Here's what Bontrager is doing to reduce our packaging footprint:

We Use Less Material

The easiest way to lessen our impact is to reduce the size and weight of the packaging materials we use. When we develop new products, we work really hard to either reduce the size of the header card (if the product currently comes on a card), or replace a box with a card. A recent example is our stems: we've gone from a fairly involved box-within-a-box format (with the outer box made of heavy e-flute corrugate) to a simple card design. As a result of that change alone, we now use less than ¼ of the stem packaging material we originally used. Plus, reduced packaging means less shipping costs, as more products can now fit in a shipping container.

We Use Recyclable Materials

For a number of years now Bontrager's packaging has been recyclable. But in the past, much of our recyclable packaging used coated, bleached card stock. Bleaching card stock uses toxic chemicals that are difficult to dispose of and unsafe to work around. All card stock is now not only 100% recyclable, it's also unbleached, resulting in a light brown, somewhat uneven look. In addition to its lower environmental impact during the manufacturing process, unbleached stock also breaks down faster in a recycling environment.

We Use Recycled Materials

We've used recycled-content card stock for packaging in the past, primarily because it was easier and cheaper to obtain. But that card stock often used post-industrial recycled materials, rather than post-consumer materials. Post-consumer recycled materials are better for the environment because they've already been through the waste chain, rather than using "new" materials. Post-consumer recycled materials are more likely to be diverted from landfills while post-industrial materials are often thought of as less environmentally beneficial, as they can indirectly encourage inefficient manufacturing processes that produce waste. Bontrager strives to use the maximum amount of recycled materials possible, currently making use of 70-90% recycled content and choosing post-consumer when available.

We Eliminate or Reduce Plastic

We make every effort to eliminate plastic from our packaging. As a rule, we avoid the use of "sealed clam shell" plastic packaging for any of our products. If we do have to use plastic in order to properly display a product (like a cycling computer), we require a more easily recycled, less-harmful polymer such as polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), instead of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). We avoid PVC at all costs.

We Use Earth-Friendly Inks

In the past, we've used some metallic inks for our packaging. Metallic inks are bright and flashy, but they don't break down very well and can also contain lead or other harmful chemicals. As a result, we've eliminated metallic ink from all of our packaging and require all of our printers to use soy-based inks for Bontrager package printing.

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Before & After

Examples of our new handlebar (fig. 1), seatpost (fig. 2) and stem (fig. 3) packaging

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Packaging is just the beginning. We can do more. So we do.