Four Key Strategies for Sustainable Packaging in 2025

Natural tea leaf wrappers from Botani, the B2B market brand of SWM International.

Two Powerful Forces Are Driving Development Of Alternatives to Plastic Films

By Philippe Ragot, Vice President and General Manager, SWM International

Walk into any European supermarket today, and you’ll notice something different. Those plastic-wrapped fruits that were ubiquitous just a few years ago? They’re now bundled with fiber-based strips or nestled in small textile nets. Plastic shopping bags have all but disappeared, replaced with starch-based alternatives.

This is no accident. As a European-based packaging industry veteran, I’ve witnessed firsthand the dramatic transformation in how products are packaged across the continent. The shift is driven by two powerful forces.

First, European regulators and a growing number of states in the U.S. are  implementing stringent new requirements that make companies responsible not just for the sustainability of their products, but for the packaging those products come in. Companies whose packaging is deemed unsustainable face fines or mandatory changes to their packaging strategies.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, consumer attitudes have fundamentally shifted. There’s now a genuine distaste for plastic packaging – people feel wasteful unwrapping a product and disposing of its unnecessary plastic waste.

As lightweight paper experts, we would like to respond to these changes with innovative solutions that maintain product integrity and advance sustainability. Here are four key strategies we’re seeing emerge:

Developing Paper-Based Alternatives to Plastic Film

One of the most challenging areas in sustainable packaging is finding alternatives to the thin plastic films used to wrap everything from cosmetic boxes to tobacco products. Why not just eliminate overwrap entirely? While that seems like the obvious solution, these wraps often serve crucial functions – protecting against scratches, dust, odors, and maintaining product integrity.

The path forward lies in developing ultra-thin, lightweight papers with high translucency that can serve as viable alternatives to plastic overwrap. While achieving the same level of transparency as plastic is technically challenging, there’s strong interest from brands in making this transition.

Creating Safer Food-Contact Papers

Another big environmental challenge involves food packaging, particularly greasy foods like hamburgers and popcorn. In the past, these papers relied on poly-fluorochemicals (or PFAS) to achieve grease-resistance. But research has shown that these so called “forever” chemicals can be harmful to wildlife and the environment. The industry is actively working to develop alternative solutions that provide the same level of grease resistance without using these concerning compounds.

This isn’t just about replacing one chemical with another – it’s about fundamentally rethinking how we achieve both product performance and consumer safety. The goal is to maintain all the functional benefits while using safer, more sustainable chemistry.

Reducing Material Usage Through Lightweight Papers

Sometimes the most effective sustainability strategy is simply using less material. By leveraging our advanced papermaking technology, we can now produce papers that maintain their functional properties at significantly lower basis weights. For example, where an inner liner might have previously required 50 grams per square meter paper, we can now achieve the same performance with 35 grams per square meter.

This reduction in material usage has myriad benefits – less pulp consumed, reduced transportation costs, and less waste when the product is eventually disposed of. While the changes might seem small, the cumulative impact across millions of packages is substantial.

Exploring Alternative Fiber Sources

The fourth key strategy involves moving beyond traditional wood pulp to explore alternative fiber sources like hemp and flax. These annual plants offer several advantages – they grow quickly, don’t require forest harvesting, and can produce high-quality papers with unique properties.

What began in supermarket aisles has become a wave of transformation, spreading across every sector of the packaging industry.  Companies are increasingly recognizing that sustainable packaging practices aren’t just a trendy option—they’re about meeting consumers where they are and doing the right thing for our planet. That’s a future everyone can get behind.

About the Author

Philippe Rago is the Vice President and General Manager of SWM International. Botani, SWM International’s cannabis-focused division, has been working extensively with hemp and botanical fibers for premium rolling papers, showing how these sustainable materials can work across multiple industries. Visit: https://botani.com/about-us/