Organic Processing Vo1.8 #2 - March/April 2011

PET (rPET)containers, as well as Whole Foods Market 365 brand and Rainbow Light which both use 100 percent recycled HDPE (rHDPE) bottles for their supplement lines.

Also lightening the load in landfills, Stonyfield Farm was honored for reducing the weight and materials used in its 6-oz yogurt cups and multipacks, and for the implementation of post-consumer recycling initiatives. The company switched from #2 HDPE to lighter weight #5 PP plastic for the cups, reducing weight by 17 percent per year, and replaced the cup’s rigid plastic lids (with a plastic film underwrap) with a single foil peel-off lid, reporting 16 percent less energy use, 12 percent lower water use and 6 percent less waste annually. They also invested in equipment to mould and fill multipacks on-site rather than using premade packaging that was shipped in, saving 730 tones of materials and $1.8 million in associated costs each year. To facilitate recycling of #5 PP, which is less commonly accepted by local recycling programs, Stonyfield has partnered with Preserve and TerraCycle, and implemented its own mail-back program.

Organic Essence compostable cardboard lip balm tube was another
award-winning eco-innovation. Using compostable cardboard as well as
non-toxic adhesives and soy ink, these tubes can be tossed in any house-
hold compost bin. The company is also offering its de-
sign to other lip balm companies which could prevent
millions of plastic tubes from ending up in landfills.
Other companies are avoiding plastic alto-
gether and choosing other materials that are
durable enough to be washed and reused to
package their product time and time again.
Both Straus Family Creamery and Crescent
Ridge were honored for creating returnable
glass beverage bottles, which are reclaimed for
reuse regionally. EcoNature Care’s refillable
aluminum body care containers also reduce
plastic use and promote packaging reuse, while
Preserve Products, which makes recycled-con-
tent toothbrushes, offers mail-back envelopes
for recycling, demonstrating extended producer responsibility and
facilitating reclamation.

Another one of the most environmentally unfriendly packaging options, Styrofoam, has been given a green makeover. KTM Industries was recognized for its Green Cell shipping foam and coolers, which are made from Non-GMO corn. Green Cell products are not only recyclable and compostable, but also can be burned without emitting the chemical toxins released from Styrofoam. Other award-winning products include Burt’s Bees 80 percent rHDPE lip balm tube, Seventh Generation’s 90 percent rHDPE Bottle and Sagomonian Farm’s 70 percent rPET clamshell manufactured with 50 percent onsite solar.

Albert Straus of Straus Creamery illustrates that his glass milk bottles are reused six to eight times, eliminating the need to create new plastic containers.

Find out who the next Responsible Packaging Project awardees will be at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim on March

10th from 4-5 p.m. in Ballroom A. Prior to the awards ceremony there will be a Responsible Packaging Forum from 1: 30 to 3 p.m. The Call for Nominations for Fall 2011 awards will be released this summer. Visit www.responsible-packaging.org for more information.

chemicals in packaging, especially those that could leach into food. According to the Environmental Working Group, studies have shown that trace levels of the chemical Bisphe-nol-A (BPA), commonly used to line cans for pasteurized foods, can disrupt the endocrine system and trigger a wide variety of disorders from reproductive abnormalities to impaired brain and neurological functions, cancer and more.

To avoid this risk, organic pioneer Eden Foods launched the first BPA-free cans for low-acid foods. The company’s website explains, “All Eden organic beans, refried beans, chilies and rice & beans are cooked in steel cans coated with a baked-on oleo-resinous c-enamel that does not contain BPA. Oleoresin is a non-toxic mixture of an oil and a resin extracted from plants such as pine or balsam fir.” Eden says that these cans cost 14 percent more than standard cans, however they’ve clearly made the choice to invest in consumer and environmental health—and its values.