Sustainability

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Starbucks and WestRock completed a pilot to recycle fiber from 25 million coffee cups for new cups.

Recycled paper company Sustana invested in pulping equipment to remove polyethylene liners from the cups and save the fiber, which was mixed into paperboard at WestRock’s mill in Evadale, Texas. Large rolls went to Seda packaging company for printing, cutting and forming.

The Kellogg Company is expanding its global sustainability commitments to include a goal of working towards total (100 percent) reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by the end of 2025.

When a food or beverage processor begins breaking down costs, sometimes startling facts are revealed. Here’s a case in point: Widmer Brothers Brewery (Portland, Ore.), founded in 1984 and part of the Craft Brew Alliance (CBA), had been using a liquid ring vacuum pump to bottle its beers, but realized the technology was consuming roughly 5,000 gallons of water per day.

Anheuser-Busch InBev and DS Smith Plastics are winners of the 2018 Excellence in Reusable Packaging Award for innovations that reduced CO2 impact.

After two years of its five-year initiative to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Crown Holdings has exceeded one of its two targeted 2020 sustainability goals. In 2016, the packaging company announced plans to reduce energy consumption by 5 percent per billion standard units of production from 2015 levels by the end of 2020.

"Sustainability" is more than just a buzzword; it has become a significant factor in almost all elements of production—including the way manufacturers print onto packaging materials. As consumers continue to demand greater variety on retail shelves, especially when it comes to sustainable, premium and convenience choices, manufacturers are forced to examine their own processes to keep pace with demand and extract every last second of productivity.

 

The world faces a food waste epidemic. Approximately one-third of the food supply produced for human consumption worldwide is lost or wasted.