Consumers perceptions and why the right packaging matters

From a recent report from re-sources, packaging perceptions do matter a great deal when sealing a deal with consumers. In other words the type of packaging can make or break a sale. A few years again, it didn’t matter so much, as the focus was mostly on convenience and product protection. Nowaday we have to had a layer of sustainability into the mix.

It’s important to remove any friction that may exist between the product and the packaging. Meaning, that the consumers shouldn’t have to chose between a good beauty product and damaging the earth.

What do consumers say about their packaging

In the survey, re-sources revealed that the first aspect that consumers consider is the “compostability” of packaging. As an expression of this trend, “ paper/cardboard came out as the clear winner on 10 attributes: recyclable nature, lighter weight, ease of opening, lower cost, compostability and more besides.Glass won on reusability, product protection, look and feel and brand image. Metal packaging won on strength. Plastic was nowhere.”

Another survey form SmartDesign explained that “ people behave according to how they wish the system worked How can you close the gap between what people assume is happening and what is actually happening? “ meaning that we need compostability is a key attribute because “ consumers are expecting their compostable packaging to turn into dirt” to make their life easier and remove any friction or any anxiety related to packaging.

Biodegradability versus Compostability

A compostable packaging will degrade into dirt naturality and so does a biodegradable one. To go into more details, “ lthough biodegradable materials return to nature and can disappear completely, on the other hand, compostable materials create something called humus that is full of nutrients and great for plants. In summary, compostable products are biodegradable, but with an added benefit.” Oftentimes compostable material need a specific environment of mixed matter, temperature and humidity to degrade properly. 

In both cases though packaging will degrade fully and leave to trace in the environment, including no micro-plastics, since its not made of petrochemical plastics.

Cosmetics needs protection

Many materials are biodegradable by nature like paper or cardboard (if not printed with damaging inks or modified by solvents), which are usually used for most secondary packaging applications (cardboard boxe to protect cosmetics jars or bottles individually, e-commerce boxes, etc.). These applications work with a solid product to product that does not ned heavy protection from external elements. 
Depending on the geographical location or cultural habits, brands can play along with this. A supermarket in Thailand for example, uses banana leaves for wrapping for example.
When it comes to primary packaging, and especially the protection of cosmetics formula which can differ in shapes or forms, compostable packaging can be difficult to develop as it needs to be moisture and temperature proof and must not interact with the content and the formula.

How compostable packaging can protect cosmetics

Compostable can be made of different materials such as PHA, PLA or other compounds that would naturally degrade over time. The source ingredients come from plants, micro-oragnisms like bacteria, or mushroom for instance. The area of sustainable materials is still relatively new in research and a lot more materials sources and solutions will be delivered over time. We think it is more of long-term solution.

Compostable material offer the same properties as regular plastics such as moisture barrier, transportablilty and moudability (for manufacturing).

As of today, mPackting as been able to develop its own compostable material from biochar. This material is a buy-product of our wood component factory, or in other words an upcycling solution. Our material called mBlack offers many advantages:

• Carbon sink: Our material mBlack™ stores carbon in a stable form in the long term, effectively acting as a Climate Cooling Service.

• Biodegradable: it decomposes without leaving microplastics behind, and it does not interfere with the food supply chain. 

• Traceable: mBlack™ is a proprietary material made using biochar derived from the wood waste generated during our manufacturing activities. 

Biochar is a carbon sink because it retains CO₂ from the atmosphere in a stable form for an extended period. mBlack™ is bio-based, and it does not leave any microplastics behind at the end of its life cycle.

We are also currently testing the material for antimicrobial properties which is as a natural active process of biochar / charcoal.