Pentel is replacing all of its key blister cards with a range of plastic-free packaging made from 100% recyclable cardboard from sustainably managed woodland. For maximum on-peg appeal, the new hanging packs combine high-impact appearance with excellent product visibility and are the result of extensive planning and research.

Pentel Marketing Manager Wendy Vickery explains, “Moving away from conventional blister cards, with their single-use plastic, is the right thing to do for the environment, but it’s not without its challenges. The obvious benefit of the plastic bubble is that it affords full product visibility to the consumer, which is a real advantage in those precious few seconds at the point of sale.”

To solve the problem of how to showcase products most effectively, Pentel has created cardboard packs featuring an angled aperture that allows consumers to see how many products are in each pack and to identify the ink colour of products. With strong Pentel branding and prominent key messages about recycled product content and refillable items, the new packs are designed to attract attention and generate swift purchasing decisions. This eco-development won’t affect planograms though, as the new packs are the same size as the previous blister cards.

Wendy Vickery said, “The launch of our new all-cardboard retail packs is the next step in the journey we embarked on in 2006 when we launched the Pentel Recycology range of products made with a minimum of 50% recycled material. At the time there were few, if any, products in our industry made with recycled materials, but 15 years later the picture is thankfully very different. And we know that over the past few years especially packaging has been scrutinised in an unprecedented way, with buyers and consumers seeking to make more environment-friendly purchasing decisions to avoid the creation of unnecessary waste.”

Pentel’s new plastic-free retail packs will be on display at the London Stationery Show at the Business Design Centre from 5 to 6 October on the Pentel stand, M507. For more info visit pentel.co.uk