Sustainability is one of the biggest trends in food packaging design because consumers and regulators alike are more focused than ever on limiting the ecological impact of food products.
As food producers and grocers work to adopt more sustainable products, the right design principles can help reduce waste, energy consumption, and carbon emissions without compromising product quality, or cost. In fact, sustainable food packaging can even help enhance shelf appeal, boost branding, and unlock new operational efficiencies. In this blog, we explain how.
Key Drivers of the Shift Toward Sustainable Packaging Design
The push towards sustainable packaging is driven by a confluence of public policy and consumer sentiment, both focused on reducing the environmental impact of product manufacturing and disposal.
Sustainability includes a variety of factors including:
- Carbon emissions: Packaging decisions have significant implications for greenhouse gas emissions, commonly measured as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e). This measurement standardizes emissions from different greenhouse gases into one number reflecting their total warming potential.
- Waste: All products generate some form of waste, but the form of that waste can have a big impact on whether it ends up in landfills (or the natural environment) or future recycled materials. Solutions that prioritize recyclability, compostability, or reusability help minimize the generation of unreclaimable waste.
- Raw material consumption: Optimizing packaging designs to use fewer resources (for instance, through light-weighting or improved structural design) reduces environmental impact by cutting raw material use and energy consumption during manufacturing and transportation.
Regulatory Pressures
Across the U.S., new state-level regulations will shape packaging decisions by increasing oversight of waste mitigation and material selection. Several states, including California, Minnesota, and Maine, are implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, which shifts accountability to producers for managing post-consumer packaging waste.
These policies create both challenges and opportunities for food retailers and processors. While compliance may introduce complexity, it also enhances the business case for sustainable design practices. Brands that proactively adapt limit regulatory disruption while gaining a competitive edge in meeting new targets.
Consumer Demand
While price, quality, and brand traditionally dominate purchasing decisions, environmental considerations are gaining traction among consumers. A McKinsey survey revealed that over 60% of U.S. consumers are willing to pay more for products with sustainable packaging. Deloitte research found that 35% of consumers would actively seek out sustainably packaged products and purchase them frequently, and another 35% would buy more sustainably packaged products if those options were more clearly labeled, widely available, or offered across more product categories.
Fundamental Principles of Sustainable Package Designs
Designing sustainable packaging solutions starts with understanding and applying a few key principles that have been proven to deliver practical, measurable improvements in environmental impact.
- Recyclability: Recyclable packaging materials, such as rPET (recycled PET) plastics, are central to reducing packaging waste. Designing products for recyclability involves selecting materials that can be efficiently collected, processed, and reused. Clear labeling further encourages proper consumer recycling habits, ensuring that packaging stays within a closed-loop system rather than ending up in landfills.
- Light-Weight Design: Minimizing material use through lightweight packaging significantly reduces environmental impact. Using thinner but durable materials helps lower production costs, energy use, and emissions during transportation.
- Stackability: Packaging designed for stackability and optimized space usage directly contributes to sustainability by improving shipping efficiency. Efficient stacking designs allow more products per shipment, reducing transportation emissions and costs. Stackable packaging also streamlines merchandising, reducing the need for excessive packaging materials like secondary boxes or separators.
- Reusability: Reusable packaging solutions, such as durable containers or resealable designs, extend the useful life of materials beyond a single use. Encouraging consumers to reuse packaging not only reduces waste but can also enhance brand perception by visibly demonstrating a commitment to sustainability.
- Full Lifecycle Emissions: Evaluating the environmental impact across the full lifecycle — from raw material sourcing to manufacturing, transportation, and disposal — is crucial for truly sustainable packaging. Tools like lifecycle assessments (LCAs) help brands quantify environmental impacts, enabling informed decisions to optimize packaging sustainability and efficiency at every stage.
Together, these principles support the transition toward a circular packaging economy, where packaging materials are continually reused, recycled, or repurposed, minimizing waste and conserving resources throughout each product lifecycle by closing the recycling loop.
New Sustainable Packaging Design Innovations
Beyond the fundamentals outlined above, a number of innovative approaches for mitigating the environmental impact of food products are currently being explored.
Smart Packaging Technologies to Help Limit Food Waste
Reducing food waste can directly reduce the ecological impact of not just food products, but the associated packaging as well. The food waste reduction non-profit ReFED estimates that 38% of U.S. food goes unused, and growing confusion over food labeling likely plays a key role.
Research is investigating how new technology can be integrated into packaging to help consumers track food quality, extend usability, and reduce unnecessary waste. Solutions like time-temperature indicators (devices that show an irreversible change in a physical characteristic, usually color or shape, in response to temperature history ) and freshness sensors (which “detect specific analytes by using receptors, transducers, and signal processing electronics”) could provide unprecedentedly precise, reassuring data for consumers and grocery managers. Companies are exploring a range of approaches including inks, pH sensors, hydrogels, and other cost-effective alternatives.
Machine-Learning Solutions to Supercharge Recyclability
As packaging designs become increasingly intricate, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are emerging as critical tools to improve recycling efficiency. Promising research is underway by organizations like NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) into how AI-powered sortation robots can be used at materials recovery facilities (MRFs) to identify and separate recyclable materials with greater efficacy.
Machine learning not only improves material recognition at MRFs but also helps recover a wider range of recyclables, many of which are currently ending up in landfills. Additionally, AI-powered systems can support chain-of-custody certification, ensuring that packaging materials are tracked and verified through the recycling process. This capability is becoming especially relevant as more companies explore digital watermarking technologies to better trace and validate sustainable packaging claims.
Integrated Analog-Digital Recyclability Labeling
Traditional on-pack recycling labels help inform consumers, but they are limited by space constraints and static information that may not reflect regional variations or evolving regulations. Digital tools offer a more dynamic and localized approach by providing real-time recyclability guidance tailored to a consumer’s specific location.
For example, a recent pilot program, Recycle Check (launched in collaboration with The Recycling Partnership, General Mills, and Danone) demonstrates how digital labeling can bridge the gap between consumer awareness and actionable recycling behavior. By scanning a QR code, consumers can instantly access up-to-date disposal instructions, ensuring compliance with the latest recycling policies.
Examples of Sustainable Packaging Design
The examples below illustrate the incredible breadth of design possibilities for improving sustainability, whether that means incorporating novel materials, using existing materials more efficiently, or adopting recycled alternatives that match the desired characteristics of virgin raw materials.
Coke Goes Recyclable
Coca-Cola has updated its iconic 20-ounce red and white bottles to prominently feature the message "Recycle Me Again," encouraging consumers to participate in recycling efforts. This initiative is part of Coca-Cola's "World Without Waste" strategy, aiming to eliminate 80 million pounds of new plastic usage, equivalent to about 2 billion bottles. The company has also made strides by transitioning its Dasani bottled water brand to 100% rPET bottles in 2022.
Mr. Peanut Slims Down
Planters, under Hormel Foods, launched a packaging redesign for its 16-ounce Dry Roasted Peanuts, reducing plastic usage by 8%. This change is projected to save 220 tons of plastic annually, demonstrating how thoughtful design can maintain product quality while reducing material use.
Biodegradable Materials Make an Entrance
Food wastage contributed approximately 34% of the total carbon footprint, and research is making progress in understanding how to manufacture compostable and biodegradable materials using organic waste such as fruit peels, vegetable glycerin, and corn starch. In the current state of research, however, most biodegradable plastics require specialized composting systems to achieve decomposition.
PCR Content Gets Flexible
Post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics allow food brands to integrate sustainable materials into packaging while meeting specific performance requirements. The key is the ability to incorporate varying percentages of PCR material depending on specific packaging needs.
For example, Lacerta’s ReCERTA™ material guarantees a minimum 10% PCR content while giving brands the flexibility to customize PCR content levels. This adaptable approach provides a direct avenue for reducing the environmental impact of a product while carefully managing the consumer experience.
How Lacerta Can Help Limit the Environmental Impact of Your Food Packaging
Careful refinement and thoughtful designs tailored to your brand's specific goals are essential for developing sustainable packaging fit for a competitive marketplace.
With ReCERTA™, Lacerta offers more than just recycled content. We provide end-to-end capabilities to help develop and execute sustainable packaging solutions (including custom packaging). From lifecycle assessments (LCAs) to customer messaging, Lacerta is committed to customer packaging that meets both environmental objectives and practical market requirements.
