Changing our Packaging Material
We are changing our packaging material at Lecka Nutrition from paper-compostable / bio-based to recyclable / fossil-fuel-based plastic. Why?
1. Paper-based materials do not offer the same product quality for our core customer base of outdoor sports athletes. Sweat, rain, etc unfortunately harm the paper layer.
2. Compostable materials do not have good moisture and oxygen barriers that help our products have great freshness and delicious taste. As the material biodegrades over time, the barriers are also weakening. We had many, many issues with food quality. And who wants to throw away thousands of products?
3. Minimum order quantities are still super high for new materials. The purchase of the bio-based material and the issues that followed almost ruined our company in 2022. We probably wasted tens of thousands of dollars in trying to configure machines. Risks are high for a small company like ours!
4. If one looks at the crate-to-grave life cycle assessment of bio-based vs fossil-fuel-based materials, there is no clear winner. The media focuses the conversation on waste management where compostable materials are arguably better (aka brainwashing of consumers), but in reality, energy usage, water usage, land usage, ecotoxicity, etc also need to be taken into account for a holistic assessment. Comparing 89 studies shows more research is needed to find a clear answer.
5. We estimate that maybe around 0.001% of our customers did compost the wrappers. Turns out, even large corporations who claim to like our compostable packaging threw the wrappers in the plastic waste stream (which harms the recycling process).
So, what material did we choose?
We opted for the mono-material polypropylene (PP) that can be recycled in most facilities worldwide.
>90% of snack wrappers have single-use packaging because they use a mix of materials. We didn't want that!
We can only advocate for better waste management systems that close the loop. And for more research to find better material options.
As a nutrition company, we do what's best for our customers. We listen to feedback. We improve.
It is a complex topic. We will continue to experiment and research.
We can only recommend consumers to do research what they think is right or wrong.
In the meantime, give our products a try. They are delicious and functional for endurance adventures :)
Link to the study:
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0959652620312051