Sustainability 101 is a weblog collection you could flip to for details about totally different environmental phrases which will come up at work, throughout discussions with pals, and even at your loved ones gatherings.
Whether or not we’re buying grocery objects wrapped in plastic or receiving a house cargo packed in polystyrene peanuts, packaging is a part of our on a regular basis lives. Nevertheless, a lot of it turns into waste after one use.
In accordance with the Organisation for Financial Co-operation and Improvement (OECD), 31% of plastics produced are for packaging – typically single-use and with a median six-month lifespan. Plastic is broadly used as an efficient packaging materials, however as waste within the setting, it will possibly have a adverse influence.
Analysis printed within the November 16, 2024, Journal of Hazardous Supplies Advances reveals that that in landfills, plastic can emit toxins and develop into a supply of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and in oceans, it will possibly break down into microparticles that would disrupt meals chains and contribute to a wide range of well being issues.
Another non-recyclable or non-compostable packaging objects embrace foam, aluminum foil with meals residue, and fused elements similar to cardboard hooked up to foam that can’t be simply separated for recycling.
How does this affect customers’ decisions? A 2025 McKinsey & Firm survey experiences that 77 % of respondents take into account recyclable packaging “extraordinarily necessary” or “essential,” whereas 62 % responded the identical about packaging comprised of recycled supplies.
Packaging sustainability: Supplies matter
In a round financial system, industries alter their processes to allow the reuse and regeneration of supplies. The objective is to make merchandise with the smallest environmental influence utilizing the fewest sources potential.
By specializing in supplies, corporations could make their product containers and elements extra sustainable, similar to berry growers utilizing compostable trays or cosmetics producers utilizing refillable containers for post-purchase reuse.
Another methods embrace:
- Decreasing or eliminating pointless elements
- Utilizing QR codes to digitize info vs. printed supplies
- Incentivizing shopper recycling with rewards or by offering clear directions on learn how to recycle
Utilizing these options will help cut back packaging waste whereas aligning with buyer values. It additionally will help cut back packaging prices, optimize area effectivity, and construct in regulatory compliance.
How Cisco’s technique has advanced to suppose “contained in the field”
For Cisco, packaging sustainability is the apply of minimizing waste by decreasing or eradicating sure supplies — similar to single-use plastic luggage and foam — and changing them with various supplies which can be renewable, recyclable, or each.
In 2019, Cisco developed a set of Round Design Ideas for its merchandise throughout 5 classes — considered one of which is packaging and equipment. Product groups and packaging engineers in our Provide Chain Operation crew collaborate on the outset of the design part to craft a bundle that gives the optimum stability of product safety and circularity. Lots of our merchandise now incorporate recyclable fiber-based cushions like FiberFlute®, paper tube cushions, and molded pulp to interchange foam. By Cisco’s No Paper Initiative, QR codes for digital product info keep away from materials use altogether.
instance is the Cisco Ceiling Microphone Professional bundle, which is totally fiber primarily based. As an alternative of plastic trays, we opted for unbleached molded pulp-fiber trays which can be robust sufficient to cushion the delicate unit, but gentle sufficient for cost-effective transport. We additionally swapped out the traditional single-use plastic bag with a custom-fit paper sleeve that totally encases the unit and shields it from mud and abrasion.
Packaging from legacy merchandise may be modified for circularity as effectively, and Cisco’s Catalyst 9300 Enterprise Change is a chief instance.
To exchange foam, we used recycled thermoforms to cushion the chassis — eliminating about 250 metric tonnes of froth yearly — and recycled and recyclable fiber-based retention packs for the ability provide models — avoiding roughly 70 further metric tonnes per 12 months. To remove plastic luggage, we opted for paper flag labels on energy cords, consolidated small components throughout a number of luggage, and swapped out plastic for paper-based envelopes. In fiscal 2025, Cisco utilized these packaging adjustments to the brand new technology Cisco C9350 sensible switches.
Packaging sustainability: A Round Design Precept
Round Design Ideas have remodeled the product and packing design course of at Cisco. Different examples of how we incorporate circularity into our packaging embrace:
- Decreasing supplies utilization with a heightened deal with plastics discount
- Designing containers and packing supplies to be separable and simply recycled at finish of use
- Utilizing post-consumer waste in new packaging components
- Eliminating paper documentation in new product shipments
- Decreasing the cargo of unused equipment by providing our prospects an opt-out possibility throughout the ordering expertise
- Utilizing multipack options to cut back materials utilization and bundling containers for big shipments to cut back the variety of bins wanted
Through the use of extra environment friendly, renewable, and recyclable supplies, Cisco not solely helps hold waste out of landfills however reduces prices and saves sources.
Be taught extra about these initiatives and Cisco’s packaging sustainability objectives within the Cisco Goal Reporting Hub.
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