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Biodegradable & eco friendly packaging · MOQ 500 pcs per design

Recycled, compostable, or just reusable — we will tell you which

Recycled kraft cartons from $0.05, a compostable mailer at $0.65–0.98, recycled paper bags at $0.10–0.50 and recycled cotton totes at $0.40–1.20 per piece at 500 pcs. What you will not get on this page is the word biodegradable used as a specification: certification is issued per construction, not per supplier, so every claim here is confirmed against the exact board, film, ink or fabric you buy — and three product families we cannot make are listed as out of scope.

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Uncoated recycled kraft folding carton with water-based ink printing
Minimum order
500 pcsper design; 100 pcs on rigid boxes
Kraft folding carton
$0.05 – 0.65per piece at 500 pcs
Compostable mailer
$0.65 – 0.98per piece at 500 pcs
Certification
Per constructionFSC, GRS, EN 13432 or ASTM D6400, item by item

Range

Six lines that carry a recycled or compostable claim

Four paper and board structures, one corrugated mailer and one reusable bag. Each one names the material it is made from and what still has to be confirmed for your market — and each band below is the published price for that structure, not a sustainability premium.

Kraft folding cartonLowest unit cost

Kraft folding carton

The cheapest structure on this page and usually the first thing to move to recycled board: an uncoated kraft or recycled folding carton, water-based ink, no film lamination. Because it skips the coating and the plastic layer, it can sit at the bottom of the $0.05–0.65 band at 500 pcs. Recycled board carries a visible fleck and shifts a little between batches — the sample is where you decide whether that reads as character or as a defect.

  • MOQ500 pcs/design
  • Indicative @500 pcs$0.05 – 0.65
  • BoardRecycled or FSC kraft, uncoated
  • Confirm per constructionFSC chain of custody; food contact
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Compostable mailerE-commerce

Compostable mailer

A corrugated mailer with a compostable film or a paper-only closure instead of a plastic tape line. This is the line where the wording matters most: industrially compostable is a certified property of the whole construction, not of the board alone, so the film, the ink and the adhesive all have to be inside the same claim before we will put it on a carton. $0.65–0.98 per piece at 500 pcs.

  • MOQ500 pcs/design
  • Indicative @500 pcs$0.65 – 0.98
  • StandardEN 13432 / ASTM D6400 where certified
  • Confirm per constructionFilm, ink and adhesive in the same claim
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Recycled paper shopping bagRetail

Recycled paper shopping bag

A recycled paper carrier with twisted paper handles: no plastic lamination, no plastic handle, and the paper itself is recyclable in a standard kerbside stream. It takes a print or a single foil mark less crisply than a coated bag, and it weighs more per bag than a laminate — that is the honest trade for dropping the film. $0.10–0.50 per piece at 500 pcs.

  • MOQ500 pcs/design
  • Indicative @500 pcs$0.10 – 0.50
  • HandleTwisted or flat paper; no plastic
  • Confirm per constructionRecycled content %; FSC or recycled claim
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Plastic-free food boxFood service

Plastic-free food box

A tuck-top board box for dry and semi-dry food, built with no plastic window and no PE or PLA coating on the standard specification. Anything that touches food needs a functional barrier or a grease-resistant liner, and that liner is the part that decides both the food-contact paperwork and the price — so it is quoted as its own line rather than assumed. $0.70–0.98 at 500 pcs.

  • MOQ500 pcs/design
  • Indicative @500 pcs$0.70 – 0.98
  • Standard specUncoated board; no plastic window
  • Quoted separatelyGrease-resistant liner; food-contact documents
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Recycled kraft lid & base gift boxGift set

Recycled kraft lid & base gift box

A two-piece rigid box wrapped in recycled kraft paper over greyboard, with a paper insert rather than a foam one. Rigid boxes are the one structure here that cannot be flattened for freight and that cannot claim to be recyclable in a kerbside stream once the wrap and the insert are counted, so we describe it as recycled-content packaging and reusable packaging, not as recyclable packaging. From 100 pcs; $1.20–1.80 per piece at 500 pcs.

  • MOQ100 pcs
  • Indicative @500 pcs$1.20 – 1.80
  • WrapRecycled kraft paper over greyboard
  • Honest limitReusable, recycled content — not kerbside recyclable
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Recycled cotton tote bagReusable

Recycled cotton tote bag

A reusable bag is the most defensible sustainability claim in this whole range: one bag that is used for a year displaces hundreds of single-use carriers, and the arithmetic does not depend on a certification. Recycled cotton (GRS scope) and standard cotton sit on the same published $0.40–1.20 band at 500 pcs; the recycled yarn is usually a little darker and less uniform, which is why it is sampled rather than described.

  • MOQ500 pcs/design
  • Indicative @500 pcs$0.40 – 1.20
  • FabricRecycled cotton (GRS scope) or standard cotton
  • Confirm per constructionGRS scope certificate for the exact fabric
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Materials and standards

Recycled, biobased, compostable: three different claims

These three words get used as if they were interchangeable, and on a specification sheet they are not. Recycled content describes where the fibre or the yarn came from. Biobased describes what the raw material was made from, and says nothing at all about what happens to the item after use. Compostable describes what the finished object does in a composting environment inside a defined time, against a defined standard. A pack can be any combination of the three, and the one that customers actually judge you on is usually the disposal question — which is the one the other two do not answer.

Where a claim is going on the pack, it should rest on a standard with a test method behind it: FSC for the fibre, GRS for recycled textile content, EN 13432 in Europe and ASTM D6400 in the US for industrial compostability. Each of those is issued against a named material or a named construction by a certification body, which brings us to the part of this page that matters most.

A certificate is issued for a specific construction, not for a supplier in general. There is no such thing as a factory-wide ‘compostable’ or ‘recycled’ credential that covers everything that factory makes, and a claim that travels from one board, one film or one fabric to another without new testing is not a claim anyone can defend. So we confirm it item by item: the exact board grade, the exact film, the exact ink and the exact adhesive in your specification. If a document cannot be obtained for one of them, we will tell you before the artwork is printed rather than after.

  • ✓Recycled content stated as post-consumer or pre-consumer, with the percentage named on the document
  • ✓FSC chain-of-custody paperwork for the board or paper, and GRS scope certificates for recycled cotton
  • ✓Compostability to EN 13432 or ASTM D6400 only where the certificate names the board, film, ink and adhesive together
  • ✓No plastic lamination, no plastic window and no plastic handle unless you specifically ask for one
  • ✓Certificates requested per construction, and the exact item named in writing before any claim is printed
Ask for certificates on your spec
Uncoated recycled kraft folding carton printed with water-based ink

Standards and wording

Biodegradable packaging, recycled content — what each standard actually covers

Four standards do most of the work in this category. None of them is a general badge: each one is issued against a material or a construction, and each one has a gap that buyers find out about after launch.

StandardWhat it actually certifiesWhat you must confirm for your item
FSC — Forest Stewardship CouncilThe fibre: that the board or paper comes from responsibly managed forests, recycled sources or a mix of the two, tracked through a chain-of-custody system.The chain-of-custody code on the paperwork for the exact board grade and the mill that made it. A printer or converter cannot pass FSC status on by default — it has to sit on the product you buy.
GRS — Global Recycled StandardThe recycled content of a textile (cotton, polyester and blends), plus social and environmental criteria in the supply chain, verified by a third-party certification body.A scope certificate that names the fabric you are buying and the percentage of recycled content claimed. ‘Recycled cotton’ without a scope certificate is a description, not a claim you can defend.
EN 13432 — European compostabilityThat a whole construction disintegrates and biodegrades in an industrial composting plant within a defined period, leaving no ecotoxic residue and staying inside heavy-metal limits.The certificate for the finished construction: board, film, ink, adhesive and window all inside one test. It covers industrial composting, not a home compost heap — those are different standards.
ASTM D6400 — US compostabilityThe US equivalent specification for plastics and coated products designed to be composted in municipal or industrial facilities, with the same families of requirement: disintegration, biodegradation, ecotoxicity.The certificate plus the disposal pathway your market actually has. A compostable pack in a city with no industrial composting collection is compostable on paper and landfill in practice — the buyer, not the supplier, has to decide whether that trade is honest.
Standards referenced by name only; we are not a certification body and we do not issue certificates. Current documentation is requested from the mill, film supplier or converter for the exact material in your specification, September 2026. Nothing here is legal advice on labelling — claim wording is regulated market by market and should be checked against the market you sell in.

Certification is issued per construction, not per supplier. There is no factory-wide compostable or recycled credential that automatically covers every item a supplier makes — so we do not present one, and you should not accept one from anyone else. Every claim on this page is confirmed against the specific board, film, ink, adhesive or fabric in the specification you are buying, item by item.

What the claim meansHow we write itThe question to ask us
Recycled contentBoard, paper or cotton that contains post-consumer or pre-consumer recovered material, stated as a percentage of the fibre or yarn.What percentage, and is that post-consumer or pre-consumer? The two are not the same claim to a sustainability team, and the certificate names one of them.
BiobasedMade from plant-derived raw material rather than fossil-derived. It says nothing about what happens to the item after use — a biobased film can be neither recyclable nor compostable.Is the material biobased, and separately, is it certified compostable? We will never answer the second question with the first one.
CompostableThe completed construction breaks down in a composting environment inside a defined time, verified against EN 13432 or ASTM D6400.Which standard, which certificate, and does it name the film, ink and adhesive you are specifying? That is the only version of this claim we will put in writing.
BiodegradableA word, not a specification: it has no test method, no time limit and no disposal pathway attached. Almost everything degrades eventually, including the plastic we are trying to replace.Ask for the standard and the certificate number instead, and check what your market allows you to print. We will give you the documents; we will not give you the adjective.
RecyclableAccepted into a real recycling stream where the customer lives. Ink coverage, film lamination and any plastic window change the answer.Which stream, in which country? A laminated carton and an uncoated kraft carton are the same board and two different answers.
How each claim is worded in this category, and the question that turns it into something verifiable.

Out of scope

Three things we do not make

Bagasse tableware, PLA-lined cups and stand-up pouches all sit inside the search terms this page is written around, and none of them sits inside our production. The quickest route to the wrong packaging supplier is a quote for work that will be re-quoted somewhere else a month later, so we would rather answer this up front.

Not on our linesWhy it is outside our capabilityWhat we would do instead
Sugarcane bagasse moulded containers (sugarcane bagasse container)Bagasse tableware is a pulp-moulding process — a different tooling, a different press and a different quality-control routine from the board, corrugated and textile lines we run. We cannot control the wall thickness, the fit of a lid or the moisture behaviour of a moulded pulp tray the way we can control a folding carton.For takeaway and delivery, specify a board food box with a grease-resistant liner: the liner is quoted as its own line and we will tell you which food-contact documents you need for your market.
PLA lined paper cup (PLA lined paper cup)A cup is a formed-and-sealed product: the body blank, the side seam and the rim roll all run on dedicated cup machinery we do not operate, and the PLA lining has to be extruded onto the board in the same pass to hold the seam. Quoting it would mean quoting someone else and taking responsibility for a process we cannot inspect.For dry food service we build uncoated tuck-top cartons and food boxes. If your product is a drink, we are not the right supplier and we will say so on the first call rather than after a sample round.
Biodegradable stand up pouch (biodegradable stand-up pouch)A pouch is flexible packaging — film extrusion, lamination, printing on film and a form-fill-seal line. None of it touches the rigid and semi-rigid converting we run, and the typical pouch is a multi-layer plastic laminate, which is the opposite of everything else on this page.Where the product can take a rigid or semi-rigid pack, a kraft folding carton or a lid & base box with a paper insert covers the same shelf job. Where it cannot, a pouch specialist is the honest recommendation.
Scope of our own capability, September 2026. These three product families run on pulp moulding, cup-forming and flexible-film lines respectively; we are a China-based custom packaging partner running structural design, artwork and quality control in-house with production on dedicated partner lines in Shenzhen and Dongguan, and we only quote what we can inspect. No quotation or supply commitment is offered or implied for the three items above.

Why we say no rather than quote anyway

A quote is cheap to produce and expensive to act on. If you plan a launch around a pulp-moulded tray we do not press, or a PLA-lined cup we do not form, the specification will change after your artwork, your sample round and your freight plan are already built on it — and the change will land in the weeks when you have the least room to absorb it. Refusing the enquiry on day one costs you an email. Accepting it costs you a launch.

  • ✓If your product can take board, corrugated or textile, this page covers it and the numbers are published above
  • ✓If it needs a moulded pulp tray, a formed cup or a flexible film pouch, we are genuinely not the right supplier and we will say so on the first call
  • ✓We will name the process your product needs even when it sends you elsewhere

Where eco packaging is decided

Three briefs, three different problems

The sustainability conversation sounds the same in every category and the actual decision is never the same. Below is what has to be resolved first in the three briefs we are asked about most.

Eco food delivery packaging

The real problem is not the box, it is the liner: anything that touches hot, wet or greasy food needs a barrier, and the barrier is usually where the plastic comes back into the pack. Decide first whether the food is dry, semi-dry or wet — that single answer decides whether an uncoated board box is genuinely usable or whether you are choosing between a grease-resistant liner and a plastic window you did not want.

What we build for it: Board food boxes, tuck-top cartons, corrugated mailers with a paper-only closure. The liner, if you need one, is quoted as its own line with its own food-contact documents.

Organic food packaging

Organic certification is about the contents, not the carton, and buyers routinely underestimate that gap: an organic claim on the label does not make a laminated or plastic-windowed pack recyclable, and it does not make a printed board compostable. What actually matters here is a short, auditable material list — uncoated recycled or FSC board, water-based ink, no film — so the pack story matches the product story.

What we build for it: Kraft folding cartons and food boxes with uncoated stock and no plastic window, plus the material documents for the exact board, ink and liner in the specification.

Sustainable cosmetics packaging

This is the category where the pack carries the brand, so the honest options are narrower than the marketing suggests: a rigid box wrapped in recycled kraft is reusable and has recycled content, but it is not kerbside recyclable once the wrap and the foam insert are counted. The decision is whether the pack is meant to be reused or recycled — it is rarely both, and pretending otherwise is what gets a brand caught out.

What we build for it: Uncoated kraft cartons for refill or travel sizes, recycled kraft lid & base gift boxes with paper inserts for sets, and recycled cotton totes for gift-with-purchase. Ask for the recycled-content percentage and the certificate for each item separately.

Decoration without plastic

Three decisions, and the trade each one makes

The decoration on a recycled pack is where a good material list gets undone. Every route below is quoted as its own line, so you can judge the look against the claim rather than buying a bundle.

Printing on uncoated stock
Recycled and kraft boards

Printing on uncoated stock

Uncoated recycled board absorbs ink, so artwork built for a coated sheet prints flatter and the fleck shows through the image. Fewer colours and solid type usually look better than a photographic design, and a physical sample of your own artwork is the only way to judge it — we will not approve a recycled-board colour match from a proof.

Lamination — the trade-off
Where the claim matters

Lamination — the trade-off

A plastic film laminated to paper is what a plastic-free pack is trying to avoid, and it is also what changes the answer to ‘can this be recycled?’ in most collection systems. If recycled content is the point of the pack, we recommend uncoated or a water-based varnish, and we will say so even when lamination would look better.

Emboss, deboss and foil
Decoration without film

Emboss, deboss and foil

Embossing and debossing add texture with a die and no film, which makes them the most consistent decoration on recycled stock. Metallic foil is a film: it is the most premium look on this page and the one most likely to complicate a recyclability claim, so ask for the current guidance for your market before the artwork is signed off.

Cost drivers

What actually moves the price of an eco spec

If an eco quote comes back well above a standard one, it is nearly always one of these seven variables. Ask for them as separate lines and you can decide which part of the sustainability story you are actually paying for.

VariableDirectionWhy it moves
Recycled vs virgin boardOften neutral, sometimes lowerAn uncoated recycled kraft carton skips the film lamination and the heavy coating a coated carton needs, which is why it can sit at the bottom of a published band rather than above it. Undyed recycled stock is the cheapest version of this page.
Board grade step-upModerate — usually the biggest single lineRecycled fibre is shorter, so the same grammage can be slightly weaker. If the pack has to stack or ship alone, the honest fix is one grade up, not a thinner box that fails in transit. This is the cost buyers most often miss.
Compostable film and adhesiveHighest of anything on this pageA certified compostable film or window is a specialist material with a narrow supplier base. It also has to be inside the same certification as the board, ink and adhesive, which limits what else can go on the pack.
Ink and coverageSmall, but visible on kraftWater-based ink on uncoated recycled board prints flatter and absorbs more, so a design built for a coated sheet can look washed out. Fewer colours and a lighter coverage cost less and, on this stock, usually look better.
Coating and laminationSmall per piece, decisive for the claimA laminated sheet is a film bonded to paper and it changes what the pack can be recycled as. If the recycled-content story is the point, uncoated or a water-based varnish is the consistent choice — and it is cheaper.
Certification paperworkFixed cost, not a per-piece costChain-of-custody handling and certificate copies are a one-off administrative step per construction. We will tell you which documents we can obtain for your exact material and which we cannot, before you commit to a claim on the artwork.
QuantityFalls with volumeEvery band on this page is quoted at 500 pcs because that is where set-up is amortised. A larger run always carries the lower piece price, and a reorder in the same artwork and material carries no set-up at all.
Qualitative ranking, September 2026. All price references in this table are the published bands on this site ($0.05–0.65 for a kraft folding carton, $0.40–1.20 for a cotton tote, $0.65–0.98 for a compostable mailer at 500 pcs); no new price bands are introduced here.

Pricing

Indicative pricing for this range

The ranges below show what each specification lands in at each quantity tier. Your quote will be itemised against your own size, board or fabric, finishes and insert.

LineQuantityIndicative ex-worksAssumed specification
Kraft folding carton500 pcs$0.05 – 0.65 @500 pcsRecycled or FSC kraft board, uncoated, water-based ink; the lowest unit cost on this page
Compostable mailer500 pcs$0.65 – 0.98 @500 pcsCorrugated mailer with a compostable film or paper-only closure; certification per construction
Recycled paper shopping bag500 pcs$0.10 – 0.50 @500 pcsRecycled paper carrier, twisted or flat paper handles, no plastic lamination
Plastic-free food box500 pcs$0.70 – 0.98 @500 pcsUncoated tuck-top board box, no plastic window; grease-resistant liner quoted separately
Recycled kraft lid & base gift box100 pcs$1.20 – 1.80 @500 pcsRecycled kraft wrap over greyboard with a paper insert; MOQ 100 pcs, band quoted at 500 pcs
Recycled cotton tote500 pcs$0.40 – 1.20 @500 pcsRecycled cotton (GRS scope) or standard cotton, 10oz canvas; print adds a line per colour
Recycled / certified material and water-based ink500 pcsQuoted as its own lineThe difference between a virgin-board spec and a recycled or certificated one is quoted per construction, once the exact material and its certificate are fixed
Indicative ranges compiled from published Chinese factory price schedules, September 2026. Every figure is a published band already used elsewhere on this site ($0.05–0.65 for a kraft folding carton, $0.65–0.98 for a compostable mailer, $0.10–0.50 for a recycled paper shopping bag, $0.70–0.98 for a food-grade tuck-top box, $1.20–1.80 for a lid & base rigid box and $0.40–1.20 for a standard cotton tote, all per piece at 500 pcs); no new bands are introduced for recycled or certified material. The premium or saving for a recycled, FSC, GRS or compostable specification is quoted per construction, once the exact material and its certificate are fixed. Planning figures, not a quotation — the final price depends on your board or fabric, size, print coverage, liner, insert, packing and Incoterm.

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Quoted line by line, not as a lump sum

  • ✓Structural dieline (PDF) and a 3D mockup with your artwork
  • ✓Board or fabric, printing, each finish and the insert priced separately
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  • ✓Photo and video updates every two days through production
  • ✓Freight quoted for your route — sea, air or express

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Eco packaging FAQ

Before you put a claim on a carton

The wording, the certificates and the strength question — answered without a sales adjective.

Can we print the word biodegradable on the pack?
That is your decision, not ours, and we will not make it for you by writing it into the artwork as a supplier claim. The honest position is that biodegradable is not a specification: it has no test method, no time frame and no disposal pathway attached, so it cannot be verified the way compostable can. What we can do is give you something checkable instead — the recycled-content percentage for the board, the FSC chain-of-custody documentation or the GRS scope certificate for the fabric, and, where the construction is certified, the EN 13432 or ASTM D6400 certificate for that exact construction. Some markets restrict or require substantiation for degradation claims, so the wording should be checked against the market you sell in before the print run, not after.
How do we verify an eco claim on a quote?
Ask for the certificate, not the sentence. Four things to look at: the standard and version on the certificate (EN 13432 or ASTM D6400 for compostability, FSC or GRS for fibre and recycled textile content); the holder of the certificate, which should be the mill, film supplier or converter rather than a trading company; the scope — it must name the material you are specifying, because a compostability certificate issued for one film does not transfer to a different film with a different adhesive; and the validity date. A certificate that covers ‘our packaging’ in general does not exist. If a supplier cannot name the standard and the certificate holder for the exact item you are buying, treat the claim as unverified.
Is recycled paper strong enough for our product?
Usually yes, with one adjustment: recycled fibre is shorter than virgin fibre, so at the same grammage the board is a little weaker, and the fix is one grade up rather than a thinner box. Where it matters is stacking, solo shipping and anything that gets damp — a product that ships alone in its carton should be tested in that carton, not on a specification sheet. The second thing to plan for is appearance: recycled board carries a fleck and shifts slightly from batch to batch, so the physical sample is where you decide whether that reads as character or as inconsistency. Both of those are decided on a sample, not in a conversation.
How much more does eco packaging cost?
Sometimes it costs nothing extra and sometimes it costs a lot, and the difference is which line you are changing. An uncoated recycled kraft carton can sit at the bottom of the published $0.05–0.65 band at 500 pcs, because dropping the lamination and the heavy coating removes cost. A recycled cotton tote sits on the same $0.40–1.20 band as standard cotton. The two places a premium is real are a board grade step-up to hold the same strength, and certified compostable film, which is the most expensive material on this page — a compostable mailer runs $0.65–0.98 at 500 pcs against the kraft carton band above. Certification paperwork is a fixed cost per construction, so at 500 pcs it is spread over a smaller run than at 5,000.
Why will you not quote bagasse containers, PLA cups or pouches?
Because we cannot control the process, and a quote we cannot stand behind is worse than no quote. Bagasse tableware is pulp moulding, a cup is formed and rim-rolled on dedicated machinery, and a pouch is flexible film converting — three production families that have nothing to do with the board, corrugated and textile lines we run and inspect. We could broker any of them and take a margin, and some suppliers will do exactly that and then re-specify the film or the wall thickness after you have built a launch around it. Our model is structural design, artwork checking and quality control handled by our own team with production on dedicated partner lines in Shenzhen and Dongguan, which means we can only quote what we can inspect. If your product is a drink or a powder, we will tell you on the first call that we are not the right supplier.

Keep reading

Related guides and products

What custom packaging costs in 2026

Line-by-line pricing across every structure we make, and what moves the number.

Food-grade packaging

Barriers, liners and food-contact documentation for board food packaging.

MOQ and the first-order playbook

How to size a first run, and why a sustainable specification changes the maths.

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