Do you dream of a more environmentally friendly alternative to bubble wrap, polystyrene, foam packaging, peanuts, and single use plastic to protect your products in transit?
Enter EcoLITE…
What is EcoLITE sustainable protective packaging?
EcoLITE is a range of 100% recyclable honeycomb paper cardboard packaging and void fill manufactured by PALLITE® Group, for use as inserts to secure and protect products in transit.
Available in a variety of sizes and thicknesses. EcoLITE can be sold on pallets by the sheet and torn to size, or cut to bespoke designs, providing a sustainable alternative to polystyrene and foam cradles, box liners, edge and corner protection, bearers, and void fill.
When used in conjunction with the other sustainable packaging products in the PALLITE® Group range including paper pallets, shipping pallet boxes or export crates and layer pads, EcoLITE offers businesses a more environmentally friendly way to transport their products, safe in the knowledge there is protection during the journey.
How does EcoLITE sustainable packaging work? The science behind paper honeycomb cardboard
As with all the products in the PALLITE® Group range, EcoLITE packaging is made from just two things: recycled paper and PVA glue. Layers of paper form a bonding with glue, and sandwiched around more paper in the form of honeycomb-shape cells.
It is this paper honeycomb that gives EcoLITE its protective properties. A recognisable construction technology originating in nature and used in automotive manufacturing, furniture craft and a variety of other areas of industry. The honeycomb shape adds rigidity and strength, allowing EcoLITE to effectively absorb impact. In order to ensure that products have full-protection during transit, even if their packaging is knocked, dropped or compressed.
Therefore, honeycomb paper cardboard is space efficient and pound-for-pound stronger than steel. Making it an ideal material for use in protective packaging.
EcoLITE sustainable packaging for right-sizing
Industry research suggests rightsizing may reduce package sizes by as much as 40%. Meanwhile, Smaller packages translate to less space required in warehouses to store goods, a smaller pallet footprint and reduced shipping costs due to higher volumes per load.
What’s not to like?
At PALLITE® Group, our in-house team of designers work with customers across a wide range of industries to design bespoke EcoLITE packaging solutions specific to a product’s dimensions and shipping requirements.
We design custom protective cradles for items ranging from the smallest of industrial components to large and expensive automotive parts like car engines. Which prevents them from moving around and potentially resulting to damage during transit.
Why switch to EcoLITE?
The reasons to switch away from polystyrene, Stratocell, blue foam and other polyethylene (PE) protective packaging products to EcoLITE are simple: your customers will prefer its flexibility, eco-friendly properties and that its easily recyclable.
Customers prefer a sustainable alternative.
A Paper and Packaging Board (PPB) survey found 71% of consumers were more likely to buy from brands that packaged their products in paper or cardboard. The ‘unboxing’ trend on social media is testament to the power of paper-based packaging to create a positive user experience equivalent to the pleasure gained from shopping in store.
A large part of the reason why consumers like paper and cardboard packaging is the fact that it is a more sustainable alternative to single use plastic equivalents. Many people are increasingly concerned about the impact of their choices on people and planet.
Which brings us to…
It’s the right thing to do.
It’s no surprise that governments around the world are legislating to reduce the use of single-use plastic packaging like polystyrene and EPS foam. In the UK, companies using plastic packaging with recycled content of less than 30% are subject to additional taxation. The UK Government has also pledged to make all plastic packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
This is because more than 70% of single-use plastic packaging is shown to end up in landfill or as litter. With that being said, most plastics are not biodegradable. The worst offenders take thousands of years to break down, harming wildlife and ecosystems in the process.
In fact, research by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation estimates a staggering eight million tonnes of microplastics leak into the ocean each year. Which is equivalent to dumping the contents of a lorryload of household waste into the water every minute. By 2050, scientists have estimate that, by weight, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean – unless significant action is taken right now to reduce plastic consumption.
In contrast, paper and cardboard packaging is 100% recyclable after use. Anything that is not recyclable gets sent to landfill breaks down quickly into the soil without causing any harm.
Ethically sourced virgin paper is made from young trees that are removed to support sustainable forest growth, or from wood chips produced as waste at sawmills.
EcoLITE is made from recycled paper, which is even better for the environment. It requires 65% less energy to manufacture, reduces water pollution by 35%, and lowers air pollution by 74%.
Recycling EcoLITE at end-of-life results in new corrugated products of the same quality. Making it a solution fit for the circular economy.
In conclusion…
Businesses no longer need to rely on polystyrene inserts or foam packaging peanuts to protect their products during shipping.
Paper-based packaging products such as EcoLITE offer a genuine and sustainable alternative to polystyrene and foam. But still guarantees that it will withstand shocks, drops and impacts with ease, and be 100% recyclable at end of life.
The abundance of recycled paper as a raw material. The simplicity of our design and the fact we have extensive manufacturing capabilities on site at our facilities, means that EcoLITE can also be supplied to very short lead times. With bespoke inserts that are able to be created and supplied much quicker than their foam and polystyrene alternatives.
