Sustainable Packaging Solutions: Paving a way towards a greener future

The last several decades have witnessed some major changes in the process of food production and its distribution across the globe. With the increase in the number of food manufacturers and retailers, it is observed that buyers place heavier emphasis on products that they are able to see and the freshness they hold at the time of purchase. What they are looking at is a promising ‘shelf-life’ right from its production phase. In the case of crops, the wider distribution chains create the need for packaging to keep the products farm fresh.

New Perspective on Plastic usage in the packaging industry

According to a report by FAO, plastics are considered to be a versatile material that is affordable and easily accessible while making several products. The usage of plastic becomes indispensable in the packaging industry and the best strategy to adapt while trying to protect crops is to incorporate an effective packaging solution that is eco-friendly, recyclable and ensures a longer shelf life of the product. With an increase in awareness of plastic packaging, there has been an underlying understanding of the fact that there are long-term critical challenges of continuous plastic waste accumulation leading to uncontrollable harmful effects. Consequently, there has been an immediate need for extensive research spanning harmless packaging alternatives. This introduced the need for sustainable packaging solutions in eco-friendly plastic bags that are made with materials that keep carbon footprint in check. Mindful use of these bags that can be reused without any apprehension is when they can be labelled as green, organic packaging bags.

Redefining sustainable packaging for a healthier planet

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition 2005 defined sustainable packaging as beneficial, safe and healthy for individuals and society. The definition of Sustainable packaging can be broken down as-

• Meets market criteria for optimal performance and cost

• Sourced, manufactured, transported and recycled using renewable energy

• Optimizes the use of renewable or recycled source materials

• Is manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices

• Is made from materials healthy throughout the life cycle

• Is physically designed to optimize materials and energy

• Is effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial closed loop cycles

What does sustainability mean for the packaging industry?

What was considered inevitable once is now a norm that is a primary industry standard while considering crop packaging.  Procurement, production, transportation and distribution no longer hold the power of environmental demolition they once did. The global packaging industry in 2010 was estimated at $429 billion and on boarded over 5 million people from across the globe. And the trend of sustainable packaging is moving at a steady pace now where recyclable and bio-based packaging solutions are playing an integral role in the industry’s sustainability drive over the last couple of years. 

Ecotact goes the extra mile for a sustainable tomorrow

The role of packaging at Ecotact remains well within the criteria to protect the environmental and economic factors. By creating a wide range of eco-friendly products that aim to foster sustainable packaging, the crops are packed in fully recyclable bags with unmatched multi-layered protection. The vacuum-sealed bags with nine-layered hermetic barriers prevent environmental attacks by completely blocking any kind of harmful chemical or physical changes. By creating economically viable and recyclable packaging materials, Ecotact has delivered sustainable packaging solutions as promised since the very beginning. And its smart transparent packaging with the highest material value and recyclable properties allows the buyers to witness the freshness for themselves and remains harmless for usage. It not only helps the buyers visualise the quality of the product and test every detail of the item but transparent plastics are easy to recycle and they further break down and decompose faster than pigmented plastic. Pigmented plastic is considered to be a major contaminant during the recycling process and they are subsequently disposed of instead of being reused. This further lowers the global recyclability quotient. These recyclable transparent packaging by Ecotact remain a win-win over solutions over colored plastic packaging bags and they ensure a healthy correlation between the environment and society as a whole.