The most common reason businesses delay switching to eco-friendly packaging is an assumption that it costs more. Looked at properly, across material, freight and disposal, that is often wrong. This page breaks down exactly where the cost sits at each stage, so you can see where switching genuinely saves money, where it is close to cost-neutral, and where you do pay a premium and for what.
The three real cost mechanisms
1. Right-sizing cuts freight, not just material
Carriers bill on the greater of actual weight and dimensional (cubic) weight, calculated from the parcel’s outer dimensions. An oversized carton or mailer is charged as if it weighed more than it does, on every single parcel. Switching to a right-sized format, often the same move as switching from a poly satchel to a kraft mailer, cuts material use and freight cost together. This is frequently the single biggest saving available in a packaging review, independent of whether the new material is more or less “eco-friendly” than the old one.
2. Paper tape removes a hidden cost: rework and contamination
Plastic packing tape that is not removed before a carton is recycled can contaminate the load or see it rejected or downgraded by a recycling facility. Water activated (paper) tape bonds into the carton’s own fibres and goes into recycling with the box, no removal step required. That avoids a cost most businesses never actually track because it shows up as someone else’s problem, at the recycler, not a line item on your own invoice, but it is a real cost to the system your packaging feeds into, and increasingly a compliance expectation under Extended Producer Responsibility.
3. Less material by weight, same protection
Paper void fill and honeycomb padding protect through geometry and fit rather than trapped air or bulk foam. Matched properly to the product, this typically uses less material by weight than the plastic equivalent for the same level of protection, which is a direct material cost saving, not just an environmental one.
Where you can pay a premium, and why
- Verified compostable formats (tested to AS 4736 or AS 5810) can cost more than an unverified “biodegradable” claim, because the verification and the material itself are genuinely more expensive to produce. This is a real cost for a real, defensible claim, not padding.
- Custom-printed sustainable packaging costs the same as custom-printed conventional packaging, the premium is for the custom work, not the material.
- Low-volume specialty formats (certain barrier films, some fibre-based food trays) can carry a per-unit premium until volume increases, the same pattern as any specialty packaging format.
A practical way to sequence the switch
- Start with tape. The cost difference between plastic and water activated tape at volume is small, and the switch needs a dispenser and a roll change, not a redesign.
- Right-size your top mailer or carton formats. Profile a week of real orders by size and cut down to the two or three formats that fit best, this is where the freight saving shows up fastest.
- Move to paper-based void fill where bubble wrap is currently used by default rather than by necessity.
- Address primary packaging (trays, bottles, jars) as products are refreshed, rather than replacing existing stock early.
Sequenced this way, most of the switch either saves money immediately (tape, right-sizing) or is cost-neutral (void fill), with any premium concentrated in the smaller, verified-claim items where it is easiest to justify to a customer who is actually checking the label.
The wider picture
For the full stage-by-stage checklist across an entire order, from primary packaging through to returns, see the eco-friendly packaging checklist for ecommerce. For what “recyclable,” “compostable” and “biodegradable” actually mean and how to label correctly, that page also covers the Australasian Recycling Label and APCO’s PREP verification tool.
How Carewell Group helps
Carewell Group is an Australian packaging manufacturer and supplier, certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. We run packaging reviews that profile your real order data and recommend a right-sized, eco-friendly format range, so the switch is priced against your actual freight and material spend, not a generic estimate.
Carewell can meet all your packaging needs for your business. Talk to our expert and we will work to your required MOQ. Call +61 (02) 8760 1491 or request samples and a packaging review.
Frequently asked questions
Does switching to eco-friendly packaging increase costs?
Not for most of the switch. Right-sizing saves on freight, paper tape avoids recycling rework, and paper-based void fill often uses less material by weight than the plastic equivalent for the same protection.
Where does eco-friendly packaging genuinely cost more?
Verified compostable formats tested to AS 4736 or AS 5810, and low-volume specialty barrier or fibre formats, can carry a premium until volume increases.
What should a business switch first to save money fastest?
Sealing tape, since the cost difference at volume is small and it needs no redesign, followed by right-sizing the mailer or carton range, which is where the biggest freight saving shows up.
Sources
- Australia Post, cubic weight and parcel sizing: auspost.com.au
- Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, 2025 National Packaging Targets: apco.org.au
Written by Alif Vasaya, digital and content strategy, Carewell Group. Carewell Group is an Australian packaging, food packaging, tape, industrial safety and 3PL supplier serving all of Australia. Last updated 17 September 2026.