Sustainable Label Options for Natural Products

Dietary supplement producers, creators of a vast array of personal care items, food and beverage companies, and many more “natural product” brands have gone from the avant-garde to the mainstream in the last several years. As consumers have increasingly demanded natural, organic, and sustainable product options, entrepreneurs in the arena have grown start-ups to multi-million dollar companies and behemoth brands have responded to consumer demand with natural product lines of their own. There is no question that for a growing portion of consumers, natural and environmentally responsible options for the products they use every day are no longer optional.

While the trend toward more natural consumer goods has been in the works for decades, the push for more sustainable packaging has grown exponentially just in the last few years. Brands who want to sell to a growing segment of consumers who insist on products that have less impact on the environment need not only to create great products, they need to think about the impact of that product’s packaging.

According to a 2020 McKinsey US consumer sentiment survey, “more than 60 percent of respondents said they’d pay more for a product with sustainable packaging.” And even though many companies feel that after launching a sustainable product the returns are less than expected given consumers’ claims, a more recent and extensive McKinsey and NielsenIQ study convincingly demonstrates that “consumers care about sustainability—and back it up with their wallets.” They explain that creating environmentally and socially responsible products to market as part of overall ESG strategies “turns out to be not just a moral imperative but also a solid business decision.”

At Inovar Packaging Group, we have long recognized out partners’ needs for sustainable options when it comes to labels and packaging, and we are striving to build and grow our own sustainability initiatives. To that end, we’ve compiled several ways we can help you on your journey toward sustainable packaging.

Fully Recyclable Packaging

Offering a fully recyclable product may seem like relatively straightforward way to participate in more sustainable packaging, but without a partner with expertise in the area, you may find yourself struggling to create a product that can actually make it through the recycling process.

Our membership in the Association of Plastic Recyclers gives us the latest information on how to connect your primary packaging with a label material that will enable it to be recycled. Once we’ve discussed your product packaging goals, we can then guide you to the material, ink, and adhesive to make sure your product meets recycling requirements. Here are some of the most common container materials that we can help you make fully recyclable.

• PET Containers
• Glass and Aluminum Containers
• HDPE Multi-Colored Containers

You can read our full article, How to Create Recyclable Packaging here, or reach out to an expert now who will guide you to the right custom solution to solve you sustainability goals.

Recycled and Sustainably Sourced Material

We offer a wide range of materials for labels and even label liners that come from post-consumer recycled material. Some popular materials we offer with post-consumer waste (PCW) content include:

• Clear, white, or silver BOPP
• Clear, white, or silver polyester
• Semigloss and dairy grade paper
• Textured and specialty paper

We also have material that can be composted as well as many materials that have been sourced sustainably. Discover more about our sustainable material options here, or reach out to an expert now to find which sustainable material is right for you.

Reduced Packaging Material

Another way to achieve more sustainable packaging is, of course, through simply reducing your packaging material. Avoiding secondary packaging like outer boxes or containers can have a huge impact on your material use, but in so doing you’ll need to ensure your primary label communicates everything you need.

We offer several solutions to help you include extra information right on your label, from extended content labels with an extra page or two for required information to simpler solutions like including a QR code with a link to pertinent product details.

Besides choosing primary reduced packaging that uses less material, we can help you reduce your packaging with thinner label liners for pressure-sensitive labels. Some of the reduced packaging and label materials for which we can substitute a thinner liner include clear, white, and metalized BOPP, and paper. The liner options that can be substituted are paper, PVC, or PLA materials. If you’re interested in reducing label liner material, you can find more information here.

If you’re on board with building a sustainable packaging solution that aligns with your ESG strategy, your brand goals, and your budget, look no further than Inovar Packaging Group to get you there. Let’s connect today to help bring about a better future together.