WHOLESALE PACKAGING
CoRR’s goal is for produce, poultry, and seafood to be transported to grocers and restaurants in recyclable wholesale transfer packaging. Poultry, meats, seafood, and produce are typically shipped to restaurants and grocery stores in a type of corrugated box which contains a wax moisture barrier that renders it un-recyclable, resulting in 1.47 million tons of waxed corrugated boxes discarded in the US each year. If designed for recycling and recycled, use of recyclable boxes in place of paraffin-coated packaging yields a greenhouse gas savings of 4.5 million mtCO2e, equivalent to eliminating an entire coal-fired power plant.
SAVE GREEN BY GOING GREEN
GREENER PACKAGING FOR BOSTON
Produce, seafood, poultry, and meat are often shipped in corrugated cardboard boxes coated with wax, which renders them un-recyclable. This results in the landfilling and burning of 1.47 million tons of valuable paper fiber every year, costing restaurateurs and grocers combined lost revenue and landfill fees of $200 million nationwide. Recovering these recyclable boxes in place of paraffin-coated packaging yields a greenhouse gas savings of 4.5 million mtCO2e, equivalent to eliminating an entire coal-fired power plant with no energy loss. Today there are strong, cost-neutral, recyclable coated boxes available for both protein and produce. Global Green USA supports the development, use, and recycling of Fibre Box Association-certified recyclable and repulpable corrugated packaging to reduce waste and save money.
Global Green worked with one of the nation’s largest grocers to test recyclable boxes that could be used by their suppliers across the country. The grocer operates over 1,300 locations, so if they decide to switch to 100% recyclable packaging that would make a tremendous impact. CoRR members Green Bay Packaging and Interstate Container provided several pallets of samples of recyclable cabbage boxes to the cabbage packing facility in Moultrie, Georgia, where the cabbage was packed and shipped successfully to St. Louis.
4 Years Later: Recyclable Boxes Still Saving Money & Reducing Emissions
In 2010, Global Green USA's Coalition for Resource Recovery (CoRR) worked to pilot and document the use of recyclable corrugated boxes made by CoRR member Interstate Container and used by Mountaire Farms, a poultry producer that operates the largest poultry processing facility in North America. The process led to the conversion of the facility to 100% corrugated packaging in 2010, which helped inspire others to follow suit in subsequent years. Since 2010, Mountaire Farms has also converted its other two processing facilities over to recyclable corrugated containers.
Green Packaging in the Big Easy: Global Green USA's Coalition for Resource Recovery Tests Recyclable Seafood Boxes
New Orleans seafood is going green. Global Green USA’s Coalition for Resource Recovery (CoRR) joined forces this past week with the New Orleans Fish House to test recyclable coated corrugated boxes as methods of transporting locally caught seafood. These innovative boxes, made by CoRR members Cascades Industrial Packaging and Interstate Container, are designed to be recyclable, unlike the paraffin-coated packaging typically used, and also withstand the icy seafood packing process.
Greener Recyclable Cabbage Boxes Succeed After 750-Mile Journey
Global Green USA, building on previous successful recyclable packaging tests, came to the heart of New England for the next installment of the pilot series. With the help of a grocer and one of their primary seafood suppliers, Global Green USA documented the ice-packing of water-resistant, recyclable boxes made by Cascades and Interstate Container and shipped to a location in Boston, just in time for the last day of the Boston Seafood Expo on March 18th. As the boxes were unloaded, all present confirmed that they had performed well, indicating that future shipments could also be sent in the strong, water-resistant, recyclable packaging.