What Makes a Sustainable Box?

Sustainable boxes are all the rage. From biodegradable food containers to cardboard advent calendars, brands are switching away from environmentally unfriendly materials to greener counterparts.

But what differentiates a sustainable box from a standard one? And how can you feel confident the ‘eco-friendly’ packages your brand is buying are what they say they are?

We’ve got you covered!

What is a Sustainable Box?

First up, you need to understand what’s meant by the term ‘sustainable box’. Put simply, it’s a package that’s been manufactured using environmentally friendly materials and processes to prolong its life. Sustainable boxes can be recycled or repurposed, composted, or left to biodegrade.

As a result, the packages have less of a carbon footprint than boxes where production relies on virgin materials and end of life means landfill. What’s more, many materials used to manufacture and decorate sustainable boxes are natural or organic. Fewer/no nasty compounds (like bisphenols, found in some plastic packaging), mean they’re better for our health, too.

To produce a sustainable box, you need to consider more than just the package itself. You must look at its entire lifecycle, including:

• Materials sourcing
• Packaging design
• Manufacturing and production
• Use, reuse, and handling
• End of life (can it be repurposed or recycled, or will it biodegrade?)

A Brief History of Corrugated Cardboard

As it stands, one of the most sustainable packaging materials has been in wide use over two centuries: cardboard. Dating back to 1817, the first paperboard box was invented by M Treverton & Son, an English company. Nearly 60 years later (1871), Albert Jones from New York patented the first corrugated boxboard to be used in shipping. And in 1879, the pre-cut cardboard box was invented by Scottish born Robert Gair.

Why Corrugated Cardboard is a Sustainable Box Material

Today, corrugated cardboard is more popular than ever as a core packaging material. That’s for both its sustainability credentials and the strength and protection it offers to products. Corrugated cardboard:

• Is made from a minimum of three layers
• Has inner and outer layers filled by a flute
• Is robust, because the flute is made from several paper layers

The reusability of the material is ever-popular, too. Corrugated cardboard can be repurposed or recycled (up to seven times!) before it reaches the end of its life. That’s rather than being sent to landfill, which as you’ll know, isn’t good for the planet. What’s more, this sustainable box material is often made from recycled paper and card itself.

Sustainable corrugated cardboard

Corrugated cardboard comes in a variety of cardboard grades, each of which can be used in eco-friendly box design. The right grade for your product depends on its unique packaging needs. For instance, FMCG goods may often require a lighter weight, single wall grade than heavy industry machinery parts, which would need a thicker, stronger grade.

Size Matters

Materials aside, one of the simplest ways to get an idea of the sustainability of a package is to look at it – literally! A large box might be made from cardboard, but if it’s been stuffed with plastic bubble-wrap to keep electricals in place, it’s got elements that will go to waste – therefore, negatively impacting the environment. Not only does ill-fitting packaging produce more items to be disposed of (not to mention the energy and cost needed to transport them there), but wastes space during storage and transport, too.

What’s more, businesses that export products want to maximise the number of goods they can fit inside a container to spread cost as efficiently as possible. Unnecessary space taken up by surplus protective packaging eats away at that margin.

A sustainable bespoke box design

Sustainable Bespoke Box Design

Panic not – there’s bespoke packaging designs are here the saving grace. When manufacturers get to know the product their design is intended to protect (from its height and weight to how it’s stored), box manufacturers can craft a design that meets the item’s needs.

Single-use and/or unnecessary internal fitments (like plastic stuffing) can be replaced with paper fillers or corrugated cardboard dividers to hold elements in place. Once again, this part of the package can be given new life at the end of its life, rather than ending up in a bin bag.

Two Greyhound Box team members reviewing the functionality of a bespoke packaging design

Manufacturing Sustainable Boxes

All this said, there’s a core element of box production that can’t be forgotten: the manufacturing process itself. Despite manufacturing’s long history of energy-intensive activities, there’s been plenty of progress when it comes to sustainability. Be that the introduction of highly advanced machines that reduce the risk of error (and need to re-run processes). Or, intelligent factory designs – just like ours at Greyhound Box.

In 2017, the whole business took part in Business Improvement Training which looked at every aspect of our operations across our 4,620m² premises. It showed what we were doing well and pointed out opportunities to improve, including a rethink of how our factory floor is set up. By moving machinery and materials supply around, we’ve been able to save a huge amount of time and energy (from both our machines and people)!

Get Started with Sustainable Boxes

Sustainable box design comes down to less use of virgin materials, less waste, and longer lifecycles.

To start using eco-friendly packages to protect and transport your products, get in touch – we’re here to help!