Behind-the-Scenes: Turning Cardboard into Sustainable Boxes

When it comes to luxury packaging, minimalist yet sophisticated designs are all the rage, allowing the brand to do the talking. But the amount of work that goes into bringing a 2D box concept to life is far from understated. Particularly where sustainability is involved.

Keep reading for a show and tell of how we transform corrugated cardboard into sustainable boxes. All ready to protect, transport, and store a range of luxury goods across the UK.

Where Luxury Meets Sustainability

At the core of every Greyhound Box packaging design is sustainability. And that’s one of the main reasons businesses in the luxury markets choose to work with us. The sector hasn’t shied away from adapting to more environmentally friendly processes. In fact, luxury is one of the leaders.

Choosing a sustainable box design to protect high-quality goods doesn’t only positively impact the environment. It gives a brand a competitive advantage, too. It’s not news that more consumers are steering towards brands whose sustainability agendas align with their own. But what is news is the growing number of stakeholders along the entire value chain, from supplier to retailers, who are making sustainability values a priority, too.

Sourcing Materials for Sustainable Boxes

As specialists in sustainable boxes, it fits that we’re Chain of Custody Certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC are renowned worldwide for their ‘golden standard’ sustainable forest management models. So, this accreditation gives assurance to both our luxury brand clients and industry partners that the corrugated cardboard passing along the value chain is responsibly sourced. And of high-quality.

Why is Corrugated Cardboard a Suitable Choice for Luxury Packaging?

When it comes to deciding which type of corrugated cardboard grade is best suited to each upscale product, we’ve got a range of ‘flutes’ to choose from. Each flute has a different thickness and weight. This enables us to adapt and tailor the strength and performance of the cardboard to the product it’s there to protect.

Our sustainable boxes are engineered from some of the following common flute types:

• B Flute – at 3mm thick, the B flute is a flexible choice for all types of luxury packaging and products, from cosmetics to electronics.
• BC Flute – at 7mm thick, this double-wall material is suited to the most heavy-duty yet fragile products, like furniture.
• E Flute – an extremely fine flute that measures around 1.5mm thick. It’s primed for small cartons, printed designs and presentation boxes, like the Innovation Kit we recently produced for Orean.

The flute is sandwiched between an inner and outer later to produce corrugated cardboard. It’s this structure that makes the board strong, a desirable quality in a material used to package expensive products.

Strong shouldn’t be confused with rigid, though! The architecture means corrugated cardboard has a degree of flexibility that’s perfectly suited for us to cut, bend, and assemble into tailor-made shapes. All in all, offering an additional degree of protection to those luxury goods.

The Importance of Packaging Review

Before our design team can start drawing up concepts and producing prototypes for luxury sustainable boxes, we like to carry out a packaging review. After all, if you’re investing time and money into a new package, then you need to make sure every intricacy of your processes is accounted for!

Our team carry out an end-to-end review of a client’s current packaging activities. That’s from the boxes storing your luxury goods to the demands of your supply chain. From here, our experts are in prime position to design a sustainable box tailored to both your product and supply chain needs.

Bringing Sustainable Boxes to Life

All sounds good so far, right? It’s important to remember that sustainable boxes are only as sustainable as the wider packaging solution. For instance, the adhesive used to seal them. Or, the fillers that provide additional protection to the products inside. The bespoke nature of Greyhound Box solutions means we’re able to craft cardboard fitments to keep even the tiniest accessories in place and protected. And, reduce or eliminate the need for packaging ancillaries that end up in landfill.

Whether that’s a small perfume sample made from glass or a case of large spirits bottles, these bespoke fitments give added assurance that your sustainability efforts won’t go to waste. Quite literally!

The Small Details are Everything

On this note, what draws consumers to one luxury package over another? Apart from brand recognition and loyalty, it’s usually the design of the box that influences its way into our baskets. But until relatively recently, it’s been an activity that can cause the most seemingly sustainable boxes to lose their recyclability or biodegradability.

Make way for water-based inks! They’re the eco-friendly alternative to solvent-based inks (which release harmful chemicals into the environment). 85% of the reason people purchase a specific product is down to colour. So, it’s no wonder suppliers of sustainable boxes are looking to them more and more.

Whether your luxury brand has a tranquil or bold colour scheme, water-based inks are the perfect companion to the rest of the sustainable package. You’re able to continue the telling of your brand’s story in a way that draws attention in a positive light.

Transporting Sustainable Boxes

Last up, it’s time to consider the onward journey of the box. For those transported by pallets, sustainable pallet wrap is the no-brainer for keeping packages secure whilst in transit. Without costing the environment! There’s also the chance to design and use branded tape or stickers that use solvent-free adhesive to mark your brand’s identity on the pallets.

Get Started with Sustainable Boxes!

You’ve heard how we turn cardboard into sustainable boxes.

Is it time your product took advantage of one of our bespoke packaging designs?