Incodia, the UK’s largest suppliers of gift, loyalty and membership cards and a provider of FMCG packaging, has launched an innovative new solution to help improve sustainability.
The cards they print are traditionally bound using plastic bags to hold batches together. Making this process more sustainable has been an industry-wide challenge, with alternative materials unable to deliver the strength required.
Now, Incodia has partnered with two major industry players to develop a new solution that is more environmentally friendly, whilst maintaining production speed and keeping cards tightly bound.
Together with US-based payment card companies Blackhawk Network and InComm, Incodia has become the first UK manufacturer to create a solution for the cards and packs using a paper band, reducing single-use plastic from their clients’ supply chains.
“This innovation is yet another example of our commitment to becoming more sustainable to lessen ours and our clients’ impact on the environment” says Paul Gerrard, Sales Director of Incodia.
Incodia recently announced a 5R strategy which sees them ‘Rethink’, ‘Reuse’, ‘Recycle’ and ‘Reduce’ the materials and energy they consume as part of their environmental ‘Responsibility’.
“Finding a sustainable way to wrap the cards has been challenging, with no off-the-shelf solutions. However, by working collaboratively with our partners, our development team has successfully engineered a sustainable alternative” adds Paul.
Incodia produces over 200 million gift, loyalty and membership cards each year, for major organisations including Boots, English Heritage and Sainsbury’s / Argos. They also personalise and send tens of millions of cards, carriers, and fulfilment packs direct to consumers on behalf of their clients.
They are also growing their focus on providing FMCG packaging, with customers in the food, drinks, cosmetics, and toiletry sectors.
“Though single use plastic bags are only a small component of what we deliver, it’s an international challenge to eradicate it. We’re proud to have worked closely with our partners to engineer a solution here in the UK” concludes Paul Gerrard of Incodia.
Incodia recently installed LED lighting throughout their sites, replacing older, less environmentally-friendly technology and will halve their annual energy consumption for lighting – saving 50 tonnes of CO2 each year.
Their unique Earth Card range has helped over 150 major gift card programmes transition to paperboard cards and saved over 3,500 tonnes of plastic since 2017.
They plan further initiatives in 2022 as they continue their focus on boosting sustainability.
For more information, visit: www.incodia.co.uk