Jägermeister aims for lower emissions in transportation packaging with new corrugated shipping boxes

Jägermeister has redesigned its shipping boxes to be manufactured from corrugated board and reportedly incorporate over 90% recycled paper, amongst other changes, in a bid to save an annual 249 tonnes of CO².

By designing solid board out of the boxes, Jägermeister claims that the weight of the packaging is reduced by an average of 38.5%. Increasing the amount of recycled paper in the design is also thought to halve the resources previously needed in the production process.

Additionally, switching to the new design is expected to save 249 tonnes of CO² every year, as calculated by the company from a figure of 19.4 million boxes. Jägermeister is also set to work with four family businesses from Germany to increase the sustainability of the boxes’ manufacture.

It is hoped that, with the company apparently transitioning into 100% recycled paper labels for its Jägermeister bottles in 2021, the new boxes – while remaining aesthetically similar to the previous version – will increase the sustainability of the products’ transportation.

“The innovative strength of the new local suppliers - in addition to the excellent, interdisciplinary collaboration internally - has led to the success of this project,” says Carsten Doliwa, senior director of Procurement at Jägermeister. “It starts with the selection of recycled paper and ends with production on highly efficient machines.”

“So that future generations can also enjoy the best nights of their lives, we must and will make our contribution to an intact environment,” adds Sandra Broschat, senior director of Sustainability. “The new cardboard boxes bring us one step closer to our goal of reducing and optimising the resource consumption of all our packaging.”

The new boxes are set for a global rollout this year, with the first of their kind having already been produced.

Various other companies sought to improve the sustainability of their own and others’ shipping solutions last year, from Antalis Packaging’s honeycomb cell design – providing an alternative to wooden shipping crates – to Peli BioThermal’s reusable, flexible, temperature-controlled Crēdo Go.

Smurfit Kappa and PepsiCo also redesigned the packaging for its Walkers crisps multipacks earlier this year, replacing the previous plastic packet with a cardboard alternative in the hopes of cutting 250 tonnes of plastic out of its supply chain every year.