Sustainable packaging design is the design of the packaging with the aim of harming the environment as little as possible. 
Both contribute to the conservation of resources and reduce packaging waste. Packaging is extremely important for protecting products and therefore plays an important role in everyday life.
For this reason, in most cases, the focus for manufacturers is on protecting their products rather than on the recyclability of their packaging. However, companies are under increasing pressure to take action to reduce the negative impact of packaging waste on the planet.
To protect the environment, you must recycle plastic waste instead of releasing them into nature. Hundreds of thousands of pieces of plastic waste are floating in every square kilometre of the sea, causing birds and sea creatures to die in agony. There is growing public and legal pressure on packaging specialists to design sustainable packaging for their products in order to reduce packaging waste.
Intelligent packaging design makes sustainable packaging recyclable
Sustainable packaging consists of renewable or recycled raw materials whose supply chain is as short as possible and can be recycled again. On the one hand, intelligent packaging design enables companies to replace new material with recycled alternatives. The prerequisite for this is that these sustainable alternatives guarantee the same protection for the products.
In addition, the packaging must be easy to use and environmentally friendly. On the other hand, packaging should be recyclable again. Thus packaging as recyclable and thus as sustainable packaging applies, it must have certain properties. What simplifies the collection, recovery and recycling of packaging depends on its purpose and the required properties.
In general, light colours in plastic packaging and the use of mono-materials instead of a material mix make recycling easier. In addition, an optimized label and closure for the individual packaging contribute to the recyclability of the packaging.
Packaging: Optimal recycling in everyday life
In order to design sustainable packaging materials, designers are faced with the great challenge of designing product packaging. If possible, the products must consist of raw materials that have already been recycled and are recyclable. At the same time, sustainable packaging materials must comply with high hygiene standards and adequately protect the products.
However, the reduction of packaging waste is only possible if the sustainable packaging is reused several times by the consumer or properly disposed of for recycling by businesses. If both factors are given, sustainable packaging design can lead to the conservation of resources, reduce packaging waste and thus protect the environment.