Sustainable Packaging

Is the paper used in your packaging really ‘sustainable’? How do you know? 

At Knockout we ensure this by only using paper that is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and/or Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified.

FSC Certification ensures that stakeholders at all levels of the production process are complying with a certain set of standards and keep the chain of custody on pulp/paper material intact throughout the manufacturing process. This applies to various types of paper, with options ranging from virgin fiber to 100% PCW. SFI Certification works in a very similar way, allowing forest managers in the US and Canada to demonstrate sustainability while measuring quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk, forest conservation value, forest fiber content, and forest product traceability.

This is important for transparency, so that brands can be confident that their packaging truly comes from sustainably managed forests where workers are treated fairly, local communities are taken into consideration and conservation efforts are in full effect.

Keep in mind that these standards are regional, and monitoring of the ethical aspects of the FSC Certification are done by manufacturing company managers, therefore vary by country. For this reason, at Knockout we only use North American FSC and/or SFI Certified paper, ensuring that the ethical standards that we adhere to are constant throughout the supply chain. This also allows our paper to have a lower carbon footprint than many Asian options that are transported to North America by sea or air.

Overall, transparency is key when determining whether your paper is truly sustainable. By using paper that is FSC and/or SFI certified, we know that the chain of custody is intact and we can verify that this paper was made with sustainably managed resources.

So you have your paper figured out, now what about the ink that goes on top of it? Even if you have paper from sustainably managed resources, if you don’t follow through with an environmentally friendly ink choice it could be detrimental for your packaging’s recyclability.

For example, petroleum based inks can emit around 25-40% of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) when they dry. This is a major issue as VOCs can negatively affect the health of production workers and the health of the planet. Petroleum based inks do not easily break down, and as a result can end up leaching into soil in landfills and/or waterways once removed from packaging during the deinking (recycling) process. This leaves our plants and animals are at risk. For example, many of these inks contain compounds like toluene, xylene and benzene (a known carcinogen).

As an alternative, here at Knockout we use vegetable-based inks. Vegetable-based printing ink is made with vegetable oil, such as soybean or corn oil, as a substitute for petroleum. These have a VOC content as low as 4% which is much better for the environment. These inks contain natural components like vegetable oils, soy, natural resins and natural wax instead of harsh chemicals.

Have you ever thought about what’s really holding your carton together? Many of us don’t, but it can be vitally important in determining whether your packaging is recyclable.

During the recycling process, all adhesives must be removed from packaging to allow it to be properly processed and repulped. But this is often a tough task, depending on how much glue is used, the type of glue and how easily it can be separated from the pulp material. 

So how can we hold the packaging together without impacting the recycling process? 

Minimal glue – Recyclability starts at the foundation of packaging – structural design. We design packaging to require the least amount of glue possible. We even have solutions that have no glue at all!

Uniform materials – The mixing of materials impacts the quality of recycled materials. For example, packaging with multiple types of paper, packaging including cellophane windows or gift box style packaging with ribbons or magnets for closure. These all cause difficulties during the recycling process, and often lead to the packaging being screened out entirely. At Knockout Sustainable Packaging, our goal is to make packaging as easy to recycle as possible, and our packaging is always made with recyclable paperboard.

Recycling safe glue – It is important that glue on packaging is water soluble, allowing it to be removed from the paper during the deinking process. When excess glue is used, or certain types of glue that do not easily break down in water, it becomes very difficult to remove it from the paper pulp and often leads to recycling contamination.

No animal byproducts – With many of our clients being vegan and cruelty free brands, using glue that is not animal based or containing animal products is very important to us!

No tape – Tape can sneakily make it’s way into your packaging! Think of rigid ‘gift box’ style kits that we often see given to influencers. Under the surface, there is tape holding the corners of that box together. When it’s hidden like that, it makes it very difficult to separate during recycling. There’s also the issue of double sided tape, often applied as an assembly step. This can be difficult to remove during the recycling process and is not easily detectable by recycling workers.

Overall, using the minimal amount of the right kind of adhesives is what allows us to be confident in saying our cartons will easily break down and be recycled.

With the finishing process acting as ‘the icing on the cake’, it’s very easy to get tempted and go overboard with finishing touches like laminated soft touch, spot UV for a shiny effect or a ton of metallic foil. However, not all of these are eco-friendly, especially when used in excess. 

Aqueous coatings are a great alternative to the laminated finishes that we often see applied to packaging. While lamination offers great protection in a retail setting, it covers the entire carton in a layer of plastic, rendering it not recyclable. This is due to recycling facilities being unable to separate the plastic layer from the paper entirely, and the fear of contamination that comes from that. If plastic makes it’s way into the pulp slurry, the whole batch could be downgraded to a lower class of pulp (contaminated), or worse – sent to landfill. 

Spot UV is another common finish that we see, but many people are unaware that it can be very difficult to remove from packaging as it hardens like a resin. Further, Spot UV contains Bisphenol A (BPA) which is high in VOC’s and endangers the workers applying it, and potentially consumers as they are handling this packaging, storing it in their homes, etc.

Foil in small amounts (less than 20% of the surface area of a carton) can be removed during the deinking process. Once too much foil is applied, it acts like a laminated layer and the paper cannot be easily separated from it.

Embossing is a great option as it imprints a pattern into the paper, rather than applying anything additional to the paper. It does not affect the recyclability of a carton at all. 

Did you know that 35% of the US population actively recycles? So, with the chances of your packing actually making it into a recycling stream at the end of it’s life being essentially 1 in 3, we take preventative measures. Ensuring that even if your packaging does end up in a landfill, it biodegrades within a few months without leaching toxic chemicals into the soil, and isn’t lingering for hundreds of years like those cartons covered in plastic.

In Canada recycling rates vary by province, with contamination being the biggest threat to the recycling stream. This comes in the form of products leaking onto the carton or layers that are adhered to the carton like Spot UV or lamination.

Ensuring that your cartons are made with all recyclable components eliminates much of that fear around recycling contamination, and ensures that even if your consumers do not recycle your carton it will still break down over time. 

In areas where recycling is prevalent, adding some additional elements to your packaging like foil and using digital print are acceptable, as they will be removed during the deinking process. However, if you sell into an area with very low recycling rates, a more practical approach would be to look at fully biodegradable packaging (minimal glue, no foil) to ensure that even if your packaging does get sent to a landfill, nothing is left behind within a few months.