True Sustainability in Cannabis Packaging is still out of Reach (part 1 of 2)

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2021/01/22 True Sustainability in Cannabis Packaging is still out of Reach (part 1 of 2)

True Sustainability in Cannabis Packaging is still out of Reach

As the cannabis market grows, so does its packaging needs, but a mixed bag of focus and state laws make industry-wide sustainability difficult.

Source from: True Sustainability in Cannabis Packaging is still out of Reach | 2021-01-17 | Flexible Packaging (flexpackmag.com)

Increased legalization and a growing demand for medical and recreational cannabis across the world has the legal marijuana market size expecting to reach $73.6 billion by 2027, says a new report published by Grand View Research, Inc. The benefits and opportunities offered by this global industry are profound, and according to Global Cannabis Market Prediction, the demand for a sophisticated cannabis packaging industry has begun to take precedence.

The U.S. has yet to legalize cannabis on a national level, but strict childproof packaging regulations have been attached to cannabis, inadvertently producing excessive packaging standards. A joint report by BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research confirms U.S. companies sold $8.5 billion worth of cannabis products in 2018.These products tend to come in plastic packaging, which is the most affordable material to meet these federal requirements, and can range from four to 30 times the weight of the products they contain.

Consumers accustomed to simple black market “dime bags” are now faced with various forms of cannabis, including capsules, lozenges, tinctures, creams, salves, balms, dermal patches, oral or dermal sprays, edibles, and vaporizing or smoking dried buds. Many are wondering if the packaging, including jars, bottles, bags, pouches, tubes and metal tins, are actually recyclable.

Processors, packagers and contractors face challenges regarding a wide variety of packaging options, not to mention designing, upgrading and automating processes and machines that are specific to cannabis. With so much focus on compliant packaging, labeling and automation, cannabis packaging has garnered little interest in its long-term effects on environmental sustainability. “The historical cannabis community is environmentalist, but green rushers” — as some cannabis entrepreneurs are known — “aren’t, necessarily,” says Danielle Rosellison, president of the Cannabis Alliance, a nonprofit group of cannabis stakeholders dedicated to sustainability.

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