We have just started looking into cradle-to-cradle and the circular economy as we would like to switch to a sustainable packaging solution which will still meet our clients’ requirements (in terms of shape, texture). We are looking for something that is either fully and safely biodegradable if it reaches nature or that is indefinitely recyclable and can stay in the economy as “technical nutrients”. For now we are focusing on a small rectangular cufflink box, which currently mainly contains polyurethane plastic and foam, fabric and is covered with paper. We think our best bet would be to use just one type of material instead of combining several ones, to facilitate recycling or the leaching of bio-nutrients.
Our manufacturing takes place in Guangzhou, China, so we would be very interested to see if anyone out there knows something about eco-friendly plastic, paper, ink and glue suppliers in China?
Also, I’ve read about PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) plastic which is both bio-based and biodegradable; does anyone know whether it could be applicable to this kind of packaging, and what is its cost relative to other more common plastics?
Any kind of help, advice or information regarding this matter is deeply appreciated!
I can also send pictures of the package and its composition by email, if it can be useful to clarify any doubt.
not sure if it helps. But there are a lot of good things people say about stone paper and I know there are some manufacturers in China.
Also, you can upload some pics of your product for example on flickr and share a link to them here or you can post also pictures here on the forum (the will be shared as CC-BY-SA) by pulling them into a comment (drag and drop).
Thank you for your valuable input. I hadn’t known of it before and it seems like a promising solution. Certainly it would improve the sustainability of our current packaging, since it is based on mineral-rich waste, photo-degradable and recyclable. It also seems easy to print on, waterproof and other good characteristics.
I’m going to look deeper into it and try to assess if its combination with high-density PE is really safe and “environmentally friendly”, especially in its recycling process.
Regarding the pictures, I just don’t intend to share them publicly for the sake of our customers whom we are supplying to, but sending them individually wouldn’t be an issue. Thanks for your concern nonetheless.