That’s why Ecolinq is introducing the Environmental Score.
When is packaging truly environmentally friendly? Take a palm leaf snack tray. It is made from a natural by-product, so at first glance it seems like a sustainable choice. But where is it produced? How much energy does production require? How is it transported? And what happens to it after use? Or consider a plastic bag. It is made from fossil-based raw materials, so does that automatically make it a bad choice? What if it is partly made from recycled material, produced efficiently in Europe and can be properly recycled after use?
The material alone does not tell the whole story. That’s why we developed the Ecolinq Environmental Score. We assess every product based on seven key criteria: production impact, material origin, end-of-life processing, reuse, material structure, chemical impact and logistics. We translate this assessment into a clear score from 0 to ★★★★★ stars. This gives you an at-a-glance insight into the environmental impact of a product.
Sustainability Is Not Always the Only Priority
And we are completely transparent about this. Not every type of packaging on our website receives four or five stars. Sometimes packaging with a lower Environmental Score is simply necessary to protect a product properly. Products with a long shelf life are a good example. To protect the contents from oxygen, moisture and light over a longer period, an effective barrier is often required. This may require materials or combinations of materials that are less favourable for the environment. We offer these types of packaging too, with their Environmental Score clearly displayed on our website. For every product, we also explain how the score was determined and how the product performs against each of the individual criteria.
Sustainable packaging is not black and white. Sometimes the most environmentally friendly packaging is not the packaging that provides the best protection for the product. The best choice therefore starts not with a green label, but with understanding the impact. And that is exactly why we developed the Ecolinq Environmental Score. Our Eco Managers can then help you make the right choice, providing honest advice that considers not only the environmental impact, but also what the packaging needs to achieve in practice. Because sometimes the most sustainable choice simply isn’t the best choice.