St. Johns Packaging has partnered with Bimbo Bakeries USA to introduce the first polyethylene bread bag in North America made with post-consumer recycled (PCR) content, marking a significant milestone in flexible food packaging sustainability.
The new bread bag contains 30% post-consumer recycled polyethylene, using PCR resins derived from FDA-compliant source material and processed through a recycling system that has received a No Objection Letter (NOL)from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This approval ensures the material meets stringent food-contact safety requirements while supporting circular economy objectives.
Rigorous Development and Performance Validation
Incorporating PCR into food-grade flexible packaging presents unique technical challenges, particularly around performance, processability, and consistency. To address this, St. Johns Packaging conducted multiple material and production trials to validate quality, strength, seal integrity, and machinability—ensuring the bags meet the functional demands of high-speed bakery packaging lines.
Beyond performance, the initiative helps create demand for recycled plastics, an essential factor in strengthening recycling infrastructure and giving long-term value to post-consumer plastic waste.
Independent Certification Strengthens Market Credibility
The bread bags are certified by SCS Global Services, which independently verifies the percentage of post-consumer recycled content. This certification enables transparent, credible sustainability claims in the marketplace—an increasingly critical requirement for consumer trust and regulatory alignment.
Supporting Circular Economy Goals for CPGs
St. Johns Packaging has been actively developing circular economy solutions for several years, recognizing recycled-content packaging as a key growth area. With many consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and retailers targeting ambitious 2025 and 2030 sustainability commitments, scalable PCR solutions are becoming essential.
The company expects adoption of recycled materials in food packaging to accelerate as brands move from commitments to execution, and it remains focused on delivering economically viable, high-performance sustainable packaging solutions that balance environmental impact with operational realities.