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Jaipur, RajasthanWhatsApp
PACKARCS Packaging Co.
06Materials & Care

Made to be kept, and easy to take apart.

A rigid box is mostly board and paper. What makes it harder to recycle is usually what gets added: film, foam, magnets, plastic windows. This page sets out what we use and where you can choose the simpler option.
Plain kraft paper parcels and folded card in soft daylight
01What a box is made of

Board, paper and glue. Very little else.

We would rather tell you plainly what goes into a box than print a percentage we cannot stand behind. Ask for the specification of any material and we will send it.

Close view of brown kraft paper showing its fibres
Fig. 1. Kraft paper, uncoated. It goes into paper recycling as it is.
Greyboard
The rigid shell. Dense board made from recovered paper fibre, recyclable with ordinary paper and card once the box is emptied.
Wrap papers
Art paper, kraft and textured specialty papers. Uncoated sheets go into paper recycling as they are; laminated sheets are harder to process.
Glues
Water-based adhesives for wrapping and lining. No solvent glues in the standard build.
Certified stock
FSC-certified board and papers are available on request, with the chain-of-custody documents from the supplier passed on with your order.
A stack of paper sheets in natural shades, edges squared
Fig. 2. Wrap papers are ordered for the whole run at once.
02Choose the lower-impact option

Five swaps that rarely cost you the look.

None of these is compulsory. Some products need foam or a magnet. But when the choice is open, the right-hand column is easier to recycle and sometimes cheaper.

Common packaging choices and lower-impact alternatives
Instead ofConsider
Soft-touch laminationUncoated textured paperA film-free sheet stays recyclable as paper and still feels rich in the hand. Texture does the work the lamination was doing.
EVA foam insertFolded card or moulded pulpCard and pulp go into the paper bin with the box. Foam has to be separated and rarely gets recycled.
Magnetic closureRibbon tie or friction-fit lidNo metal to remove before recycling. A well-fitted lid and base box closes cleanly without help.
Clear plastic windowDie-cut opening, or noneWindow film is a second material glued into the board. An open cut or a printed image avoids it.
Full-coverage foilSmall foil detail or blind debossLess metallised material on the sheet. A deboss with no foil at all is the quietest and simplest finish.
Line drawing of a tall shoulder neck box sized to a bottle
Shoulder neck box, drawn to the bottle
03Sized to the product

The smallest box that does the job.

Every dieline is drawn to the real dimensions of your product, with clearance only for the insert and tissue. A box that fits needs no crumpled paper or air pillows to stop things moving.

It also means less board per box, more boxes to a carton and fewer cartons on the truck. Freight is where a lot of packaging's footprint sits, and it is the part nobody sees.

04Kept, not thrown away

The best box is the one still on the shelf.

A rigid box is built to be opened and closed many times. People keep them for jewellery, letters, watch straps, spare buttons and photographs, long after the product has gone.

We build for that: corners that stay square, lids that still fit after the hundredth opening, and papers that age well rather than scuff.

Maroon, cream and brown rigid boxes with gold mandala foil, stacked in three sizes
Fig. 3. Lid and base boxes in three sizes. The smaller ones often end up holding the larger one's contents.
05When it is time to recycle

Taking a box apart.

Local collection rules vary across India, so check what your area accepts. These steps apply almost everywhere.

Shadows of leaves falling across a warm plaster wall
  1. 01

    Lift out the insert. Card and pulp go with paper; foam and velvet go in general waste.

  2. 02

    Remove magnets, ribbon and any metal studs. Magnets can be kept and reused.

  3. 03

    Tear or flatten the board so it takes less room in the bin.

  4. 04

    Put the greyboard and paper in dry paper recycling. Keep it away from food waste.

Ask for the plastic-free version.

Tell us the product and the look you want, and say you would like to keep the box to board and paper. We will suggest a construction, papers and insert that do it, with an indicative price.