Earthbound Farm gets packaging award
San Juan Bautista, Calif.-based Earthbound Farm won a 2012 Responsible Packaging Award for eliminating the virgin polyvinyl chloride shrinkband on its 5-ounce clamshell.
Earthbound was one of seven companies honored by the Portland, Ore.-based Sustainable Food Trade Association on May 20, communication director Samantha Cabaluna said.
Transitioning to the new self-zip clamshell has eliminated more than 1 million pounds of PVC annually, Cabaluna said.
The material releases chemicals and is not recyclable, she said.
She said Earthbound has all its plastic packing material tested at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo to ensure it’s made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic and is food safe.
Frieda’s cuts waste by giving to food bank
Frieda’s Inc., Los Alamitos, Calif., is working on a number of initiatives to become as green and sustainable as possible.
Communications coordinator Alex Jackson said the specialty produce company is working toward zero waste by donating unused produce to the local food bank.
Also, Frieda’s finance department operates a paperless system for invoicing and new customers. Orders are loaded and shipped via recycled pallets.
The company offers employees staggered work hours and the option of telecommuting to help ease traffic congestion.
Gills Onions adds rechargable fuel cell
On July 11, Oxnard, Calif.-based onion processor Gills Onions is throwing a party for its newest addition, the world’s largest flow battery.
The rechargable fuel cell, built by Prudent Energy in Bethesda, Md., consists of three 200 kilowatt modules. They’re programmed to charge up overnight, when energy rates are at their lowest, and discharge during the day when rates and demand at Gills’ processing facility are at their height, sustainability director Nikki Rodoni said.
The battery, enclosed in its own 4,500-square-foot building, is the next phase of Gills’ energy recovery system, which turns onion waste into biogas.
The liquid part of the onion waste, 75%, is used to create energy, Rodoni said, and the remaining 25% is sold as high-value cattle feed.
Grimmway Farms to add solar capacity
Working toward a greener tomorrow is the goal at Bakersfield, Calif.-based Grimmway Farms, said Bob Borda, vice president of marketing.
In the next year, Borda said, the carrot grower and processor plans to expand the solar footprint in three of its facilities to produce a combined 5.5 million kilowatt hours of energy a year.
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