You have already made the decision that you might want eco-friendly labeling for your product. Wonderful! However what’s next? You will find several other aspects to consider when selecting the type of labels you need.
With plastic material doing so much problems for the environment – a growing number of us are trying to find eco-friendly packaging to lower damage. This guide to eco-friendly labels can help you in your small but considerable factor to the battle with plastic.
Sustainability and Production
Is utilizing tree-free material crucial for you? Do you really need adhesive which contains no animal products? Is making use of labels made out of renewable resources essential to your brand’s sustainability offer?
We appreciate how crucial it is to balance the demands of your customers, efficiency of your product packaging, along with your brand’s sustainability offer.
You will find many printing companies offer various label materials, each made to address the needs of various products and industries. You can ask their customer representatives and they will be happy help you find the right label.
Functionality
Both adhesive and label material are specific to their expected application. The very first thing to take into account is whether your adhesive and labels will work with your packaging. They may need to properly perform their specified function, in the environment wherein they will be used.
Different customer and packaging types might need different kinds of labels. You can ask some label samples so you can experience their materials yourself, and also test for your particular product.
It is crucial that we don’t look at durability in isolation. Selecting the most appropriate solution for your product labels might be easy:
· When the rest of your product packaging is recyclable, you might need recycle-compatible labels.
. When you plan to utilize compostable packaging, then your product labels should also be compostable.
By combining packaging materials, and not thinking about customer behavior, you will unintentionally lead to difficulties for recycling facilities and also composters and your packaging might end up in the landfill.
Be Wary Of Greenwashing
When selecting environmentally friendly labels, it is crucial to be familiar with greenwashing. Oftentimes dishonest companies will try to make a product label sound more environmentally friendly than it is. A label made out of natural material seems great, but will it also contain plastic? What material is used to make the adhesive? Is it recyclable or compostable? you must be careful of claims that their labels are sustainable. Has it been tested for sustainability? Is it certified compostable?
It might perfectly be compostable! However there is also a possibility that the product might contain non-compostable materials or ingredients. Water-Activated tape, for instance, uses adhesives made out of plant-based starches or natural latex and the tape material might often be strengthened with fiberglass, which is neither compostable nor biodegradable.
The most effective way to make sure is to ask your label company to give more details. Ask to show proof of eco-friendly claims, meet the compostability standards, and also any compostability qualifications!