Stop Comparing Plastic to Sustainable Materials — They’re Not in the Same League “Natural & Biobased materials cost more.”
That’s the first thing buyers say. And it may appear true—on the surface.
Foam made from corn straw? Around 1.6 times the cost of plastic foam.
In-box void-fill made from paper from a managed forest 10% more expensive.
Waterproof coating derived from fruit peels? Twice the price of the fossil-based version.
But here’s the part that gets left out of the spreadsheet:
- These materials perform.
- They protect.
- And they return to the earth without a toxic trace.
Plastic is Cheap Because It Cheats
Plastic looks affordable—until you consider what isn’t included in the price tag.
It skips the real costs:
- The cost of oil extraction.
- The cost of air, water, and soil pollution.
- The cost of waste management, long after the product has been used.
- And the cost of microplastic contamination, both environmental and political.
These costs don’t go away ya know. They simply don’t appear on your invoice.
Sadly, they show up in our oceans, in landfills, in wildlife, and now—unfortunately—in our bloodstreams.
Comparing Apples to Apples ?
We need to stop comparing true green materials to toxic ones like they’re two valid choices on the same menu. They’re not. This isn’t a price war. It’s about doing what’s right for our future.
Natural, biodegradable, certified sustainable materials are not “alternatives”. They are the new baseline—for companies that take environmental impact seriously.
The Real Question Is: What Are You Willing to Pay
Not to Pollute?
Packaging made with FSC or PEFC certified paper isn’t about innovation—it’s about responsibility. It’s about acknowledging the full lifecycle of a product, not just its shelf life.
So ask yourself:
How much are you really willing to pay to stop using packaging made from petrochemical waste?
Are you ready to put your budget where your ethics are?
Because if the answer is yes, it’s time to stop benchmarking against the past.
APC Packaging Limited build packaging solutions that belong to the future.
Using paper packaging from managed forests to replace plastic makes perfect sense.
