Long before modern grocery aisles and shipping crates existed, people found ways to store food. Early vessels included hollowed tree trunks, seashells, perforated stones, and animal hides. Over time, people began using metal, ceramic, and glass containers. In ancient Rome and Greece, clay amphorae served as an early form of packaged goods. The real shift came with glass making in the seventeenth century.
With the Industrial Revolution, attitudes toward packaging changed dramatically. Large glass jars and metal tins became common as societies sought efficient ways to protect, preserve, and transport food. The turning point in packaging history arrived with the advent of the modern box, and in 1890 the first cardboard cereal box began to appear.
Today, corrugated cardboard remains one of the most used materials for grouping, transporting, storing, displaying, and selling consumer products around the world.
Packaging has evolved in both design and function. It protects goods, facilitates handling, and even guides consumers. Sorting by color makes recycling simpler and more efficient, turning waste into a resource.
We live surrounded by packaging. Everyone has a role in recycling so the world keeps turning. Recycling is one of the main engines that helps waste become usable material again. Learning which container accepts which item is essential for this system to work.
News from Ecoembes helps people distinguish between the different recycling streams and avoid common mistakes.
- Yellow cap indicates metal pots, briquettes, and plastic containers only.
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- Small containers are also important. They should be placed in the correct stream. Small cardboard boxes, bottles, or milk containers all belong in the appropriate bin.
- Dirty containers should always go into the correct blue, green, or yellow stream, and there is no need to rinse them before recycling.
- Product packaging should not be littered on streets, mountains, or beaches. Find the correct container or save it to recycle at home.
- In the blue bin, cardboard and paper packaging go in, including packaging delivered with online orders you have waited for.
- Green is used for glass bottles, including wine and cava bottles, perfume and cologne bottles, and glass jars such as jam jars.
- Brown indicates organic matter and gray represents the remainder stream for items that do not fit elsewhere.
In addition, Ecoembes offers a 24 hour smart assistant to resolve questions and guide correct disposal.
Being a responsible citizen means actively participating in packaging recycling and helping keep the world moving forward.