In Europe 72% of consumers prefer to buy products with low environmental impact packaging, a survey already mentioned tells us this and we have talked about it several times in our blog.

Flexible packaging - on its side - has several features that make it more sustainable than other solutions: it uses less raw materials, it takes less energy to produce it and is transported more effectively, to name a few (here you can find our full explanation).

Brands that also tell the consumer their packaging could therefore find advantages in the market and be able to involve their customer more effectively. But how to tell the sustainability value of packaging? With labels, slogans or colours - in a non-invasive way and always putting the product in the foreground. Today we give you some ideas, examples and advices!

Four tips to communicate sustainable packaging

According to the white paper published by Metrixlab, a British company that deals with market research, companies that use new materials - more sustainable - for their packaging have the opportunity to grow and better place their products on the shelves.

The document also gives us valuable advice on communicating your packaging.

1. Give priority to the product rather than the packaging: it’s okay to communicate the packaging, but the product cannot disappear. As we will see in the examples we have collected, a communication focused solely on packaging can be counterproductive, especially if you are not a well-known brand.
2. Amplify the message with icons or slogans. A color, an icon, a well-thought label can communicate directly different information: for example, the plastic saved using a flexible packaging instead of a rigid one or the savings in terms of C02 or energy consumed.
3. Provide real, easy-to-understand data. Specific data is more effective than generic claims. For example, the phrase "This packaging is produced with 97% recycled plastic" is better than a more vague "Recycled plastic packaging": shows how the brand is careful to give the right and timely information, without persuading the consumer with deliberately vague or misleading information.
4. Find a balance between product visibility and other ancillary information, such as packaging information. Consider that giving relevance to a message can weaken the rest of the communication. Do not forget that it is also possible to make temporary communications regarding packaging: for example, use them only in the launch of new products or new packaging.

Always remember compulsory labelling

Before we go on with some useful examples, let’s immediately clarify one thing: packaging also needs environmental labels that must be affixed on the packaging and that indicate the construction material and recyclability. We discussed this extensively in our article "Which environmental labels should be printed on the packaging?”.

So never forget that - basically - there is already information on your packaging regarding its sustainability.

Some examples of packaging sustainability communication

Here are some examples of how brands have communicated the sustainability of packaging directly on their packaging.

Procter & Gamble Beauty has introduced a packaging strategy in Europe that aims to increase recycling rates and at the same time reduce the use of plastic, thanks to flexible packaging. And he said so on his packaging: a green label, detailed information on the plastic saved and a claim that explains how to use the product.

Frosch is a pioneer brand for detergents and ecological detergents. In its recent flexible, 100% recyclable packaging, it has inserted a label at the top of the packaging that indicates the two advantages of the new packaging: the saving of materials and recyclability.

Original source is a British brand of body care, uses natural ingredients and is very popular. This flexible packaging creatively applies our advice to be as precise as possible in the information you give to the customer: not only does it communicate the savings in the use of plastic, but enumerate the individual mint leaves and teas used to create the product in question.

As we suggested previously: it is good practice to insert the message of sustainability in a secondary position with respect to the brand, to the different variants of the product and to the benefits of the product itself. So ideally it should be inserted at the bottom or top of the package, as we saw in the three previous examples.

But, as we know, every good rule can be turned upside down with imagination and awareness. This is how Head & Shoulders announced its new recycled plastic packaging directly on the packaging. Here the message of sustainability is in the primary position: a courageous and creative choice, which is certainly helped by the fact that the brand in question is already extremely visible and famous. The danger, however, is that a communication so focused on packaging makes the benefits of the product less clear.

Solutions that we like more and that we believe are more effective, especially for small or local brands, are those that insert the message on the sustainability of packaging in a broader story on the value of the product. A good example is the one provided by Algida in this pack of Carte d’Or.

Information on the packaging made of 95% recycled plastic is listed along with other features that tell the value of the product: the local origin of some ingredients and the absence of artificial flavors.

And you? Do you already have any ideas to communicate the sustainability of your packaging to the customer?