Good product, bad package: top sustainable packaging mistakes. While many major corporations are moving toward sustainable manufacturing, supply chain, and operational approaches, one impediment continues to be product packaging.
Many common items are packaged in materials that cannot be recycled. This particular article focuses on some common brand name items, explains what the packaging problems are that prevent recycling, and offers possible solutions for the future.
Examples of Sustainable Packaging Challenges
Some common products that are packaged in ways that are unrecyclable include chips and snacks bags, yogurt containers and coffee cups, toothpaste tubes and tooth brushes, plastic bottles, on-line purchased product packages that still use styrofoam and other non-recyclable packing materials, and, yes, even the take-out pizza box because once the cheese gets on the cardboard box, it is problematic to recycle.
The article, accessible on The Guardian website, cites some of the more progressive companies looking to improve the recyclability of their packages.
