What's the Deal with The Excessive Weed Packaging?

What's the Deal with The Excessive Weed Packaging? 

The kind of packaging used for cannabis is usually heavier than the product on the inside. For instance, 3.5 grams of flower might be packaged in a 184-gram jar, while a gram of joint will be inside a doob tube that weighs around 40.5 grams.

For edibles, the kind of packaging usually used might be weighing about 22 times the capsules or gummies on the inside.

As the industry keeps growing and improving, they take better strides towards environmental sustainability. The government is also encouraging companies and players in the cannabis business to use biodegradable packaging and be friendly to the environment.

Companies and brands such as Stone Road have taken this advice seriously and have volunteered to start packaging their products in totally recycled goods.

The downside to all this positive uptake and cooperation is that most packaging that is used for cannabis is still tough to recycle and bulky. To find out the reason, a bit of research was done about the statutes that control the packaging of cannabis. This happened for the states that have one form of legalized cannabis or the other, and below are some of the obtained findings.

Save the Children

This research was conducted using the regulations and legislation in Alaska. The law states that packaging should be designed so that children will have a more challenging time opening, but it should not be a problem to open at all for adults.

States such as Maryland and New Jersey find the packaging used for edible cannabis to be the same as that used for cleaning products, mouthwash, and medicines.

As such, the consumers are required to reseal the containers in a manner that is hard for children to access or open. Of course, this is not the case if the packaging only contains one serving, and in most cases, a lot of the focus is on keeping the packaging child-resistant.

The regulators in the state of California also made things easier for cannabis packaging when they removed the requirement for opaque bags, which were more expensive.

Protect the Product

The cannabis packed in a particular form of packaging should be protected from all kinds and forms of contamination. The materials used for the packaging of cannabis should be food-safe and the type that cannot migrate to the edibles.

For flowers, the containers packaged in should keep the oxygen out, and the dank odor should be sealed on the inside. The packaging is also required to be tamper-resistant so that in case the contents are sealed; it will be impossible to consume them without breaking the seal.

However, some of the aspects of packaging are being used for marketing reasons. People will usually assume that heavier packaging means more value and product inside, and the branded designs are easier to relate with for the consumers.

Identify Products and Potencies

Labels placed on the product packaging must always be easy to read.

Consumers should always be kept informed about their purchase details and what they are buying simply by treading the label on the packaging. For instance, they should know the harvest date of their product, the ingredient, recommended dosages, batch numbers, and the processing and cultivation facilities.

This information should be easy to read from the packaging to ensure that the consumer is fully aware of the kind of products they are purchasing and what is contained in the package. In the case of cannabis concentrates, the solvents used in the processing must be added to the labeling information.

This should also include other additives used to ensure that the user should be made aware of all this information. The font size should also be readable for the available space, which is a requirement for some states.

Recycling Programs

After you are done with the cannabis product, are you allowed to bring back the packaging to the dispensary from where you purchased the cannabis?

Some states ban the habit, while other states have recycling bins where you can return the packaging to be put into better use and turned into a product that will have a lesser impact on the environment.

The other packaging products that can be turned into other purposes include glass and concentrate jars which can be used for different applications.

As such, they are not thrown away in a manner that will negatively impact the environment. Some states have been known to ban reused cannabis packaging.

Still, many organizations are making an effort to ensure that cannabis packaging does not make it to the landfills but instead gets used in better ways that are good for the environment and useful for the economy. For instance, pop-tops can be used to manufacture air conditioner pads, making them suitable for the environment, and their useful life is also extended.

With the use of environment-friendly packaging products in the first place, cannabis companies can avoid impacting the environment in an unhealthy manner, and the potential for contamination is also reduced. For instance, the use of easy peel-off labels improves, and this is also becoming more sustainable.

In Canada, for instance, Terracycle accepts all kinds of cannabis packaging products from their different collection centers across the country, which means that they can recycle these products and put them into other various uses.

If the same is also adopted in the US, things could be significantly better for the environment and the citizens. Packaging is an essential part of the entire delivery process, but its impact on the environment also matters.

It is necessary to pay more attention to the kind of packaging used and be in line with the regulation concerning the packaging of cannabis products. This will contribute to a cleaner environment and a sustainable cannabis culture.