Sustainability in the Trading Card Game Industry

Working at a leading TCG brand has been one of the most unique experiences in my career. Although COVID has proved challenging for many other, more traditional commercial printing verticals - TCG brands around the world are having record years despite lockdowns. And why not? Collecting and playing TCG games is a challenging but rewarding pursuit that can be done safely at home.

It's always amazing to see dozens of Youtube unboxing videos of packaging that my team and I produced; eager fans unboxing the latest SKU just hours after it was officially released at retail. Still - as fun as our packaging can be to unbox and find that rare card that everyone is looking for - the TCG industry as a whole still has a long way to go to become truly sustainable in terms of our packaging. Additionally the TCG industry in general presents some unique challenges to going fully green.

TCG fans and collectors are some of the most passionate fans in the world. What drives demand for TCG brands in part is the hunt for ultra-rare and unique cards. Fans might be looking in the retail aisle for packaging that includes one particular type of booster pack artwork; one particular promo card. Similarly - competitive TCG players may be looking for that new card that has a unique ability able to plus up their deck. As a result - existing TCG packaging design focuses heavily on displaying every interior component of a piece of packaging in a large diecut window. This makes the TCG industry very reliant on plastic inserts to secure and fan out packaging components within the diecut window. Unlike other industries like cosmetics, spirits, and cannabis - TCG can't just change packaging SKUs to uncoated, blind packaging without severely letting down our fanbase that's on the hunt for that perfect card; that certain booster wrap.

Similarly - many TCG collectors are looking for pristine cards. Many rare cards are sent to third party grading companies where cards are evaluated for quality and then put under glass. Any type of packaging that exposes the cards directly through an unsecured packaging window opens the cards up to potential damage.

So is the push towards sustainability in the TCG packaging category hopeless? Not at all! Although it provides unique challenges, they can certainly be overcome. As a new generation of fans learn to appreciate TCG games packaging design may evolve over time.

Furthermore - TCG companies should take an incremental change approach to sustainability. Going green is certainly a marathon and not a race. In my position we've taken a realistic, pragmatic approach to doing the most good with our current packaging designs possible. Plastic thermoforms and interior components aren't all bad - but rather when you have to utilize plastic you should ensure that it's the most environmentally and economically-friendly plastic that can be secured. Focus on increasing the threshold percentage of post-consumer recycled plastic in your plastic thermoform inserts. Ensure plastic components can be easily recycled in the blue bin by all municipalities without contaminating the recycling stream. Even consider down-gauging or reducing the thickness of our plastic components, which can yield significant environmental gains and also a large reduction in single-use plastic. Brands throughout the world have committed to reducing single-use plastic wherever they can; TCG should be no exception.

Consider the paper that outer cartons are produced from. Are they FSC-certified, and are you certain they come from responsible, ethically-harvested sources?

The process of going green begins with the very first, initial steps. Once committed - there's no going back.