We know that consumers care about the environment and enjoy the power they have in addressing environmental challenges. They do this by aligning themselves with brands that provide greener solutions. To most consumers, “greener solutions” means reducing plastic packaging.

So where do you start with your brand?

Plastic Reduction

Plastic reduction can be as simple as ‘right sizing’ you’re packaging.

Companies such as Unilever and Procter and Gamble began to convert their products to use less plastic, with cleaning liquids that were concentrated by 2X and 3X to do the same job. The result – smaller plastic bottles. Reductions in size meant less plastic, lower weight, better-utilized shipping space, and thus less fuel used in transportation.

Reducing the amount of new plastic entering the waste stream is also a powerful solution to consider. Brands like Herbal Essences have started campaigns where they make 25% of their shampoo and conditioner bottles from old plastic – or plastic found in the ocean and on beaches.

If reducing plastic packaging is not an option for your brand, then consider substituting plastic for containers made from aluminum, glass, or paper. Not only are these options 100% recyclable – and much easier to recycle than plastic – they have been used as packaging materials for decades, so a decent infrastructure for recycling them already exists.

Plastic Removal

Plastic removal is where we ask ourselves: ‘Do we really need that plastic there?’ For example, do we really need those plastic windows that are part of many cardboard boxes? This mix of materials just makes the package unrecyclable and we can make beautiful packaging without those windows.

Many products, especially household paper and club pack sizes, are showing up with layers of wrapping. These layers of plastic are not only unnecessary, but they can also turn off our environmentally minded consumers as well.

In the end…

Whatever decisions your private brand makes around packaging and sustainability, the important part is that you MAKE decisions to reduce your plastic use. Because helping reverse the plastic crisis is everyone’s responsibility.

We have established a goal of devoting 10% of our efforts to sustainable packaging solutions. There are real opportunities for private brands to lead the pack in this new and exciting marketing space.