Visual Learning Guides
Clear, practical visual guides that simplify packaging sustainability topics and help manufacturers, brands, and packaging teams understand how materials, design, manufacturing, transportation, performance, recycling, and end-of-life considerations work together.
Packaging Sustainability — Made Easier to Understand
Sustainability decisions can be complex. Our Visual Learning Guides break key packaging concepts into easy-to-follow visual explanations, helping you understand the factors that influence packaging sustainability without oversimplifying the trade-offs involved.
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Foundational visual guides for understanding sustainable packaging and the decisions that shape packaging performance and environmental impact.
What Does Sustainable Packaging Really Mean?
Learn why sustainable packaging involves more than choosing a material and how the complete packaging system can influence sustainability decisions.
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Why Does Sustainability Matter in Packaging?
Discover how packaging sustainability influences environmental impact, product performance, material use, transportation, business costs, regulatory requirements and customer expectations.
View Visual GuideWhat Is a Life Cycle Assessment for Packaging?
Learn how life cycle thinking can help evaluate packaging impacts across raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, use, and end-of-life.
Explore the TopicExplore Sustainability Topics
The Visual Learning Guide library will continue to grow alongside the Sustainability Simplified™ Knowledge Center.
Materials & Packaging Decisions
Sustainable packaging, material selection, recycled content, lightweighting, packaging performance, and packaging design choices.
Recycling & Circularity
Recyclable vs. recycled, mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, closed loop, open loop, downcycling, and circular economy concepts.
Carbon & Emissions
Carbon footprint, Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, GHG Protocol, Net Zero, Carbon Neutral, and emissions-related packaging concepts.
Life Cycle Thinking
Life Cycle Assessment, manufacturing, transportation, supply-chain impacts, resource use, and end-of-life trade-offs.
Have a Packaging Sustainability Question?
Empire EMCO can help you evaluate packaging materials, formats, performance requirements, sustainability options, and trade-offs based on your product, application, and packaging goals.
Talk with a Packaging Specialist