Sustainability 101 is a weblog sequence you could flip to for details about completely different environmental phrases which will come up at work, throughout discussions with mates, and even at your loved ones gatherings.
Whether or not we’re buying grocery objects wrapped in plastic or receiving a house cargo packed in polystyrene peanuts, packaging is a part of our on a regular basis lives. Nonetheless, a lot of it turns into waste after one use.
In line with the Organisation for Financial Co-operation and Growth (OECD), 31% of plastics produced are for packaging – typically single-use and with a median six-month lifespan. Plastic is broadly used as an efficient packaging materials, however as waste within the setting, it might probably have a unfavourable impression.
Analysis revealed within the November 16, 2024, Journal of Hazardous Supplies Advances reveals that that in landfills, plastic can emit toxins and change into a supply of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and in oceans, it might probably break down into microparticles that might disrupt meals chains and contribute to a wide range of well being issues.
Another non-recyclable or non-compostable packaging objects embrace foam, aluminum foil with meals residue, and fused parts similar to cardboard hooked up to foam that can not be simply separated for recycling.
How does this affect customers’ selections? A 2025 McKinsey & Firm survey experiences that 77 % of respondents think about recyclable packaging “extraordinarily necessary” or “crucial,” whereas 62 % responded the identical about packaging comprised of recycled supplies.
Packaging sustainability: Supplies matter
In a round financial system, industries regulate their processes to allow the reuse and regeneration of supplies. The objective is to make merchandise with the smallest environmental impression utilizing the fewest assets attainable.
By specializing in supplies, firms could make their product containers and parts extra sustainable, similar to berry growers utilizing compostable trays or cosmetics producers utilizing refillable containers for post-purchase reuse.
Another methods embrace:
- Lowering or eliminating pointless parts
- Utilizing QR codes to digitize info vs. printed supplies
- Incentivizing client recycling with rewards or by offering clear directions on find out how to recycle
Utilizing these alternate options might help cut back packaging waste whereas aligning with buyer values. It additionally might help cut back packaging prices, optimize house effectivity, and construct in regulatory compliance.
How Cisco’s technique has developed to suppose “contained in the field”
For Cisco, packaging sustainability is the observe of minimizing waste by lowering or eradicating sure supplies — similar to single-use plastic baggage and foam — and changing them with various supplies which might be renewable, recyclable, or each.
In 2019, Cisco developed a set of Round Design Ideas for its merchandise throughout 5 classes — considered one of which is packaging and equipment. Product groups and packaging engineers in our Provide Chain Operation workforce collaborate on the outset of the design part to craft a bundle that gives the optimum steadiness of product safety and circularity. Lots of our merchandise now incorporate recyclable fiber-based cushions like FiberFlute®, paper tube cushions, and molded pulp to exchange foam. By way of Cisco’s No Paper Initiative, QR codes for digital product info keep away from materials use altogether.
An excellent instance is the Cisco Ceiling Microphone Professional bundle, which is totally fiber primarily based. As an alternative of plastic trays, we opted for unbleached molded pulp-fiber trays which might be robust sufficient to cushion the delicate unit, but mild sufficient for cost-effective delivery. We additionally swapped out the traditional single-use plastic bag with a custom-fit paper sleeve that totally encases the unit and shields it from mud and abrasion.
Packaging from legacy merchandise could be modified for circularity as effectively, and Cisco’s Catalyst 9300 Enterprise Change is a first-rate instance.
To interchange foam, we used recycled thermoforms to cushion the chassis — eliminating about 250 metric tonnes of froth yearly — and recycled and recyclable fiber-based retention packs for the ability provide models — avoiding roughly 70 further metric tonnes per 12 months. To get rid of plastic baggage, we opted for paper flag labels on energy cords, consolidated small elements throughout a number of baggage, and swapped out plastic for paper-based envelopes. In fiscal 2025, Cisco utilized these packaging adjustments to the brand new technology Cisco C9350 sensible switches.
Packaging sustainability: A Round Design Precept
Round Design Ideas have remodeled the product and packing design course of at Cisco. Different examples of how we incorporate circularity into our packaging embrace:
- Lowering supplies utilization with a heightened give attention to plastics discount
- Designing containers and packing supplies to be separable and simply recycled at finish of use
- Utilizing post-consumer waste in new packaging elements
- Eliminating paper documentation in new product shipments
- Lowering the cargo of unused equipment by providing our clients an opt-out possibility throughout the ordering expertise
- Utilizing multipack options to cut back materials utilization and bundling containers for giant shipments to cut back the variety of bins wanted
By utilizing extra environment friendly, renewable, and recyclable supplies, Cisco not solely helps hold waste out of landfills however reduces prices and saves assets.
Study extra about these initiatives and Cisco’s packaging sustainability targets within the Cisco Function Reporting Hub.
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