Designers have power
The Covid pandemic has contributed to a tremendous change in our consumption behavior. Consumption keeps increasing and we must do everything we can to make this trend more sustainable. Take away meals, ordering in, online shopping, all this needs to be packed and how it’s done plays an important role in the bigger picture.
Designers hold power as they make choices on consumers’ behalf. The packaging needs to suit its purpose: protect the product all the way from manufacturer to the consumer, whilst also making the brand and product communicate to the audience. Brand owners, packaging manufacturers and paperboard suppliers like Metsä Board need to collaborate to promote the use of renewable materials, reduce waste production and make the packaging easily recyclable after use.
Reducing the consumption of plastic is another important thing. I wouldn’t say we need to replace it entirely, but we need to make designs recyclable, perhaps even reusable. I am looking for creative ideas that don’t compromise the packaging performance.
Personally, I encourage all designers to pay attention to the package’s entire lifecycle. So when you start working on a new concept, think about how to maximise the use of renewable raw materials, and how to minimise the material usage as a whole. We know that lightweighting the packaging has substantial effects on the package’s sustainability. So, designing fit-for-purpose packaging that can be easily recycled is essential – and is at the core of circular economy.
Setting the trend for sustainable packaging
The previous Better with Less - Design Challenges showed that this competition can really be a trend setter for better packaging. We have received innovative design entries from all over the world, and we have been able to execute many of the ideas together with the designers and packaging manufacturers. Our Excellence Centre and versatile service portfolio offer great possibilities to turn the designs into actual, physical packaging.
The question is - how do you see circular packaging? Are you able to create something we have never seen before whilst using a minimum amount of material resource efficiently?
It’s a brilliant playground to let your imagination flow, so join the challenge!