Emerald Packaging, a Union City, Calif.-based plastic produce packaging company, recently partnered with Salinas, Calif.-based D’Arrigo California to produce a 30% post-consumer recycled resin bag for D’Arrigo’s Andy Boy romaine hearts.
Emerald Packaging CEO Kevin Kelly says this move is important, as those in the produce packaging industry grapple with what to do with all the amount of plastics generated globally.
“Consumers say they want more sustainable packaging,” he said. “They want somebody to figure out what to do about plastics.”
Kelly and Gabriella D’Arrigo, vice president of marketing and communications for D’Arrigo New York, will be a part of the “Innovation and the Conscious Consumer” panel at the Global Organic Produce Expo on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 1:25 p.m. Kelly and D’Arrigo will join a panel to talk about the intersection of sustainable packaging, consumer demand and innovation.
“I think my message is going to be the only thing in the way of sustainable packaging is ourselves,” Kelly said.
Sustainable fit
Kelly says approaching D’Arrigo was a natural fit as the company has a strong focus on sustainability. Similarly, D’Arrigo says Kelly always keeps sustainability at the forefront of its packaging.
“That’s a reason why we work with them as well because they’ve always been the top of trying to be innovative with the way that they get us the packaging and create it and who they work with to try and make our efforts of innovation and sustainability come to life with our packaging,” said Morgan Tinari, marketing and brand manager for D’Arrigo
D’Arrigo California says it cut the amount of plastic used in romaine packaging by 25% and eliminated a zipper on the packaging which cut plastic use by another 5%. Tinari said the elimination of the zipper reduced D’Arrigo’s plastic use by 215,000 pounds in one year.
The company currently runs 12 sites for solar power and plans to bring 25 more online, Tinari said.
“I walked into a meeting with John D’Arrigo, the CEO, and said, ‘We’ve got this packaging we think you could use it. It’s a great story. It adds to your sustainability story,’“ Kelly said. “Without hesitation, he said, ‘Yes, that’s awesome. Let’s get going.’”
Kelly said he worked with the D’Arrigo team to run a million and a half packages to trial the new 30% PCR packaging.
“The incorporation of post-consumer recycled materials in our packaging exemplifies our unwavering commitment to sustainability,” said John D’Arrigo, the president and CEO of D’Arrigo California.
Kelly says while the 30% PCR packaging does cost more to produce, he’s absorbed the cost instead of passing it on to D’Arrigo because he believes so strongly in what he’s doing.
“We’ve been banging the drum about PCR and sustainable materials for and recycling improvements for 20 years,” Kelly said.. “And as PCR became available, we found resistance in the market still because it is an added cost. It adds about 2% to 3% to the cost of the material. We just need to start doing things that are going to be better for the environment. And if we have to bear the cost, we bear the cost.”
Revolutionary packaging
Kelly says his company’s 30% PCA is the first sustainable packaging for leafy greens and likely the whole produce industry. So, while consumers want more sustainable packaging, a key challenge is using PCR plastics creates a haze, which makes using the material for leafy greens or other visual products — like produce — a nonstarter.
Emerald Packaging worked with Circulus Holdings, a Houston-based company producing PCR from mechanically recycled low-density polyethylene, to create this blend. Unlike some PCR materials, the material from Circulus is clear.
“This stuff just looks like normal D’Arrigo field pack, three-heart romaine packaging,” Kelly said.. “Suddenly, now, lots of other folks in Salinas are expressing interest in using this material.”
Kelly said he hopes to run 10 million pounds of material by 2025, and he also hopes with Cumulus’ technology to offer packaging with 50% PCR someday soon.
“It’s just a matter of really the production process itself,” he said. “Being able to try and figure out the settings on a film on a production line that makes this plastic so that it doesn’t blow holes in the material or make excessively weak plastic. So there’s still some development work to do there.”
