Check now Climate change has been a significant issue for quite some time but only recently became conspicuous enough to attract widespread public attention. Many have taken the initiative to fight against this impending crisis by adopting a sustainable approach. The packaging industry, in particular, has seen significant improvements in eco-friendly packaging materials. Honeycomb paper mailer is one such material that has garnered widespread attention from many people in various industries. Much of that is because despite being fully recyclable and eco-friendly, it is cheap and has impressive performance compared to other long-term industry standard materials. Honeycomb mailers are somewhat similar to corrugated mailers in terms of material. Both are made using kraft paper. The honeycomb mailers have honeycomb-shaped lining on the inside of the wrap. The hexagonal formation offers immense durability to the mailer and very high cushioning properties. The honeycomb paper structure creates a multi-layered protection pocket for fragile goods. The honeycomb structure is further sealed between two layers of durable kraft paper. Such an arrangement offers a smooth surface that won’t get tangled during shipping. The honeycomb patterned padding offers higher structural strength than other kraft paper mailer options. The material is fully reusable and recyclable, so it leaves much less carbon footprint than traditional packaging options such as metal mailers and bubble wrap. Most honeycomb mailers also come with self-sealing adhesives, so the user doesn’t need to add additional glue. Honeycomb mailers gained popularity in the shipping industry due to their versatility. They are easy to use and easy to dispose of. The structural design of the honeycomb mailer also offers some very desirable characteristics. Honeycomb mailers are highly durable and offer excellent protection for most types of fragile goods. Much of their strength comes from the hexagonal cell pattern, which highly resists blunt force impacts. Despite their exceptional rigidity, honeycomb mailers are also very flexible and easy to work with. The build structure and the combination of flexibility and rigidity make honeycomb mailers much longer lasting than cardboard and other similar packaging materials. Such an increased lifecycle makes it more reusable than other packaging materials. One of the best features of the honeycomb mailers is their recyclability. Honeycomb mailers have a very low carbon footprint compared to conventional packaging materials. Natural Kraft paper has long fibers and is easy to manufacture from natural sources. High-quality kraft paper is often made from sawmill by-products and by-products from forest maintenance. So, one does not need to cut down trees to produce these things. Natural kraft paper is very compatible with conventional recycling methods. So you can recycle it multiple times without affecting the quality of the end product. The durability of the honeycomb mailer makes it survive longer than other similar products, making it easier to reuse. Reusing is a much better option for the environment and is a superior option to recycling. Beehives are the primary inspirations behind the honeycomb patterns of these mailers. Such design allows them to spread any impact evenly, limiting the overall damage to the cover. The interior receives very little force in general. As such, honeycomb mailers are highly resistant to wear and tear. Kraft paper is also an opaque material, a quality that honeycomb mailers share. The outer layer of the honeycomb is also thick enough to prevent impressions from forming. So it’s tough to guess what’s placed inside the package. Naturally, there are plenty of advantages to using honeycomb mailers instead of other conventional packaging materials. Here’s a list of reasons: Eco-friendly: Honeycomb mailers are 100% recyclable. The raw material for making honeycomb mailers comes from by-products of other industries. Natural kraft paper honeycomb mailers are also biodegradable in most cases. As such, you can reduce your carbon footprint significantly by using these. Space Saving: Honeycomb mailers store flat and easily stackable. So they require very little storage space. These also come with sealable openings, so you don’t need additional packaging materials like tape and glue. Weather-proof: High-quality honeycomb mailers have additional coatings for waterproofing. Such moisture-resistant layer also protects them from other weather conditions. Easy to source: Honeycomb mailer is always available for bulk purchase in most places. It’s a sustainable packaging material that rarely runs out of supply, so it’s easier to source. They are lightweight, too, so it’s easy to transport bulk shipments. Affordable: Honeycomb mailers are one the most economical packaging supplies on the market. Such shipping envelopes are much cheaper than shipping boxes, which require additional packing material such as bubble wrap, foam beads, and other materials. Honeycomb mailer is a neat little package compared to all that hassle. Versatile application: You can use honeycomb mailers for shipping a wide range of items. The most common are books, photo frames, and other similar objects. But you can also ship small electronics and other such things in them. Honeycomb mailers are much more cost-effective than traditional shipping packages like cardboard boxes and much easier to handle. They take up less space, so it helps reduce some of the shipping costs, too. And you also won’t need glue or tape to secure the packaging. As such, you can use it in a variety of situations. You can use honeycomb mailers for shipping CDs, DVDs, and even jewelry. Honeycomb mailers offer enough cushioning to keep such items safe. Other things you can ship in them are small clothing articles. Pretty much anything works as long as they fit in the envelope. Many people use honeycomb mailers for shipping kitchen utensils like spoons. Some people also use it for glass and chinaware, but it’s usually best to pack those in boxes. Fragile glassware requires a bit more safety than what most honeycomb mailers offer. You may also want to take additional protective measures while shipping hypersensitive items. While it is true that honeycomb mailers have a protective coating, they do not offer full protection against water. They may also lose their structural integrity when exposed to water for extended periods. Despite the popularity of honeycomb mailers, we must compare them to other packaging options to understand their pros and cons comprehensively. While such mailers are great, they aren’t usable in some specific cases. The comparative analysis below should give you a better understanding of this subject: Honeycomb mailers are lightweight in their own right, but bubble wrap is slightly better in this area. The advantage of honeycomb mailers is that they are easier to handle than bubble wrap. Bubble wrap almost always requires additional taps to secure the product. The honeycomb mailer does not have such requirements. Honeycomb mailers and bubble wrap offer excellent cushioning, but bubble wrap also comes ahead in this area. Regular honeycomb mailer isn’t very suitable for extreme humidity, whereas bubble wrap handles moisture well. But you can mitigate the issue by getting waterproof mailers. Honeycomb mailer and bubble wrap are both “technically” recyclable. But honeycomb is a better choice since you can recycle almost 100% of it. Bubble wrap requires special refinement and recycling facilities; even then, it’s not fully recyclable. Huanyou are exported all over the world and different industries with quality first. Our belief is to provide our customers with more and better high value-added products. Let's create a better future together. Since eco-friendliness is a big thing right now, it’s probably best to mention the plant-based composite mailers. These are somewhat similar to kraft paper honeycomb mailiers in terms of recyclability. But there are definite drawbacks to the plant-based ones. Plant-based mailers are slightly less shock absorbent than honeycomb mailers and have a limited shelf life. While it’s great that you can turn them into compost, they aren’t a reliable solution when sending a package overseas. The limited shelf life also limits how easily and reliably you can source the composite mailers. In that regard, honeycomb paper mailers are much better. Choosing between corrugated boxes or honeycombed mailers is highly situational. For smaller items, the mailers are largely superior to cardboard boxes. They require less packing material and storage space. But that only applies to small items. Honeycombed mailers can’t accommodate large items, so going with the box is the default solution. Using boxes is more expensive, as you need more storage space and packing materials like tape. And you’ll also need to put bubble wrap or foam beads for cushioning in the box. So, for small things, at least, a honeycomb mailer is the superior choice. Hopefully, this article has cleared up some confusion you might have had about honeycomb mailers. As a packing material, it stands as one of the most affordable and reliable options by far. But it certainly has a big drawback in terms of item size. If you want a reliable supplier for industry-standard high-quality honeycomb mailers or bubble mailing envelopes, then feel free to contact us at ULINEpak. We offer an extensive collection of packaging materials of all kinds.
Check out our Definitive Guide to Protective Mailers for the most up-to-date information.
Looking for a padded shipping mailer with some cushion for protection, rigidity and/or presentation? Looking for eco-friendly packaging and not the traditional (read: virgin materials, single-use, landfill-bound) options? If this describes you, EcoEnclose is thrilled to now be offering not one, but TWO eco-minded packaging options: 100% recycled paper-based padded mailers and 32.6% recycled poly bubble mailers (aka poly air jackets).
As with so many things we write about, there is no perfect eco-friendly packaging strategy to meet every company’s needs.
So, here, we talk about the pros and cons of each of our cushioned, protective mailer options across a number of different dimensions - recycled content, recycle-ability, environmental impact, cost, reusability, cost, and more. Our comparisons below will help you decide which sustainable packaging option is best for your business, based on your values and priorities.
Winner: Padded Mailers
Our padded mailers are made with 100% recycled content, of which 25% is post-consumer. Our poly bubble mailers are made with 32.6% post-industrial recycled content. Padded mailers are a clear winner in this category. That said, EcoEnclose bubble mailers have the most recycled content of any poly bubble mailer available today, and achieving 32.6% has been a long journey and a feat. By going with our bubble mailers, (even though the packaging has less recycled content than our padded mailer option) you would be helping us and the industry invest in continued advancements, leading to more and more recycled content in this common packaging solution long-term.
Winner: Padded Mailers
EcoEnclose poly bubble mailers and padded mailers are both recyclable. Padded mailers are accepted by all curbside programs nationwide, while bubble mailers are only accepted by some. If a person’s local curbside programs don’t accept bubble mailers, recipients can deposit them at grocery bag drop-offs, easily accessible to almost every community nationwide. Our padded mailers are also compostable, though we recommend recycling them instead of composting them as the more eco-friendly choice.
Because of the ease with which padded mailers can be recycled, and the added bonus that they are compostable, they came out ahead in this category.
It is important to note that if our padded mailers and bubble mailers end up in the landfill than padded paper mailers actually have a worse end of life environmental impact than bubble mailers. This is for two reasons. First, recycled post-consumer paper within padded mailers could leach toxins within a landfill. Second, paper will degrade more quickly in a landfill (though still very slowly!) than plastic. While we want paper to degrade in a compost operation, we do not want this to occur in a landfill because (depending on if the landfill captures Landfill Gases or not) it leaks methane gas. According to the EPA, methane causes 21 times as much warming as an equivalent mass of carbon dioxide over a 100-year time period. More alarming, in the first 20 years after its release, the intensity is even more severe. During that time period, methane is 84 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide.
Winner: Bubble Mailers
Our recycled padded mailers and recycled bubble mailers can both be reused. They each have a tear strip so recipients can easily open them. However, bubble mailers were specifically designed for reuse - with a dual peel and seal and clear language on the mailer itself around reusability. For padded mailers to be reused, they need to be folded over and taped shut.
Eco-Impact Across Rest of Life Cycle
Winner: Bubble Mailers
By “rest of the life cycle," we are referring to the eco-impact of the packaging outside of its recycled content and end of life (which are discussed above). Our recycled bubble mailers actually have a lower negative environmental impact than padded mailers. The impact of actually producing and transporting each padded mailer to you generates slightly more carbon emissions (and more carcinogens and ecotoxicity) than each poly bubble mailer.
This is largely because when comparing two mailers of equal sizes - padded mailers have more paper material and weight than bubble mailers have in plastic material. The raw materials extraction, transportation, and manufacturing of paper and plastic (even recycled paper and plastic) requires energy, generates emissions and generates some level of pollution. Because more materials are used in a padded mailer, the analysis shows that they typically have a higher carbon footprint and environmental impact than poly-based counterparts.
No Clear Winner
Some people just love the earthy, natural look of kraft. If that is you then padded mailers will appeal to you. For some, the sleekness of the bubble mailers wins out.
Our padded mailers can be custom printed with your design (single color, single side) at relatively low quantities of just 500 units. Custom branded bubble mailers come in minimum quantities of 25,000 units. Because of this, stock / off the shelf EcoEnclose bubble mailers come to you with a design that showcases your commitment to the environment and adds something unique and special to the recipient experience.
Winner: Bubble Mailers
If the ability to withstand any weather condition is critical for you, then a bubble mailer (which is fully plastic and therefore resistant to all moisture) is a superior option. That said, it is very rare that weather conditions pose a challenge for e-commerce packaging, as the majority of shipments are made with paper-based packaging (i.e. corrugated and paper envelopes).
Winner: Padded Mailers (though we'd recommend 100% Recycled Rigid Mailers if rigidity is absolutely critical)
If it is important that your package has both padded protection and does not really “bend”, then padded mailers may be the right choice for you. They are sturdier and more rigid than bubble mailers, which are fully made with flexible plastic. That said, our rigid mailers (especially our tab-locking, extra rigid mailers) are our best option for anyone who is seeking an "unbendable" mailer, though rigid mailers do not have cushion at all.
Winner: Bubble Mailers
Poly bubble mailers are lighter and more compact than padded mailers. Comparing two of these mailers - an 8.5 x 10.75" bubble mailer size and an 8.5 x 11" padded mailer size:
The bubble mailer weighs 0.8 oz and the padded mailer weighs 2.2 oz
A case of these bubble mailers holds 100 units and weighs 5 lbs. A case of these padded mailers holds 100 units and weighs 20 lbs.
A single pallet can hold 8,000 bubble mailers and 2,400 padded mailers
These differences result in improved costs and reduced environmental impact of shipping mailers to your operation, storing them in your warehouse, and then ship your products out to customers.
Winner: Bubble Mailers
Comparing equally sized poly bubble mailers and padded mailers, bubble mailers are going to be less expensive than padded mailers, due to the costs associated with raw poly versus paper materials (even recycled versions of these materials) and the cost of manufacturing plastics versus paper.
Have you read the above on padded mailers versus bubble mailers and realized you don’t actually need a cushioned, protective mailer at all?
If a thinner option can work for you, consider our recycled poly mailers or our recycled kraft mailers. Both are 100% recycled, thinner and less expensive than their padded counterparts. A recycled poly mailer is a great option for apparel and other fabric-based gods. A recycled kraft mailer can be great for prints, stationery, apparel, books and more.
Still not sure what to do? Order free samples anytime and feel free to reach out to us at support@ecoenclose.com - we'd love to help you find the right solution for your business!
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Honeycomb Padded Mailer.