping materials can typically be re-used and re-purposed in most major industries. Anything from storing bakery supplies to packaging restaurant foods, there is most certainly an eco-friendly material available to fulfill the need of the business.

5. Sustainability:

Since we’ve been talking about it, this point seems obvious. But, one of the major benefits of biodegradable food packaging is its sustainability. Most of the materials used can be categorized under the three Rs of sustainability: reduce, reuse, recycle. Reduce focuses on using tougher, yet thinner, materials that can do the same job as traditional materials, but with less expenditure. Reuse focuses efforts on creating items that can be reused after the first use is completed. Making shipping materials that are stronger and safer helps encourage businesses and individuals to reuse each item.

Recycle, of course focuses, on producing products that are largely comprised of previously recycled materials. It can then be recycled by the business or the consumer receiving the packaged product.

Beneficial Usage of Biodegradable Food Packaging Materials:

These are the benefits of biodegradable food packaging and shipping materials, but it’s no question they are the better choice when deciding what to use for a business’ packing and shipping needs.

1. Protecting natural resources:

Biodegradable food packaging materials are typically manufactured using natural fibers from renewable organic resources. That means less plastic is being made from petroleum-based supplies. Utilizing more natural fibers and plant-based plastics in our packaging and packs will help to safeguard crude oil resources. The alternate view is that plastics are made from the fraction of crude oil which is a waste product and would otherwise be ‘flared off’.

2. Completely safe:

As biodegradable food packaging in the world steadily becomes more accessible, the majority of materials used in their construction are toxin and allergen-free. While non-toxic and allergen-free materials are a must in food packaging, they’re also vital to a society that cares about their products, the planet, and how modern material use impacts their families.

Plus—biodegradable food packaging and products are free from the toxins and chemicals emitted by petrol-based plastic products during their breakdown.

3. Cost-effective alternative to traditional packaging:

Using bioplastic options instead of traditional paper and card in biodegradable food packaging enables substantial weight savings—lowering transport costs. Bioplastics typically weigh less than petroleum-based plastics, too, so whichever way you look at it, bioplastics can save weight and money.

4. Enhanced brand image:

As the world pays more attention to climate change, environmental issues, pollution, and waste problems, most of us would like to play our part—but as long as it doesn’t take too much effort. Our lives are busy enough; we’d love to help, but ultimately, our time is precious. If the producers of what we buy do the job for us, and all we have to do is switch brands to become part of the society that’s saving the planet, then many of us make the switch without a thought.

Raising awareness of your eco-friendly food packaging and practices allows your customers to place more trust in your brand, earning their loyalty and boosting your sales.

5. Increased marketing and promotional opportunities:

Not only will your brand strength increase when you opt for biodegradable, recycled content, or recyclable materials, your products will be far more attractive to the environmentally conscious market and the green pound. The Custom Boxes is dedicated to helping find the right packaging and shipping products to fulfill the needs of the business — especially in a sustainable manner. 

At The Custom Boxes, we understand how important it is for businesses and consumers to reduce their environmental impact. With so many cost-effective, eco-friendly food packaging available, there’s no excuse not to take care of the planet. Selecting the best green alternative can be challenging, but The Custom Boxes is here to help! We specialize in providing the right food packaging for the right product, including environmentally-friendly packaging options. To learn more about our products and ways to help protect the environment with biodegradable food packaging, kindly contact us.