Sustainable consumer product solutions is an evolution that has been taking over since the last decade; it was spurred by awareness about the damage consumerism has been having on the planet. Research has made clear that only a small percentage of plastic is recycled, and images keep popping up about sea life being forced to share their home with plastics. Environmental packaging began to gain ground the previous decade and has become a prominent feature among brands and retailers. Since the very start of the year, there has been a lot of creativity in the field, and it has led to new sustainable consumer product solutions to packaging wastage. Interest in sustainable packaging has increased, and there are new innovative packaging solutions. Some of the new sustainable packaging innovations in 2020 includes:

Recycling and Reusing Designs

There are three Rs that guide sustainability, and they include reusing, reducing, and recycling. To ensure proper management of waste, companies and the government are paying attention to recycling. Used products are being recycled, and those recycled are being used. This has led to plastic packaging alternatives being sought out, which has led to sustainable fiber solutions and other eco-friendly packaging. Recycling has eliminated single-use packaging and, therefore, allows consumers to use a package more than once.

This recycling and reusing design forces consumers to change their mentality in relating to packaging. Unlike past times, packaging no longer needs to be thrown away immediately after a single-use, reducing ecological problems.

Replacing Plastic with Bioplastic

Another innovative sustainable package in 2020 is the substitution of plastics with bioplastics. Bioplastics are also plastic material but are created from biomass sources like corn starch, sawdust, vegetable fats and oils, straw, and other recycled food waste. The demand for bioplastic has been on the rise in the last decade. Some of them include starch-based plastics, cellulose-based plastics, and protein-based plastics.

Paper Comeback

Paper has made a comeback a more environmentally friendly sustainable consumer product solution; it is even more popular than bioplastic and has a positive environmental impact. Sustainable fiber solutions make use of 100% recycled paper to create fiber containers that are strong and durable. It has quickly been adopted as a top choice among many companies who now use paper bags and cartons as sustainable consumer product solutions. Most of these paper packages can be reused many times by consumers. Sustainable fiber solutions do not use up water or add additives that might affect the sustainability of the packaging.