6 Plastic Packaging Alternatives For Vending Machines

1. The consumption of plastic is high in food and drinks industry. Snacks, sandwiches, and drinks that are selling in vending machines are mostly packed in plastic due to its space optimization, in fact, usually, a plastic case tends to occupy less space. How to implement eco-friendly packaging in selling food and drinks in vending machines?

Eco-friendly packaging ideas for vending machines:

1. Plastic recycled cups: made out of recycled plastic, represent the most usual type of cups. After the use must be collected and recycled again.
2. Paper cups: it is always a great solution to replace plastic with paper due to its eco-friendliness, biodegradability and easy recyclability. Paper cups are durable as plastic ones and can compete with plastic cups and serve as a humid- and water-resistant eco-friendly cups.
3. 100% biodegradable bioplastic cups: made out of biodegradable plastic, which is a good example of eco-friendly packaging. Biodegradable plastic is produced mostly by cornstarch. These cups are used only for cold water and not hot drinks like coffee and tea.
4. Wooden stirrers: very simple and widely used especially for food and drinks. Stirrers made out of raw wood and they are recyclable and biodegradable. To replace plastic stirrers, wooden ones are a great alternative.
5. Recyclable cardboard: it is already used for packaging a lot of products (cookies, sweets, etc) that are selling in vending machines. It is easy to collect, to recycle but also good for the environment.
6. Paper bags: another simple and widely used material is paper, kraft paper and recycled paper that is perfect for dry food packaging.  It is one of the best eco-friendly sustainable packaging solutions.

The demand for eco-friendly packaging is relevant in food and drinks market and vending machines are part of it, therefore eco-friendly packaging solutions are not so widespread. This trend of eco-friendly packaging matches also with the fact that the production of vending machines is developing in a way to become more sustainable, energy-saving and to have a positive impact on the environment.