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Halloween is a time of scary fun, late-night gatherings, and festive activities. People dress up, decorate their homes, and fill buckets with candies, chocolates & more.
Behind the candy, chocolates, and trick-or-treats is something often overlooked: the amount of waste Halloween leaves behind. This blog post explains how to make Halloween packaging more sustainable. Continue reading!
Make Halloween Packaging More Sustainable
Before we discuss ways to make your Halloween packaging more sustainable this year, why don't we take a look at the spooky side of Halloween waste?
Not all Halloween sweets, such as candies and chocolates, are packed in eco-friendly packaging, and billions of candies are handed out each year. Most are packed in non-recyclable packaging, which creates a massive waste problem afterward.
More than 63% of plastic Halloween costumes take hundreds of years to decompose, and only about 1% of costume materials are ever recycled.
The average Australian generates 59kg of single-use plastic waste per year, much of it hard-to-recycle soft plastic like the wrappers Halloween lollies come in.
Now that we have seen the scary side of Halloween waste, let's talk about how to reduce it this year.
1. Use Eco-friendly Halloween Bags
While plastic bags might seem perfect for Halloween trick-or-treating, they leave a terrifying waste behind.
Australians throw away many plastic bags each year, and once the day event passes, these bags create problems for nature and put people’s lives at risk.
Brands can avoid this mistake by using recyclable Halloween bags, kraft boxes, and mailer box packaging. Brown paper bags, pillowcases, and tote bags are the perfect options for Halloween trick-or-treating.
2. Choose Compostable Candy Wrappers
Plastic wrappers are hard to recycle, so many of them end up in landfills instead. Candies are packed individually, so do the environmental concerns increase. Compostable wrapping film made from plant-based materials works best in this regard.
Compostable candy wrappers made from wrapping film are more easily recycled than sitting on the ground for decades. No doubt it costs more, but brands that want to position themselves as eco-conscious this Halloween will benefit more as the market loudly demands it, not just hiding in the fine print.
3. Cut Down on Layers and Filler
In the name of Halloween packaging, unnecessary add-ons and inserts are being used, and half of them are non-recyclable. If you design your brand packaging with minimalism in mind, it works far better than adding plastic inserts.
Minimalism doesn't mean simple or boring; it just shows that your brand prioritises sustainability over an overcrowded design. Now, it doesn’t mean you sacrifice design and inserts, but make sure to use what is necessary.
4. Use Paper-Based Decorations Instead of Plastic
Fake cobwebs, plastic pumpkins, and vinyl banners are almost all plastic-based. They are undeniably needed for Halloween decorations, but nothing costs as much as using paper-based decorations.
Wildlife experts have already warned that loose plastic cobwebs can trap birds and small animals outdoors, which makes this more than just a waste issue. Paper garlands, custom cardboard boxes with cutouts, and printed kraft box decorations all serve the same seasonal purpose and are fully recyclable.
5. Design Packaging Customers Will Actually Reuse
Design packaging customers will reuse after Halloween, not one they throw away the same night.
Flip that on its head, and you reduce waste before it happens. A reusable tin and an eco-friendly packaging box can help avoid mess that often lasts well past 31st October.
If your brand sells gift sets or bundled products, reusable packaging is one of the best options. Go for something that customers want to keep, not throw in the bin.
6. Source Local & Reduce Transport Emissions
Brands assume packaging waste is just about what happens after the bin, but that’s not the case. It's more about what happens before the product even reaches the store. Emissions are added when imported packaging materials are shipped over long distances.
Sourcing packaging from regional or local suppliers cuts transport-related emissions and shortens lead times. It's less visible to the end customer than a "recyclable" label, but it matters just as much for a brand's actual environmental footprint.
7. Add Clear Recycling Instructions on the Packaging
This is one of the must-haves. Research on Australian supermarket products found that a large share of "recyclable" packaging is not actually recycled correctly, simply because people don't know how to sort it.
This doesn't mean people avoid recycling the packaging on purpose; it usually comes down to confusion, not carelessness. Just a simple recycling icon or one-line instruction printed on the packaging can fix this problem. It costs too little or nothing.
The Bottom Line!
These are the 7 effective ways to make Halloween packaging more sustainable. There's not much to do to incorporate these seven ways into your Halloween packaging; just follow them as explained above, and nothing will go wrong.
YBY Boxes Australia is all set and ready to accept Halloween orders. No matter what your brand is, we have customised sustainable options that will help increase your sales while meeting sustainability standards.