Product packaging has made huge progress since the days when almost everything was shrink-wrapped or packed in styrofoam. Yet our planet’s waste problem has continued to grow. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s numbers, containers and packaging created 77.9 million tons of municipal solid wastein 2015. Why is it proving so difficult to reduce our dependence on wasteful packaging? A combination of factors increase the difficulty and make it hard for solutions to stick—but many people in many different industries are working to change that. What are the barriers that often prevent businesses from adopting sustainable packaging, and what strategies can they use to overcome them? Scientists, engineers and designers around the world are digging into these challenges right now. The strategies they’ve come up with are inspiring, surprising and possibly revolutionary for our planet’s fight for environmental sustainability.   #1: Research and Development Cost Barriers Sustainable packaging can be costly and challenging to develop. Many businesses don’t see the resources they think they’d need on their balance sheet to invest in R&D for better packaging. However, it’s important to also look at the potential cost savings from streamlined packaging. If your leadership is squeamish about making the investment, try pitching the projects in ROI terms. This might include focusing your first packaging redesign efforts on areas where eco-friendly packaging offers a high potential for cost savings. Eliminating packaging waste is the ultimate win-win: a cost-cutting point that’s also a great first step to becoming cleaner and greener. #2: Passing Increased Material Costs Onto the Consumer

Consumers say they’re serious about protecting the environment and want to see businesses create greener packaging. But do they really care enough to shell out more for products with a green packaging upgrade? For years, the signs were mixed, and businesses were correspondingly wary. Research in 2011 found that most consumers were not willing to pay morefor sustainable products. However, newer numbers suggest a change. Nielsen went so far as to call 2018 “The Year of the Sustainable Shopper” as the sustainable goods market grew by an eye-popping 20 percent to reach $128.5 billion. The entry of millennials into the workforce and their increased buying power have been driving forces behind this trend. Nielsen reports that 90 percent of millennials are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly ingredients (versus 60 percent of baby boomers.) What’s more, improvements in technology have created low-cost, high-impact solutions like biodegradable packing peanuts that actually offer superior performance to their styrofoam cousins. The takeaway on this factor is that these concerns, while still worth considering, are generally less pressing than they were a decade ago. Between improved technology and a customer base that’s more willing to pay for sustainably produced goods, the risks are considerably lower. #3: Blended and Multilayer Packaging that isn’t Recyclable.

Many companies rely on multilayer packaging that isn’t easily separated for recycling. An average chip bag, for example, contains several layers of material, some of which are recyclable and some of which aren’t. This means that municipal single-stream recycling systems often consider these bags as non-recyclable contaminants. Hain Celestial, the manufacturer of the popular snack brands Garden of Eatin’ and Sensible Portions, devised an innovative solution. They’ve paired up with third-party recycling solutions company TerraCycle to create a free bag recycling program for their snack bags. That plastic then ends up with companies like 3D Brooklyn, a business that recycles the plastic from old chip bags to create 3D printing supplies. Sustainability has always been a team sport, so one of the smartest things that a business can do is to reach out to others invested in the same process. #4: Food Scraps that Make Packaging Non-Recyclable Anyone who’s gotten in trouble for throwing a pizza box in the recycling bin knows the so-called “Pizza Box Problem” very well. At first glance, a cardboard pizza box seems like it should be easy to recycle, but the grease and cheese that stick to the box often make that impossible. The food waste is considered a contaminant, and improperly recycled pizza boxes are a major headache for recyclers.

This slippery problem has defeated many businesses, and the vast majority of pizza boxes still end up in the trash. But there’s innovation on the horizon: last year, Seattle pizza restaurant World Pizza introduced a reusable pizza box. Regulars can buy the recyclable polypropylene box for $5 and get a free slice—then, they can bring it by to pick up their pizza any time they order takeout. It’s a limited and imperfect solution, but also the kind of bold first step required for an industry to discover the technologies of the future. #5: The Need for Extra Protection and Durability in Online Retail At the end of the day, performance is still king. No matter how green or sustainable a packaging method is, it won’t pass muster if it doesn’t fulfill its prime directive of protecting the product within. As online retail continues to put up huge growth numbers, the problem has become more severe due to the amount of packaging required to ship an item hundreds or thousands of miles. Online retailers know all too well that their products are likely to get some rough handling before they reach their destination, and they design their packaging accordingly.

Fortunately, commercially available eco-packaging solutions are getting better every day. Packaging options like biodegradable air pillows and recyclable refrigerant gel packs are now widely available, and they offer comparable performance at competitive prices. Online retailers and shippers now owe it to their customers and to their environment to thoroughly investigate all of their options for more eco-friendly shipping. With the Earth’s plastic pollution rapidly reaching critical levels, there’s no time to waste in developing the packaging solutions to address it. As many businesses have discovered, the process is often not easy or cheap. New technology and fresh investment are necessary—but the good news is that both of those are on display every day.

Being environmentally conscious involves a series of choices that add up over time: the reusable water bottle, the public transit commute, the trip to the consignment store instead of the department store. But how we pay for everything we buy has an impact, too. In recent years, eco-friendly credit cards have emerged as a way to make one more thoughtful choice. These cards may donate to green causes, help you offset your carbon footprint or even be made out of recycled, biodegradable or reclaimed materials. But a credit card that is "good" for the environment is a tricky premise. For one thing, many major banks, some of which issue these cards, invest in fossil fuels. Plus, credit cards make it easy to buy more stuff, and the very act of consumption contributes to climate change in myriad ways. After all, that online purchase doesn’t just magically appear at your front door. The items you buy get manufactured, packaged, shipped, delivered in trucks ... you get the idea. So do eco-friendly credit cards make a difference? What other actions can you take to make a difference when it comes to your own consumption habits? What makes a credit card 'eco-friendly'? Eco-friendly credit cards aim to help the environment in a few major ways: Using more sustainable materials to make the cards There’s a noticeable push to move away from “first-use” plastic in credit cards and toward plastics that previously served some other purpose, like recycled PVC (polyvinyl chloride, the difficult-to-recycle material that cards are traditionally made from) and plastics recovered from oceans. Still, any plastic use, even if it’s recycled or reclaimed, can be problematic, according to Katie O’Hara, conservation manager at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida. “Anything made from recycled or reclaimed ocean plastics is not truly recyclable or sustainable," she said in an email. "When plastics are recycled, they degrade, releasing nano and microparticles into the water used to recycle them. Plastic cannot be reused more than once or twice, and when it is recycled it’s still harmful to the environment.” Even if plastic finds a second life as a credit card, it will still find its way back to the landfill eventually. O’Hara recommends opting for metal credit cards, which are more durable and easier to recycle. Donating to specific causes There are many worthwhile environmental charities that are doing important work all over the world, and they need help. And by “help,” what they really need is money. “Environmental nonprofit organizations are heavily reliant on donations, and the donations they receive through eco-friendly credit cards can be a financial lifeline for them,” said Marc Lewis, executive editor of EcoWatch, an environmental news and product review site, in an email. So if you want to use a credit card that helps raise money toward a cause you care about, go for it. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking using the card more often equals a healthier planet. “It’s hard to measure if these donations truly offset the massive carbon footprint from the credit card purchases of TVs, smartphones, new furniture and other resource-intensive consumer goods,” Lewis said. An alternative is simply donating directly to charities. Cash always fits, but you can even donate points and miles from rewards credit cards, as well as from airline and hotel loyalty programs. Offering carbon offsets With carbon offsets, you essentially help fund an environmentally friendly project somewhere in the world, negating the carbon footprint of your own action. In recent years, a few carbon-offsetting credit cards have come to market. They partner with organizations that offset the carbon footprint of your purchases through reforestation efforts and other means. Some even track the carbon footprint of your purchases, helping you to make more informed buying decisions. Anything that helps you think about the impact of your purchases is a good thing. Carbon offsets themselves can also help, though data on the effectiveness of different offset programs is murky. If you choose a credit card that offers carbon offsets, look into the organizations they support so you can see how much of an impact you can make. Also, it’s tempting to buy more when each tap of the card does something good for the environment, but, again, buying more stuff is generally not ideal for the environment. What card issuers can do: Ditch the physical card altogether Enough new credit cards are produced every year to circle the Earth three times, according to Doug Heske, CEO of Newday Impact Investing, a platform that allows users to invest in ESG portfolios. (ESG stands for environmental, social and governance.) But we already have the technology that will reduce demand for physical cards. Perhaps in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, contactless and mobile payment use picked up momentum around the world. A 2021 Visa study found that 85% of consumers expect digital options when they shop in person, including contactless credit cards, mobile payment apps and mobile wallets. And if contactless payment options are what customers want, card issuers and merchants will eventually deliver by allowing consumers to opt in to receiving physical cards instead of automatically mailing them. “We’re in this bridge period between what was and what will be,” Heske says. “My experience, and the conversation I’ve had with major providers, is that everyone’s moving in that direction. It’s going to be consumer-driven.” What consumers can do: Make small choices that add up Just because something is plastic doesn’t mean you can simply drop it in the recycling bin and pat yourself on the back. What’s considered “recyclable” can depend on the rules of your region’s recycling program. Credit cards are difficult to recycle in part because of their chips and magnetic stripes, according to Debbie Prenatt, market manager, sustainability, at M. Holland Co., a plastics distribution company. Companies like TerraCycle offer a way to mail in your old cards for recycling. TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Pouch costs $48, but you can save money by sharing the cost, and the pouch, with friends who also want to safely dispose of their cards. And if you haven’t yet tried that mysterious wallet app on your phone, add a credit card or two and try it the next time you shop at a merchant that accepts that type of payment. Of course, a huge part of cutting back on plastic waste is simply using less of it. Prenatt adds another “R” to “reduce, reuse, recycle” — refuse. “If you get takeout, do you need plastic utensils? Or can you wait until you’re home and use a metal fork? That’s how you refuse,” she says. “Unfortunately, if you want to do better, you have to do the work as an individual.”