4 Creative Ways to Repurpose Your Aluminum Packaging

In modern society, sustainability is no longer a recommended business practice, it is now a necessity. Businesses simply must make a conscious effort to make their day-to-day operations more sustainable and more environmentally friendly for a number of reasons.

Many government initiatives now call for greener practices. In some countries for example, plastic drinking straws have been banned from eateries and fast-food restaurants and have been replaced with paper straws. Failure to comply with certain environmental measures now come with hefty fines and penalties, and even the threat of legal action.

It’s all well and good talking about making your business more sustainable, but what does that actually entail? For many, it all begins with plastic packaging, or rather, getting rid of plastic packaging and instead using a more eco-friendly option such as aluminum.

One key reason why aluminum is so sustainable is because it can be reused and repurposed in a variety of ways. Some of which we’ll be highlighting below.

Why is Aluminum Packaging so Environmentally Friendly?

Aluminum packaging is widely considered one of the most economic and sustainable materials in the world today. One of the main reasons for this is its recyclability. Aluminum is one of few packaging materials that can be recycled over and over again, as many times as you like, with no loss in tensile strength or durability. Recycling aluminum also uses as much as 95% less energy than would be required to produce it as new.

Basically, you can recycle it an infinite number of times, and each time it will come out as good, and as strong and durable, as new. As a result of this, aluminum is considered a far better packaging alternative to plastic, particularly for businesses looking to be more environmentally friendly.

Plastic, which not only harms the environment, is also not infinitely recyclable, in fact, not all plastic is recyclable at all. Even plastic which can be recycled can only be recycled a small number of times. After each one, it becomes softer, weaker, and more brittle. Eventually, it can’t be used at all and simply makes its way to landfill, where it takes thousands of years to breakdown, or its incinerated, which causes harmful emissions that are bad for the environment.

Aluminum is also lighter, which means more volume during shipping, less energy used, and fewer harmful emissions produced in transit. This is one of many reasons why aluminum packaging has such a small carbon footprint.

Creative Ways to Repurpose Aluminum Packaging

It doesn’t matter whether you’re using your old packaging around the home, or in the office, if you’ve an influx of aluminum packaging that you no longer need, rather than taking it straight to the recycling center, why not find an alternative use for it instead? After all, as the saying goes: ‘reduce, reuse, and recycle.’

Looking for inspiration? Here are 4 creative suggestions to help you out.

Use Aluminum Trays as Office Food Stations

Aluminum packaging can take many forms, though foil trays, like you find with catering companies, or at BBQ cookouts and competitions, are up there in terms of popularity.

If you have some old aluminum foil trays laying around, why not give them a good clean, sterilize them, and use them to make healthy food stations in the office?

Simply take a tray or two, fill them with a selection of healthy non-perishable food items, and set them out for your employees to help themselves. You can make your own trail mix, fill them with nuts, seeds, or dried fruits, and let employees snack away to their heart’s content.

To keep the contents fresh, if your containers don’t come with an airtight seal, cover them with a layer of aluminum foil. Just be sure to recover them when you’re finished. You could even use them as bird or wildlife feeders.

Turn Old Aluminum Cans into Desk Tidies

You know what they say? ‘tidy desk, tidy mind’ and if your desk could use a little organization, why not use old aluminum food cans and turn them into desk tidies?

Those old empty cans of condensed soup in the office kitchen? Rather than throwing them in with the recycling, go ahead and carefully remove the lid, remove the labelling, give them a good clean, dry them, and maybe wrap them in decorative paper, or paint them, and use them to get your desk more organized.

You can use these old cans to store pens, pencils, markers, and other similar pieces of stationary. If using around the office, you could even make several, decorate them with your company colors or logo, and place one on each of your employees’ desks.

Make Your Own Desktop Planters

A little greenery goes a long way when it comes to desks and offices. This is why it’s not uncommon for employees to decorate their desks at work with small cacti or other types of indoor plant. Some even have their own miniature terrariums.

Rather than ceramic pots and planters, however, why not take some old aluminum trays or cans, and transform them into desktop planters for office succulents or other similar plants that don’t require a great deal of water, or maintenance.

Again, you can decorate them however you like, though be sure to add a small layer of gravel at the base of your planter to assist with drainage after watering.

Create Your Own Sleek Business Card Holders

Finally, if you really want to help do your part for the planet, whilst making your business look incredibly suave, sophisticated, and professional at the same time, why not make your own business card holders from old aluminum packaging?

Got a small aluminum tin, like the kind that used to hold mints, for example? If so, then check the size, because if your business cards fit snuggly inside, you’ve just got yourself a sleek, DIY business card holder.

If you can remove the old packaging, you could go with the classic, sleek aluminum silver finish, or alternatively you could wrap the tin in your company colors or logos, to really help build brand awareness. Once you’ve got the tin looking the way you want it to look, place your cards inside, close the lid, pop it in your pocket, and you’re ready to hand out your business cards whenever you like.