Materials science company Dow has partnered with Procter & Gamble China (P&G China) for recyclable air capsule e-commerce packaging.

The air capsule combines Dow’s ELITE AT high-performance PE resins with P&G China’s technology to offer an effective way to protect products.

The new packaging reduces excessive packaging without compromising product safety in e-commerce.

Compared with traditional corrugated parcel boxes, the air capsule packaging reduces material weight by 40%, thereby requiring only 25% of original trucking and 75% of less warehouse space.

In addition, the all-polythene mono-material structure enables recyclability.

The packaging also features a tamper-free opening to ensure content integrity, an easy-to-tear strip, besides an auto-deflate feature to enable hassle-free disposal after opening.

Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics Asia Pacific commercial vice-president Bambang Candra said: “The rise of e-commerce has inevitably generated an increase in packaging waste. At Dow, our role is to develop materials that enable better-performing, sustainable packaging that is designed for recyclability from the start.

“Through our collaboration with P&G China, we not only meet the needs of consumer brands and e-retailers but also enable consumers to do their part with materials that close the loop on packaging waste.”

This partnership with P&G China is in line with Dow’s sustainability goals to make its packaging solutions 100% recyclable or reusable by 2035.

The company also aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

In May 2022, Dow teamed up with bioconversion company New Energy Blue on a sustainable plastic initiative in North America.