Few Hungarians are looking for sustainable packaging solutions

(Photo: Pixabay)

According to the latest research by Rondo Hullámkartongyártó Kft., for the majority, the circular economy means the recycling of packaging materials, which shows that most people are not aware of the concept: 66% said that the circular economy means collecting products back and using them for the same purpose, they did not think that used goods could also be given a new function. Regarding the role of packaging materials in the circular economy, 59% of those surveyed said that properly collected packaging materials can be recycled and used to make new packaging, and only 32% said that it is possible to make other products from properly collected packaging materials.

It can be seen from the above that many people think that packaging materials are typically not sustainable

However, only a few consider it important that the packaging of the purchased product produces as little waste as possible: Hungarian consumers are traditionally price sensitive, and accordingly, price is the most important factor when choosing a product. The role of packaging is negligible, only 7% of respondents consider it to be extremely important, and another 12% consider it important, but otherwise customers do not really see the opportunity to choose products with sustainable packaging. According to consumers’ perception, sustainable packaging is the most common in the food sector, nearly two-thirds of the respondents have come across such a solution. In the other product groups (clothing, perfumes and drugstores, cleaning products and chemicals, decorative products and others), an average of 25-30% have already encountered sustainable packaging. On average, the respondents nominated two of the offered product groups, which indicates that the prevalence of sustainable packaging is still low in their opinion.

When shopping online, the attitude of the respondents changes somewhat

In this case, customers consider the use of environmentally friendly packaging materials more important than usual. This is mainly due to the use of extra packaging materials required for transport. At the same time, this is not necessarily the primary consideration here either: 47% of the respondents said that they do not make decisions based on environmentally friendly packaging and delivery when choosing a product, but they are happy if the service provider pays attention to this. 12% of the respondents considered this aspect very important, 26% important, and 15% not at all important.

Consumers have mixed information about what kind of packaging material can be sustainable

66% consider packaging materials made of corrugated cardboard and paper to be sustainable, and glass is also considered sustainable by a relatively large number of respondents (46%). This roughly corresponds to reality, since corrugated cardboard is up to 100% degradable, and glass can be recycled up to an infinite number of times, with proper waste management. Metal (31%) and plastic (17%) have a worse opinion, however, interestingly, 6% marked the otherwise extremely environmentally damaging styrofoam as the most sustainable packaging.

“From a sustainability point of view, corrugated cardboard is still the most favorable packaging material, and its use also has many other advantages,” said Zsolt Miklós, managing director of Rondo Hullámkartongyártó Kft. “It can be used in many ways, it is very light, yet it offers such protection that even glass can be safely transported in it. In addition, since it can also be made from waste paper, it also plays an important role in the circular economy: the raw material that has already been produced does not become garbage, it is not necessary to extract new raw materials to produce the packaging material, and after use, the cardboard paper does not become waste again.”