5 Handy Tips to Save Weight on Your Product Packaging

Are you looking for ways of reducing your business expenses and making your organization more sustainable in the process? If so, a complete packaging overhaul could be the answer.

For e-commerce businesses, and companies that ship and deliver any products for that matter, packaging is not a recommendation, it’s a necessity. Packaging effectively ensures that the products you sell reach your customers in pristine condition. It protects them, preserves them, helps build brand awareness, and even helps to build upon consumer trust and loyalty.

For many years, plastic packaging was the go-to for businesses of all scales. As more research has been conducted into the dangers that plastic poses, not only to us, but to the environment as a whole, it has gradually been phased out over the years, or banned entirely. This has resulted in businesses searching for more economic, and more sustainable packaging alternatives. As it turns out, weight is the key.

For those of you looking for more affordable, more sustainable shipping options, here are 5 handy tips to save weight on your product packaging.

Select the Right Sized Packages

One of the simplest, and most effective ways of not only cutting back on waste, but also of saving money on shipping weight, is to choose the correct sized packages for the products that you’re shipping.

With more e-commerce companies than ever before using excessively large packaging, this is not only creating more waste, and more recycling, but it is also adding unnecessary weight to your packages which means you’ll spend more in shipping fees, and are also increasing your carbon footprint.

Rather than oversized boxes with an unnecessary amount of insulation, a simple solution to this problem would be to choose packaging that is the correct size for the products you’re shipping. It will reduce weight, it’s more sustainable, it will reduce waste, plus it’ll save your business money on both transit costs, and packaging materials.

Consider Airtight Packaging

We spoke previously about the importance of choosing the right sized packaging, and it doesn’t get much better than going with airtight options.

Believe it or not, but air does actually have weight to it. The more air within a packaging, the more its weight is going to creep up. Less air within a package means less weight.

By going with airtight packaging, not only can you cut back on the amount of packaging materials used, but you can also reduce the weight of your packages. Again, this is good for the environment and will save you money at the same time.

Choose the Right Tape

Although it may sound like splitting hairs here, but you’d be amazed by just how much weight you can save on your parcels and packages, by using a strong and durable tape.

Far too many ecommerce companies will use strip after strip of sealing tape when sealing their packages, only to find that it has added a surprising amount of weight to their products. The heavier the product, the greater the costs will be, not to mention the greater the carbon emissions during transit.

Instead of strip after strip of poor-quality tape, choose a durable, hard-wearing, gummed tape, also known as water-activated tape, or WAT for short. As it’s stronger, you’ll use less which means you save money on materials, your shipping fees are reduced, and your carbon footprint is also reduced.

Embrace Lightweight Biodegradable Packaging Materials

In recent years, there has been a considerable amount of research conducted into making the packaging industry more sustainable, and more environmentally friendly. This has resulted in a number of packaging innovations over the years, including the use of biodegradable materials in product packaging.

Biodegradable materials are not only kind to the environment, and a much safer alternative to plastic packaging, but they’re also far lighter in weight. As well as being recyclable, as they’re biodegradable, this means that they’ll naturally break down overtime when disposed of, with minimal impacts on the environment.

Biodegradable packaging materials such as those made from cornstarch, mushrooms, paper, cardboard, plant-fibers, and more besides, are all compostable and will naturally break down relatively quickly, usually within 8 weeks.

Switch to Aluminum Packaging

Finally, when it comes to saving both money and shipping weight, there’s one packaging material that stands out amongst the rest, and that one material is aluminum.

Aluminum packaging is now being widely utilized across a variety of different business sectors, including food and drink, beauty and cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and health and wellness. When you look at the list of pros that come with it, it’s easy to see exactly why that is.

To begin with, aluminum packaging offers superior preservative properties, which allows it to protect its contents from damaging UV rays from the sun, from moisture and humidity, from germs and bacteria, and from temperature fluctuations. It is also strong, durable, and light in weight.

As far as its sustainability is concerned, not only does aluminum reduce carbon emissions during transit because of its light weight, but it is also one of the most widely recycled materials on the planet. It is 100% recyclable, and can be recycled an infinite number of times, with no loss in quality at all. Add to that, the fact that recycling aluminum uses 95% less energy than producing it from new, and it’s clear to see why experts predict that aluminum will soon become the gold-standard of packaging and the packaging material of choice for businesses across multiple sectors.