Tag Archives: Packaging material

This sustainable packaging for eggs is inspired by stamps & made from paper foam!

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Sustainable designs, especially packaging designs, are giving designers food for thought – very literally in some cases – to find solutions that can reduce waste and the burden on the planet! The Stamp Egg packaging stands out from the rest because it is detachable and made of PaperFoam which is sustainable, eco-friendly, low-carbon, highly recyclable, and home compostable material – it is truly egg-cellent!

Think of Stamp Egg as having your eggs individually wrapped but instead of plastic, it is a super sustainable and compostable material. It has all the necessary elements for an egg carton – easy open and close, protective form, and stackability. As the name suggested, it is inspired by a postage stamp that lets you tear out individual pieces from the collection, and now you can do it with your eggs.

This form also helps you save more space in the refrigerator and easily count the eggs without opening the package thus keeping them fresh for longer as they are less affected by temperature changes. Also, the separately packaged eggs can be easily packed for a picnic or in a lunch box without compromising on protectiveness or playing Jenga with the other items.

PaperFoam is a studio based in the Netherlands that specializes in making environmentally friendly packaging material widely used in electronics, cosmetics, medical devices, and food applications. The bio-based product is made out of starch, cellulose fibers, and water all with a very low carbon footprint. It can be composted or recycled at home with paper. Curious to learn more about this innovative material? Read about the manufacturing process, detailed benefits, and more here! 

“After experimenting with the material to enhance its look and its mechanical properties, I had to find a proper application for it. I aimed at designing a mass-produced everyday object within the packaging industry, which proved to be a successful field of application for PaperFoam as it was resistant, natural, and could be customized with branding,” says Yoon. “The purpose was to approach this project in a sustainable way, think about a valid and meaningful alternative to already existing products, combine maximum efficiency with aesthetic quality using an environment-friendly approach throughout the whole lifecycle.”

Compared to the cellulose-pulp, foam, or plastic boxes, the Stamp PaperFoam egg trays are lighter (beaten only by the Polystyrene ones) and emit much less carbon dioxide compared to their competitors (96% less than pulp, 91% less than PS, and 87% less than PET). Easy to achieve with the injection-molded manufacturing process, the product is cost-effective, energy-efficient, high-performing, and attractive!

The carton’s dimpled form accommodates individual eggs and prevents them from coming into contact with one another. An improved hinge holds the units together and makes the cups easy to separate into single independent boxes which saves space and keeps them fresh for longer. The name of the brand and the nutrient contents can be directly embossed on the material surface, saving on additional labeling costs and making recycling easier. Stamp is egg-straordinary!

Designer: Il-Seop Yoon

The post This sustainable packaging for eggs is inspired by stamps & made from paper foam! first appeared on Yanko Design.

This biodegradable material made from seaweed is used to make ‘disappearing’ plastic-free packaging!

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Plastic is not biodegradable and is one of the biggest contributors to waste and pollution. Every year, 8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped in the oceans and has resulted in a desperate need to change our behavior when it comes to single-use plastic. Meet Notpla – a sustainable material made by a start-up that’s on a mission to make packaging disappear naturally. The innovative seaweed-based material is a biodegradable alternative to single-use plastic that is clogging up our pipes and our planet.

Notpla has created an evolutionary, biodegradable seaweed-based material that can be used to replace plastic cups and condiment sachets with this sustainable packaging solution. It can also be made into thin films or a coating for cardboard to create a wide range of products. “Consumers today are not just aware, but emotionally connected with the issue of plastic pollution. We joined its design engineers and backers to deliver the strategy, name, identity, and brand that would leave people in no doubt about its potential value in the world,” says the team.

Notpla’s products are geared towards cutting down on single-use plastic, giving consumer brands a significant advantage as audiences become more conscious about food packaging. It has been designed to be a simple, bold definition of who they are – not plastic, but a completely new material that is more than just a brand’s clever name.

notpla

The edible, biodegradable material is made from plants and brown seaweed – one of nature’s most renewable resources. It can be used directly to replace plastic cups at sporting events, festivals, and private parties, as well as sachets for condiments, and can be made into thin films or a coating for cardboard to create a wide range of products. It is durable and disappears without harming the environment.

Notpla was trialed in 2019 at the London Marathon with Lucozade and London Cocktail Week and since formed a partnership with Just Eat and Unilever to provide more sustainable food packaging, whilst creating a new and exciting experience for customers. Growing up to 1m per day, it doesn’t compete with food crops, doesn’t need fresh water or fertiliser and actively contributes to de-acidifying our oceans.

The products have featured at Virgin Money’s London Marathon and London Cocktail Week and the brand also has a partnership with Just Eat and Unilever. Conventional wisdom dictates that a brand should be defined by what it is, not what it isn’t. But when what it isn’t is one of the world’s biggest problems – plastics – that’s OK. (Particularly when what it is, is seaweed).

The minimal sachets make a big contribution toward cutting down on single-use plastic, giving consumer brands a significant advantage as audiences make more conscious choices about where and what they eat today. Notpla disintegrates naturally in 4-6 weeks – no micro-plastics, no waste for centuries. Unlike PLA, it is home compostable and doesn’t contaminate PET recycling. It is not too good to be true, it is actually true and you can shop the product here.

Designer: Superunion

The post This biodegradable material made from seaweed is used to make ‘disappearing’ plastic-free packaging! first appeared on Yanko Design.

Meet the Box, a sustainable and safe alternative to cardboard packaging that can be reused for a 1000 times!

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The year of the pandemic has changed the way people use e-commerce – online shopping figures have scaled new pinnacles, meaning there is an abundance of packaging waste ending up in landfills. Cardboard has its own merits as a packaging material but the amount of waste it generates is inseparable. Thankfully then, there is a Berlin-based brand dubbed LivingPackets, which has conceived an ingenious solution to minimize waste associated with shipping.

The company has designed an alternative to cardboard boxes and it’s simply called ‘The Box.’ Four years in development, it was again revealed at the CES 2021 with some improvements. The Box is a sustainable option for the e-commerce industry and can allegedly be used to ship up to 1000 times. In contrast, cardboard boxes have a single life from point of packaging to the point of delivery. If the municipality at the location of delivery recycles, the cardboard gets a new lease of life; else it goes waste and injures the environment. In addition to the sustainability aspect, the neatly designed ‘Box’ is equivalent to approximately two shoe boxes and it can be used to ship a large number of commodities. Interestingly, the Box can even fold flat to ship important documents or a laptop. Traditionally sending an important paper by mail/courier is not at all safe – you cannot be sure how it’s being handled on the way – and you have to rely simply on the logistics company’s tracking mechanism to know where your parcel has reached.

The Box is going to revolutionize this when it is mass-produced toward May this year. The inventive box comes embedded with GPS to allow the sender/receiver to track the package from point A to B and everywhere in between in real-time using a dedicated app on a smart device. Simply place the item inside the Box, close it, enter the destination, and the onboard e-ink display will double as a traditional print label to update its journey status.

LivingPackets’ Box is currently in beta testing with partner companies, which include e-commerce stores, logistics, and even insurance companies. To ensure the commodity in the package is safe – not just because it is trackable – also safe in transit, the Box features temperature and shock sensors. There is also a provision to include a camera inside in the future, which would allow people to keep an eye on the product they’re shipping within the Box packaging.

Since this packaging solution seems too good to be true, most of us would instantly count it out for being expensive and for the elite only. However, the environmentally friendly and innovative Box is pretty affordable, in fact, the company wants to keep the costs as low as traditional cardboard packaging. At the end of the life cycle, the Box will be repaired and refurbished to “be used additional 1000 times” LivingPackets claims. Proposing to eliminate up to 90-percent of carbon dioxide emissions, the Box has a holding mechanism within, which means not just the cardboard is replaced, the air-filled bubbled plastic, Styrofoam, etc. used to secure products inside the packaging box are also eliminated. Now that’s fab – I can’t wait to see this new package land at my doorsteps one fine morning!

Designer: LivingPackets