5 Sustainable Mylar Bags Examples In The Cannabis Packaging Industry

Are you looking to go more sustainable with your child resistant mylar bags with your cannabis packaging?

There are 5 examples of sustainable mylar bags that we will outline in this post:

1. Traditional Custom Printed Mylar Bags (They have a sustainability story that many like)
2. PCR (Using post-consumer recycled content)
3. Monomaterial mylar bags which are "Store Drop Off" recyclable (We will get into what that means below)
4. Contempure (An additive to help plastics degrade faster in landfill environments, which is where most mylars end up if we are being honest) 
5. Compostable (Different from Contempure, these are actually made from renewable, plant based materials)

Mylars are the most popular type of 3.5 gram flower packaging in the market, so if we can make them more sustainable, we are going to have a positive impact environmentally and be more eco friendly as an industry.

Prefer video? We unpack these 5 options in the video below! 

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Sustainable Mylar #1: Traditional Custom Printed Mylar Bags

Traditional mylar bags have a great sustainability story, as it relates to efficiency. Examples include:

• Uses far less material per 3.5 gram package than a jar when measured by weight
• Ships very efficiently (You can fit more packages per pallet) which reduces overall emissions in shipping
• Very energy efficient in manufacturing (Less energy per unit of packaging produced in production)

Sustainable Mylar #2: PCR Mylar Bags

The use of post consumer recycled material (or PCR) is an inexpensive way to improving the sustainability of your mylars.

Sustainable Mylar #3: Monomaterial Mylar Bags

Most mylar bags include multiple layers of different film in order to make the mylar smell proof and keep the product fresh. However, use of multiple materials makes the product unrecyclable. You can make mylars monomaterial, which makes them "Store Drop Off" recyclable. This is different from curbside recyclable in your blue bin and rather requires you to go to a grocery store or other location where they collect this type of packaging for recycling.

If you recycle any flexible packaging in your blue bin at home, you risk contaminating the recycling stream and jamming up the machinery, so please do not do this!

Sustainable Mylar #4: Contempure Mylar Bags

Contempure is an additive that is added to the plastic films to make the film more attractive to microbes in a landfill environment. If we are being honest, most mylar bags are going to landfill. They are either unrecyclable or even if they are monomaterial, they are rarely going to actually be brought to a store drop off location. Adding Contempure at least makes the bags break down faster in the landfill, although that process can be slow depending on the type of landfill the bag ends up in.

Note that Contempure bags are still made from plastic and this is different from a compostable mylar bag.

Sustainable Mylar #5: Compostable Mylar Bags

These mylar bags actually are made from plant based and renewable materials! It's important to note that compostable mylars do have a shelf life and do not last as long as other types of mylar bags, so they should be used quickly.

Various Styles of Mylar Bags

There is more than just simple mylar bags that open from the top. We have various versions, such as a tobacco style pouch, mylar bags with "peekaboo" window, as well as well as mylar bags that are "wider and shorter" to make it easy to grab the cannabis.

Want to see the different styles of mylar bags we offer? 

Check out our CR mylar bags product page! Note that certain versions are not available in every sustainable material.

Let us know if you have any questions and we look forward to working with you!