Recycled cardboard, cornstarch peanuts, containers made from mushrooms or seaweed, minimal reusable mailers — there are plenty of sustainable packaging options to limit your business’s carbon footprint and drive eco-friendly customer loyalty.
Here is a list of sustainable packaging providers. There are stock and bespoke options from leading packaging suppliers, eco-innovations from start-ups, and reusable products for subscriptions.
Recycled Cardboard, Paper
EcoEnclose offers sustainable boxes, inner packaging materials, shopping bags, paper, wrap, twine, tape, stickers, and labels. EcoEnclose is striving to become an “ecologically net positive” company by 2030.
Noissue offers businesses of all sizes access to custom, sustainable packaging, such as recycled and compostable mailers, with low minimum orders.
Paper Mart offers boxes, shopping bags, mailers, and packaging sheets made from recycled and post-consumer cardboard and paper. Product printing uses water-based and algae-based inks.
Earthpack makes recycled, fashion-forward bags and boxes for eco-conscious retailers. It offers a selection of printed and stock ecommerce packaging products, including made-to-fit boxes (i.e., bloxes), mailers, bags, and tissue.
PakFactory is a global provider of sustainable packaging options for any product, including kraft boxes, custom bags, and sustainable food packaging. Choose from a collection of stock packaging and create your own design.
Tiny Box Company produces biodegradable packaging and eco-friendly gift boxes and accessories. It offers a wide selection of postal boxes, recycled cardboard envelopes, and bags. Tiny Box Company also has in-house printing facilities.
Air Pillows; Bubble Wrap
Air Sea Containers offers a large variety of air pillow products. Its Opus Air system uses biodegradable and recycled film. Opus Bio cushions can be reused, recycled, or composted and biodegrade in 12 to 24 months when in the presence of moisture, micro-organisms, and oxygen.
Sealed Air is a protective and food packaging company that provides materials and automation at scale. It offers recycled bubble wrap and content pillows. Sealed Air’s TempGuard is a brand of insulated box liners that protect temperature-sensitive and perishable goods in transit for up to 48 hours. TempGuard liners are made from recycled paper and curbside materials.
Biodegradable Peanuts
Puffy Stuff offers an all-natural, high-density packing peanut that’s entirely biodegradable and static-free. Puffy Stuff peanuts won’t shrink in humidity and dissolve after the first rain.
Rocket Industrial sells environmentally friendly packing peanuts made from starch-based, renewable resources that disintegrate in water without leaving residue. The loose fill is dust-free, anti-static, and abrasion-resistant to protect even the most sensitive electronic equipment.
Uline offers a wide selection of sustainable packaging products, including recycled boxes, bags, and pillows. It also offers biodegradable packing peanuts made from organic starch, compliant with U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards.
Mushrooms; Other Organic
Paradise Packaging grows and distributes certified Mushroom Packaging products. It also offers other stock and custom packaging. Designers work alongside clients to create custom-molded mycelium (fungus-based) packaging.
Notpla creates advanced packaging solutions made from seaweed that disappear naturally. Its Ooho product is flexible for beverages and sauces. Products made from Notpla biodegrade naturally in four to six weeks.
Botanical PaperWorks is a supplier and manufacturer of eco-friendly seed paper made from post-consumer materials that grow into wildflowers, herbs, or vegetables. Its plantable packaging is ideal for small boxes of lightweight items, product wraps, or shredded as box filler.
Subscription Products
LimeLoop provides reusable packaging and shipping logistics for ecommerce brands. Merchants place orders in LimeLoop with an outbound label from any carrier and let LimeLoop’s platform take care of the logistics. Customers then remove the product, flip over the USPS return label, and leave the empty LimeLoop package for USPS to pick up. The package is shipped to merchants for reuse. Made of upcycled billboard vinyl and lined with recycled cotton, the reusable packaging is sleek and lightweight.
RePack provides reusable packaging materials for online retailers, whose customers mail prepaid the empty package to RePack for reuse. For circular rental businesses, RePack is an easy, sustainable way to exchange parcels with customers.
Returnity offers custom-designed, reusable boxes, bags, and mailers. Shoppers can exchange and return ecommerce items without printing, packaging, or person-to-person contact. Returnity is also suitable for subscription businesses or customer samples.