Rigid vs Flexibles: Time To Make the Switch
Sustainability continues to play a growing role in business. Consumer demand and increasingly widespread legislation has brought the theme to the forefront. While prioritizing sustainability may feel like a daunting challenge for many operations, it can actually be seen as an opportunity for business growth—by switching from rigid to flexible packaging. A growing number of flexible food applications offer the potential for comparable performance while driving cost savings and significantly reducing environmental impact.
An Advanced Packaging Solution for Today’s World
Transitioning to flexibles can dramatically cut the environmental toll of packaging while still offering effective durability and product quality. On average, transitioning away from rigid alternatives results in*:
- 70% less material usage
- 60% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
- 55% less fossil fuel consumption
*Pregis IQ Study, 2024
More Benefits, No Sacrifices
The sustainability benefits of flexible packaging don’t have to hurt your brand or come at a prohibitive cost to your business. In fact, in most scenarios, it will lead to savings—optimizing shipping and warehouse space. By utilizing less material, flexible packaging brings down the weight-per-product, the dimensional weight, and the overall size. This means you can fit more product per truck, and add fewer trucks to your overhead. Minimizing warehouse space and using less fuel is great for you, and decreasing emissions helps the environment.
Most importantly, flexibles maintain the same key attributes as rigid packaging, including:
- Comparable product protection
- Strong shelf life
- Optimized shelf space
- Efficient shipping
The Pregis Difference
Pregis Performance Flexibles are the best option for businesses seeking sustainability without sacrificing quality. Our flexible materials provide protection that’s comparable to steel, glass, rigid plastics, and cartons while using fewer resources. And our holistic approach ensures that the solution we implement is right for the needs of your business.
*Results sourced from Pregis IQ Study, 2024
Testing utilized Compass EcoImpact to calculate how much of each rigid packaging material was needed vs. a flexible pouch containing 8 oz of product. All data is an approximation and percentages were calculated as an average across all materials.
