With the deepening of the global concept of sustainable development, the packaging industry is undergoing a transformation from “visual priority” to “full-life-cycle value”. The gold award-winning work of the 2025 Flexography Awards—the fiber-based packaging for Carlsberg’s 18-can beer—has proven with practical results that environmental protection materials can fully achieve a win-win situation between printing quality and sustainability. This trend is profoundly affecting the field of customized gift box packaging, promoting the in-depth integration of material innovation and process upgrading.
Bio-based materials have become a new choice for high-end customization. Renewable materials such as mycelium and bamboo fiber are rapidly gaining popularity in luxury gift box packaging due to their natural texture and degradable properties. Through micro-embossing process treatment, bamboo fiber cardboard can simulate the texture of high-end materials such as suede and velvet. Combined with water-based ink printing, it meets the “zero plasticizers” environmental standard. The mycelium gift boxes developed by RISUN-PRINT for high-end tea brands form a three-dimensional structure through the natural growth of mycelium, which not only eliminates the need for traditional inner lining materials but also endows the packaging with unique natural textures. The carbon emission is reduced by 79% compared with traditional solutions.
Structural innovation achieves material reduction and efficiency improvement. The concept of modular design is changing the production logic of gift box packaging. By accurately calculating the product size and protection requirements, the folding structure is used to replace the fixed inner lining, reducing material usage by more than 30%. The magnetic folding gift box adopted in Gucci’s 2025 Advent Calendar has achieved a 50% reduction in packaging volume through structural optimization and supports repeated use, providing a circular economy model for customized gift boxes. The snap-fit gift box structure developed by RISUN-PRINT can achieve stable assembly without glue bonding, which not only simplifies the production process but also improves recycling efficiency.
The environmental certification system builds market trust. Facing increasingly strict international regulations, compliance has become a necessary condition for the export of customized gift boxes. FSC-certified recycled paper, compostable PLA films, and coating materials certified by “Cradle to Cradle” are becoming the basic configuration of the high-end market. A jewelry brand sold to Europe adopted a full-certified material system, which not only successfully entered the Nordic market with strict environmental requirements but also obtained a 23% sales premium due to its sustainable attributes. This shows that environmental certification has transformed from a cost burden into a brand competitive advantage.
Technology integration breaks the opposition between environmental protection and aesthetics. The advancement of digital printing technology enables environmental protection materials to present exquisite visual effects. The nano-scale water-based coating technology adopted by RISUN-PRINT achieves printing precision close to that of traditional coated paper on the surface of recycled paper. The environmental transformation of processes such as gold stamping and UV coating allows sustainable gift boxes to also have a high-end texture. Practice has proved that consumers’ acceptance of environmentally friendly packaging has reached 75%, and the Gen Z group is even more willing to pay a 10%-15% premium for sustainable packaging, creating a new value growth point for brands.
