In light of the recent news stories, we’ve seen plenty of headlines discussing plastic packaging and its negative effect on our environment. Industry body, Two sides, and Toluna, an international research agency, conducted a snap poll which resulted in showing a significant amount of people preferred paper packaging over plastic packaging.
Two Sides is a global initiative by companies from the graphic communications industry including forestry, pulp, paper, inks and chemicals, pre-press, press, finishing, publishing, printing, envelopes and postal operators.
The survey was taken by 500 adults in the UK who were asked which packaging material they would rather use; glass, metal, paper & cardboard or plastic. Needless to say, paper and cardboard came up highest on the response results, for being the easiest to store, lightest in weight, safest and most practical to use.
“Not only does paper and cardboard packaging have an exceptionally high utilisation rate of recycled fibres, it is also the most recycled packaging material in Europe at 83 percent. In the current packaging climate, it is great to see paper and cardboard packaging recognised by consumers for its excellent environment attributes” – Martyn Eustace, managing director of Two Sides.
Consumers also appreciate paper & cardboard packaging’s unique environmental qualities:
- 78% like paper & cardboard packaging because it is biodegradable.
- 73% believe paper & cardboard packaging makes good use of recycled materials.
- 64% like paper & cardboard packaging because it is made from renewable wood fibre.
It seems that packaging is an overall concern for members of the public, with 71 percent believing that packaging is bad for the environment, and 85 percent feel that packaging is a problem in terms of litter on the street.
