Sustainability

“More than ever before, our customers are shipping directly to consumers. They need options that will protect their goods, while allowing them to operate more efficiently and sustainably. The addition of this mailer into our fiber portfolio does all of that,” said Sergio Pupkin, SEE’s Chief Growth & Strategy Officer. 

This product joins SEE’s other paper mailer offerings, including SEALED AIR® brand return-ready mailers, SEALED AIR® brand padded mailers and SEALED AIR® brand rigid mailers.

California will add wine and liquor bottles to its recycling rebate program under a law taking effect in July 2024.

“California’s bottle bill recycling program has needed fixing for 40 years,” Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins said Wednesday. “When you consider that California generates more than 1 billion wine and liquor bottles every year, that shows what major progress this legislation is and what an impact it will have.”

The plastic Non-Refillable Fitment (NRF) is commonplace throughout the spirits industry and is currently found in the neck of a number of the company’s iconic drink brands, including Bacardi rum, Martini Fiero, Bombay Sapphire gin and Dewar’s White Label blended Scotch whisky.

The removal has already begun, and by early next year, all 1.75 liter bottles of Bacardi rum – including Superior, Gold and Coconut – in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico will no longer contain the plastic pourer, cutting 76 tons of plastic annually.

To overcome any recycling confusion, the leading retailer will also be clearly labelling information on the correct way to compost tea bags in a food waste caddy across its newly designed packets of tea.

The new labelling will state: “We now make our tea bags out of plant-based material. Once used put your tea bag into your food waste bin. Our tea bags biodegrade into compost.”

This comes as a YouGov survey commissioned by Tesco found that shoppers are split on what to do with their used tea bags, with millions disposed of incorrectly.

The supermarket is working with sustainability organisation Keep Sea Blue to collect and recycle the plastic waste, which will include litter such as drinks bottles which are at risk of getting into the sea.

Some 80% of plastic in the ocean originates on land. Tesco’s move into new packaging is expected to remove around 500 metric tonnes of plastic from the environment each year, reducing the amount of ‘virgin plastic’ required in the packaging.

Agri-supply chain startup WayCool Foods has signed a three year MoU with Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, to develop antimicrobial food packaging material by using biopolymers, the company said on Wednesday.

The objective was to develop an economically viable and biodegradable packaging that would retain the freshness of fruits and vegetable longs, leading to a reduction in food wastage across the supply chain by 20 per cent, the city-based company said in a statement.

The 60-page tool is the result of the concerted efforts of 14 Montreal businesses, which have joined forces to form the Mon Commerce Zéro déchet community.

Starting in the fall of 2021 and continuing for a year, the members of the group explored and shared various initiatives aimed at reducing the number of residual materials, all with the support of several experts.

The company said all its Duchy tea bags are now accredited with a TUV OK compost HOME certification meaning the tea bags can be placed directly into a home compost bin or heap. 

Tea bags are commonly disposed of in compost or food waste bins, but a lot of tea bags on the market contain plastics that do not break down.

Consequently, a number of leading retailers and tea brands have been racing to develop plant-based and compostable tea bags that do not result in plastic waste and can be disposed of with other types of food or garden waste.