Redesigning for the Future: Rethinking Packaging for a Sustainable World

In the race to develop sustainable packaging, transparency and knowledge sharing have become cornerstones of Google’s strategy. The Google Packaging Team stressed that one of the biggest challenges in the packaging sector today is managing consumer expectations. With sustainability claims often clouded by greenwashing, they believe honest communication is crucial to building consumer trust.

“One of the key lessons we’ve learned is that consumers want transparency. They don’t just want to hear about what we’re doing – they want to understand why and how we’re doing it,” Arevalo said. “It’s not about making bold claims; it’s about telling a story that aligns with our long-term sustainability goals. We’ve adopted an open-source approach to support this, developing resources like our Plastic-Free Packaging Design Guide. By sharing our journey, including successes and challenges, we aim to empower other companies to accelerate their sustainability efforts.”

At Google, pursuing sustainability is not about achieving perfection overnight but about making incremental improvements. “Sustainability is a journey,” Arevalo noted. “It’s about progress, not perfection. We must acknowledge that we’re constantly learning and improving as we go along. No solution is perfect, but we’re committed to reducing our impact every step of the way.”

The Google Packaging Team believes in collaboration within the packaging industry and across sectors. “No single company can tackle these challenges alone. We need to work together to drive real change,” Arevalo said. “Google’s approach to packaging is rooted in partnerships – with suppliers, competitors, and industry leaders – to develop holistic solutions that benefit the environment and society. At Google, we believe innovation in sustainability should be a collaborative effort, not a competitive one.

“Packaging is a multidisciplinary challenge. It involves design, materials science, logistics, and consumer behaviour. Working in silos doesn’t work,” Arevalo continued. “We openly share our learnings and insights, empowering companies to develop solutions. It’s not enough to claim something can be done; we believe in demonstrating how solutions are achieved. We collaborate with material manufacturers, logistics partners, and competitors to push the boundaries of what’s possible in packaging. We aim to accelerate innovation and share knowledge so the entire industry can evolve.”

Google is actively looking into other distribution solutions that can challenge current produce-use-dispose paradigms to other closed loops. Google has been working on internal closed-loop systems to develop solutions to move product components among their suppliers to their assembly centres, and they have created reusable closed-loop systems to eliminate single-use packaging and drive circularity across their supply chain.

At the heart of Google’s packaging strategy is a focus on design. The Google Packaging Team stresses that a product’s packaging design is integral to its sustainability. From reducing unnecessary materials to creating designs that encourage reuse, the aesthetic and functionality of packaging play a crucial role in driving sustainable behaviours.

“The packaging must work not just for today but for the long term,” Arevalo said. “We need designs that work for consumers, are scalable, and are within existing infrastructure. That means considering everything from the material’s life cycle to its end-of-life impact.”

As the packaging industry faces increasing pressure to become more sustainable, Google’s Packaging Team’s work serves as a beacon for others in the industry. Through innovation, transparency, and collaboration, Google is showing that sustainable packaging is not just about reducing waste but about rethinking the entire lifecycle of a product’s packaging.