When it comes to leadership and making lasting change, there’s a lot to be said about the success women are having right now. Jacinda Ardern, president of New Zealand comes to mind immediately.
 
Two other women from New Zealand are out to make the world a better place— Kate Bezar and Rebecca Percasky, founders of The Better Packaging Co. Both are trained chemists, but worked in other areas before they created their company. The pair contends their compostable shipping material will change the e-comm world by minimizing the 2+ billion tons of waste it produces globally  every year.
 
With their eyes on sustainability, design and innovation, Bezar and Percasky have developed packages that are non-toxic, free of microplastics and made from plants. The goal is to take more packaging out of the waste stream by making compostable packaging mainstream.
 
Happi checked in with both to learn more about their endeavor.
 
HAPPI: How do biochemists end up as founders of a packaging company? What was it about packaging that prompted you to act? What did you hate? Was there an “aha” moment?
Bezar: We do have degrees in chemistry and related disciplines, but neither of us had actually practiced chemistry for a long time. We took quite divergent career paths – Becs into technology and program management, [I went] into management consulting and then publishing. 
 
Then, about four years ago when Becs was head of operations at a start-up developing e-commerce fulfilment technology she saw first-hand the sheer scale of the e-commerce industry and how it was growing. Coming from an environmental mindset, she could see the impact of the amount of single-use plastic packaging required to send all those orders and wondered if there was a more sustainable way. It was then, when we began to get into the nitty gritty of what compounds different materials are made of and how quickly they are able to biodegrade, that our chemistry backgrounds really came into practice. 
 
The reality is that plastic is a material engineered to last hundreds of years, that’s what makes it so darn handy, but unfortunately it’s come to be used for millions of applications that don’t actually need it to last hundreds of years, it only needs to last for one, maybe two uses and then disappear or be recycled. Plastic should be used for very long-term storage and protection, nothing more. There are now alternatives that are far less damaging to the environment that are designed to last only as long as they are actually needed.  
 
HAPPI: How long did it take from that “we should do this” moment to having actual products?
Percasky:It was about 18 months of extensive research, development, prototyping and iteration before we had our first full production run in our hands and ready for sale. That production run sold out in just two weeks so we doubled it, and that sold out in the same amount of time. Turns out there were a few other folks looking for sustainable packaging for eCommerce too.
 
HAPPI: What from biochemistry helps in developing materials that you work with?
Bezar:It helps to cut through some of the greenwashing by giving us a true understanding of the full product lifecycle. For example, our comPOST Range is partly made from plants, but it also needs another resin to give the material its flexibility. Currently, this resin (PBAT) is made from petroleum. Petroleum is not a renewable material but other than that, it is natural and not inherently “bad.” It’s what it’s engineered into that can have long term, negative repercussions for the environment. It can either be made into traditional plastic containing toxic additives which will not break down for hundreds of years or a ‘bioplastic’ which is non-toxic and will be broken down in months under composting conditions—it is even okay for worms! That said, we are working to make sure that more and more of our packaging is derived from plant-based, and therefore, renewable materials and that really excites us. It’s about always innovating something better.
 

HAPPI: What are your most popular products?
Percasky:Our most popular products are from our comPOST Range. These products are certified home compostable and yet perform as well as their plastic counterparts; we have courier mailers, poly bags, labels and more.
 
HAPPI: Are there any limitations to what can be packed in your packaging?
Bezar:Almost anywhere you see in plastic film is an opportunity for a biodegradable, compostable alternative such as what we produce. While our film is food safe, it does breathe so it’s not really suitable for anything that needs to be airtight. We are working on a solution for that though so stay tuned! It’s also not suitable if something needs to be packaged for a long time as the material begins to lose its strength after about 12 months. 
 
HAPPI: Beauty brands are always looking to reduce their footprint—do you work with any brands that you can share? 
Percasky: In Australia, we work with Clarins, Maybelline, L’Oréal and Garnier. In the US, we also work with cult zero waste brand Loli Beauty and many other indie companies.  
 
HAPPI: What are the benefits for a brand using your products—and do you help them in terms of marketing strategy?
Bezar:We help brands of all sizes reduce their environmental footprint by providing products that are a direct substitute for their traditional plastic ones. Generally, they don’t need to change their processes at all – it’s just a straight swap. Because our products are designed for that last mile shipping, it is a very visible step they can take that their customers will appreciate. We provide our customers with extensive information so that they can communicate clearly and comprehensively with their customers, and imagery that they are welcome to use too. We have produced the first “insta-worthy” courier satchel and we find that not only are our customers’ posts about their new packaging very well-received, but that their customers will also post about it when they get their e-commerce orders in something better than plastic. It’s truly awesome. 
 
HAPPI: Is this a product that only “green” or natural brands consider? Can it be a fit for a more conventional brand?
Percasky:While “green” brands were some of the first to pick up on our packaging, we find all sorts of brands now make up our customer base. It’s important to remember that behind every brand there are people –people who care and who would like to be reducing their brand’s impact. Any brand can look at ways to minimize their footprint and remove plastic from their supply chain wherever possible. Our packaging is a really easy first step and what we find is that a brand might start with our courier satchels, find they work and that they get such a great response from their customers, and then start using our poly bags or labels too. It becomes a bit addictive – in a good way.