Behind the Scenes: Crafting Sustainable Packaging at Lil Packaging

Sustainable packaging has become one of the most important considerations for brands across every sector. As consumers and businesses pay closer attention to environmental impact, the demand for packaging that is recyclable, responsibly sourced, and manufactured with minimal waste has surged. But creating sustainable packaging isn’t as simple as choosing a greener material. It’s a full chain commitment. A blend of engineering, sourcing, design, and operational discipline.

At Lil Packaging, sustainability isn’t an add on or a marketing label; it is embedded in every decision, every machine, and every workflow. This behind the scenes look lifts the lid on how our packaging is made, from the moment raw materials arrive at our factory to the final stage where excess fibre is recycled into new life. This is the story of how sustainable packaging is created in practice, not theory.

The journey begins long before production. For packaging to be truly sustainable, the materials themselves must come from responsible, renewable, and traceable sources.

Every sheet of paperboard that enters our site is FSC®-certified, ensuring the fibres come from forests that are managed ethically and regenerated responsibly. This certification gives brands and consumers confidence that their packaging supports long-term forest health, protects biodiversity, and avoids the deforestation risks linked to poorly sourced materials.

Upon arrival, each pallet of board undergoes strict quality control checks. Our team examines:

- Moisture content, which affects strength and stability

- Fibre quality and consistency

- Board grade suitability for the intended product

- Environmental credentials and traceability

Only material that meets our sustainability criteria and production standards is released onto the factory floor, ensuring every single product we create starts from ethically sourced raw fibre.

Before production begins, our packaging is engineered to use as little material as possible without compromising strength or performance. This design philosophy is crucial when creating sustainable packaging at scale.

Our in-house team optimises every format by:

- Reducing unnecessary flaps, folds, or layers

- Designing efficient die lines that maximise sheet usage

- Ensuring strength through smart structure rather than extra material

- Testing prototypes to minimise failure rates and returns

This early stage design work is one of the most powerful sustainability tools we use. Over thousands or millions of units, even a few millimetres of saved material can translate into significant reductions in waste, resources, and carbon.

Once the board enters the production line, the first step is cutting and creasing. Here, our machinery is calibrated to ensure maximum utilisation of every sheet. Our production software nests designs in the most efficient way possible, ensuring no sheet is wasted and every centimetre of fibre is used productively.

Any offcuts produced during this stage are immediately collected and separated. Instead of being treated as waste, these trimmings become a valuable input for downstream recycling, ensuring the material remains within the circular economy.

This precision approach significantly reduces the environmental footprint of each item and is a defining characteristic of sustainable packaging manufacturing.

Printing is often where sustainability efforts fall apart. Traditional inks and coatings can contaminate packaging and complicate recycling. But at Lil Packaging, our print process is engineered specifically to support the recyclability and environmental integrity of the final product.

We use water-based inks that eliminate the harmful solvents and chemicals found in many conventional printing systems. This choice offers multiple sustainability benefits:

- Lower environmental impact during printing

- Safer conditions for our production team

- Improved recyclability downstream

- Reduced contamination in the fibre recovery process

By selecting inks designed to work harmoniously with the recycling systems already in place across the UK and Europe, we make sure that our sustainable packaging remains sustainable long after it leaves our building.

When the printed sheets move to the folding and gluing lines, the focus shifts to precision and efficiency. The adhesives we use are manufactured in the UK and selected for their recyclability, strength, and minimal environmental impact.

Our machinery applies glue only where necessary, reducing excess adhesive use and ensuring every box, envelope, or mailer can be easily recycled after use. Clean, efficient gluing is a small but essential part of the sustainable packaging lifecycle and one that is often overlooked.

Each pack is then formed, folded, and stacked with exacting accuracy to minimise rejects, reduce energy use, and maintain consistent quality.