This past September a major sustainable packaging initiative was reached by Home Depot. The retail giant publicly announced that they had achieved their mission of eliminating all EPS foam and PVC film in new packaging from their private-brand products. This was a major achievement by the world’s largest home improvement retailer, especially considering they have more than 2,300 stores in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
What Home Depot is gaining by these sustainable packaging efforts is retaining and attracting a customer base that shops “green.” It’s a smart strategic direction backed by a recent McKinsey Research Firm study that covered 600,000 SKUs, in 32 CPG categories, and accumulated five years worth of data. One finding the research uncovered was that when companies made claims in environmental sustainability, or sustainable packaging, they would see two times the sales growth.
MOEN® is one of the product brands that is meeting the sustainable packaging changes Home Depot is requiring by their suppliers. And EnviroPAK is helping MOEN with a sustainable molded fiber custom packaging that’s configurable for 50 different parts that also ships the product safely. In addition, EnviroPAK molded fiber packaging aligns with MOEN’s “Path to Conservation” and Home Depot’s “Eco Actions.” According to Home Depot in a recent article in PackagingDive:
“Embodying the spirit of its ‘You can do it. We can help,’ slogan, Home Depot said its fiber transformation efforts involved collaboration with both existing and new packaging suppliers.”
Home Depot’s drive toward environmentally friendly packaging has other goals, too. By 2027 the retailer wants all private-brand packaging for new SKUs to be constructed of recycled content, or be compostable, or recyclable. One of their specified choices included molded fiber – a material that EnviroPAK has been utilizing for custom product packaging for decades.
The positive brand impact of plastic free packaging.
What Home Depot is doing with environmentally friendly packaging is not an isolated example. Other retailers are making big headway by phasing out plastic in packaging, including Best Buy. In their sustainable packaging mission they have outlined their “Design for Recovery” focus of utilizing more packaging materials made from recycled content.
“We are concentrating on procuring packaging materials that are recyclable, compostable, or reusable to reduce environmental impact and improve end-of-life management.”
Best Buy, 2024
As Best Buy phases out plastic packaging, electronics product brands are turning to EnviroPAK for molded fiber custom packaging. It’s in an effort to ensure they are meeting the sustainability requirements of retailers as well as the green buying needs of environmentally conscious consumers.
EnviroPAK is seeing this positive change with our efforts for product brands such as the Resideo premium thermostat. Beyond solving a hybrid packaging challenge for this electronics product, EnviroPAK used molded fiber – a sustainable, compostable, and biodegradable material – to fit Resideo’s vision of “A world where homes are good for the plant.”
Product packaging with the outdoors in mind.
Sustainable packaging is not just for home improvement and electronics, it’s also what outdoor enthusiasts gravitate toward. In fact, it makes logical sense that the people who enjoy the outdoors through activities such as hiking, fishing, or boating would want to protect the water and land they enjoy.
That’s why retailers such as Bass Pro Shops and REI have made major efforts in keeping the outdoors pristine through sustainable packaging. Bass Pro takes this initiative so seriously that they hired a Chief Sustainability Officer. While REI places sustainability in items such as packaging at the top of the list.
“Each year, we ask brands to share updates on their sustainability and impact practices – helping us track our collective progress, make informed decisions about the products we assort, and understand how to best support brands in aligning with our standards.”
REI, 2024
As REI also states, “Our goal is to minimize the environmental footprint of packaging while ensuring the packaging is effective in serving its purpose.” EnviroPAK molded fiber custom packaging does both.
And it was the reason why RIO fly fishing lines turned to EnviroPAK. What resulted was a fly line spooler engineered for RIO that functioned flawlessly, but if it fell into the water the molded fiber spooler would literally “dissolve” and leave no trace.
This innovative and biodegradable packaging was perfect for RIO, their retailers, anglers, and the environment. Plus, the design by EnviroPAK won the 2023 AmeriStar sustainability packaging award.
As retailers and product brands head down a greener packaging path, sustainable material choices will not be an afterthought. It will be mandatory. And molded fiber custom packaging from EnviroPAK will be the choice retailers, product brands, and consumers will feel positive about.
Contact EnviroPAK® to learn why custom molded fiber packaging is the positive, sustainable direction for retailers, product brands, consumers, and the environment. Our molded fiber packaging is made from 3,500 tons of recycled paper yearly. And it’s the ideal sustainable, biodegradable, and compostable solution to protect your products and your brand image with consumers.
