As part of our Finalist Interview series ahead of the Sustainability Awards, we spoke to BOTTA EcoPackaging about its Eco-Paper Cushioning Bag, nominated in the Commercialized E-commerce category.
You’re a finalist in the Sustainability Awards 2024. Congratulations! To start off, could you summarise your entry, in less than 50 words?
The Eco-Paper Cushioning Bag, in collaboration with Karopack, is a sustainable closed-loop alternative to traditional plastic void fillers. It upcycles waste paper and cardboard into reusable packaging through on-site manufacturing, promoting a circular economy by reducing landfill waste and carbon emissions while enhancing traceability and sustainability in packaging.
Why do you think the judges were impressed with your entry? Tell us about what is innovative about your project and/or about its impact on packaging sustainability.
The Eco-Paper Cushioning Bag stands out by empowering businesses to convert their paper waste and upcycle it into durable, reusable packaging directly at their facilities, enhancing the traceability of their waste practices and reducing dependency on virgin materials.
This decentralized approach minimizes transportation emissions and also creates a self-sustaining closed recovery loop, significantly reducing landfill waste by increasing the life of paper and cardboard before reaching recycling facilities. By offering a paper recyclable and reusable alternative to conventional plastic fillers, our solution supports a more sustainable and efficient packaging ecosystem.
Finally, can you tell us about the ongoing development of your project, e.g. how your innovation/initiative has been received by industry, or what the next steps are in commercialization/product development?
Our project has been well-received by the industry which is in constant search for solutions that would decrease their waste and decrease the use of plastic - especially single use and virgin plastic - as well as looking for ways to decrease their environmental impact and improve their sustainability reports, which are now scrutinized by various stakeholders.
Moving forward, we aim to create a generalized system of paper and cardboard waste retrieval from the companies in the surrounding areas to create a positive cycle of upcycling, so that the time when the paper-based product eventually becomes waste and will need paper recycling is delayed as much as possible.
In addition, this would avoid the use of virgin or post-consumer recycled paper and would allow us to produce more Eco-Paper Cushioning Bags. This would also allow companies which have too little waste to convert into Eco-Paper Cushioning Bags to enter the system as well.
The winners of the Sustainability Awards 2024 will be announced at the Sustainable Packaging Summit, taking place in Amsterdam on 12-13 November. The Summit mobilizes leaders of the FMCG value chain, policymakers, NGOs, recyclers and investors to collaborate, remove barriers and identify opportunities on the road to sustainable transformation.
To learn more or register, visit: https://www.packagingsummit.earth/2024
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