3 reasons why it is certain that plastic-free packaging will be the future

The new plastics produced worldwide are approx. 40% is done as packaging. It can be the packaging of food, drink, or any other product, the point is that the recording market is huge. Nevertheless, we see that serious changes can be observed worldwide: not only customers, but giant companies and the whole of humanity have started to look at packaging materials differently. What is certain is that the transition will not happen overnight. But it also seems more and more certain that the packaging material of the future will be free of plastics.

It's all a vicious circle

Due to the Plastics Act, we know that in Hungary alone, 15,000 tons of single-use plastic packaging – food boxes, drinking glasses, bags – must be replaced with other, more environmentally friendly products. This 15,000 tons weighs as much as six hundred Boeing 787s at once. Now imagine the quantities we can talk about when dissecting this topic on a global scale...

The problem begins with the fact that there are few more obvious and cheaper solutions for food packaging than plastic. Unfortunately, the energy and money spent is much less when a company chooses this "well-proven", environmentally polluting solution.

However, it was not by chance that we voted for plastic -free alternatives made from natural materials. Sugarcane, PLA or paper can replace plastic, and it seems increasingly that the world is rooting for this to happen.

The stakes are huge

Nowadays, the question of plastic-free packaging is more of a question of existence, so it is high time to grasp the problem at its root.

The time has come so that the mountains of disposable plastic floating in our waters and the island-sized plastic hotspots do not grow any larger.

It is time to reduce the amount of plastic waste entering nature, as plastic remains in nature for centuries and even accelerates climate change during decomposition.

We could go on with the list, but for now we want to focus on the solutions. And to see it this way, it is no longer just a hope that the packaging of the future will not be made of plastic.

Why?

1. Because customers prefer it

The climate crisis affects us all , and we are dealing with the problem more and more and more actively. This also leads to serious changes in people's attitudes.

Due to the increasingly threatening, realistic image of a natural disaster, 59% of people are already actively thinking about the impact of their daily activities and consumption habits on their environment. The majority of customers are increasingly demanding changes from companies as well:

• Younger generations have proven that they can be powerful and vocal actors in the fight for our environment.
• Customers have learned how to bring about real changes in the way companies behave.
• And according to IBM research, 54% of customers are willing to pay more for the products of companies that operate according to sustainable or environmentally friendly principles.

These also show that global trends are inevitably moving towards an environmentally friendly and sustainable future. And in this market situation, companies have to ask the question: where does plastic fit in all this?

And the answer is simple: nowhere!

2. The transition will also be worth it for the companies

It will also be worthwhile for companies to move away from well-proven plastic packaging: although it will not be profitable in the short term to offer environmentally friendly, plastic-free alternatives, it is already important to create an image of environmental awareness on the market, and most people are striving for this.

Plastic-free packaging will prove to be the perfect tool for this.

Although these predictions may seem far-fetched now, we are sure that we will see major changes in the coming years: as some companies gain an increasing advantage with alternative packaging materials, so will their competitors.

And this domino effect will benefit us all in the long run.

3. The whole world wants to change

With the Paris Agreement in 2015, the relationship between humanity and the environment changed irreversibly: 196 nations pledged to fundamentally change their economies in order to protect our environment.

And there is plenty to do to achieve this common goal.

Since linear economies (= produce, sell, throw away) cause many environmental problems, the transition to circular economies is necessary. This means that after throwing away, we insert a fourth stop, which will be "reuse". In this way, we can achieve that plastic does not end up in nature and in landfills, but instead becomes a usable, valuable resource .

There is already light at the end of the tunnel

Of course, we know that it is impossible to fundamentally change the economic operation of a giant company or an entire country and make it 100% sustainable. But we also know that replacing packaging with plastic-free alternatives is not at all.

That is why we are so optimistic. Humanity, giant companies, and consumers all have the means to replace plastics. The only question is when the real big changes will come in the life of packaging.