Anker Sustainable Packaging
Objectives
Sustainability: Replace non-recyclable components with renewable or recyclable materials.
Efficiency: Reduce packaging volume and weight without compromising protection.
Brand Alignment: Retain Anker’s premium and innovative look.
User Experience: Ensure ease of opening and a satisfying unboxing moment.
Final Solution
The new packaging is made of 100% recyclable materials and uses 40% less ink. The structure is compact yet protective, and it maintains Anker’s modern, clean look. The design improves sustainability without sacrificing the premium feel customers expect.
Material Reduction: Eliminated ~95% of plastic from the packaging.
Recyclability: Achieved 100% curbside recyclability in most markets.
Brand Perception: Positioned Anker as a sustainability-conscious tech brand.
Challenges
Anker’s existing packaging used a mix of plastic inserts and laminated cardboard, making it difficult to recycle and contributing to environmental waste. While the packaging was sturdy and visually appealing, it relied on non-renewable materials and excessive layers for protection.
The key challenges included:
Material Waste: Multi-material construction that was hard to recycle.
Excessive Volume: Overly large box-to-product ratio, increasing shipping emissions.
Brand Experience: Needing to maintain Anker’s sleek, tech-forward aesthetic.
Design Process
Research & Material Selection
Selected eco-friendly card stock
Choose soy-based inks for printing
Structural Redesign
Reduced the box size by 60% to fit the charger snugly.
Eliminated plastic windows and replaced PET inserts with molded cushioning.
Designed a car runk opening system to remove the need for plastic stickers or tape.
Branding & Aesthetics
Used minimal, single-color printing to reduce ink usage while maintaining brand recognition.
Prototyping & Testing
Conducted drop tests to ensure the charger remained protected.
Gathered user feedback to ensure the packaging was intuitive to open and dispose of responsibly.