An obvious response we’ve seen is how households and businesses are turning to the internet to purchase their essential items, this limits the need for people to enter public spaces, reducing exposure to the virus. Things like hand sanitiser, other medical supplies, electronics, home products and groceries are all in high demand and are being purchased online more than ever before.
With this increase in demand comes the need to supply. Suitable packaging solutions must be in place to fulfil these shifts in consumer behaviour.
The balance of hygiene and sustainability in packaging
With all aspects of packaging, sustainability goals shouldn’t be forgotten. However, to help manage hygiene concerns, the use of single-use packaging for groceries and parcels shipped by ecommerce suppliers has spiked. For example, the volume of plastic waste generated in Thailand has risen by 15% during COVID-19, even with the country’s recent ban on plastic bags.
So, has your business thought about the need to balance hygiene and sustainability with packaging?
When it comes to ensuring both good hygiene and sustainability for shipping food and pharmaceutical products, PLA packaging is the way to go. PLA is a thermoplastic, meaning it shares hygiene benefits with regular plastics. On top of this, it doesn’t release any toxic fumes when oxygenated, so contamination isn’t a problem here. It’s fully compostable, is generally recognised as safe (GRAS), and has thermal insulating properties. If you’d like to find out more on how we can help you ship food and pharmaceutical products safely during Covid-19, speak to an expert at Swiftpak today.