Pom Wonderful switching to 100% recycled bottles
Los Angeles–based Pom Wonderful is transitioning to 100% recycled plastic bottles and shifting more than 90% of its electricity needs to renewable energy.
Starting in May 2022, all 16-ounce bottles of Pom Wonderful juices will be bottled in 100% recycled plastic, according to a news release. The company’s overall strategy is to reduce single-use plastic and transition more than 11 million bottles to 100% recycled plastic annually as the brand approaches its 20th anniversary this fall.
As part of the company’s ongoing sustainability journey, the company completed work on a solar farm at its processing plant in Del Rey, Calif. This project, which will be operational in June 2022, is expected to deliver more than 90% of the company’s electricity needs by 2023.
These initiatives are part of the company’s larger sustainability roadmap to reduce its carbon footprint and build a more sustainable future through responsible farming, said the release.
“As an agricultural company at heart, we know that sustainability is critical to our future. That’s why it’s important that we make environmental sustainability a core principle of our work, and conserve natural resources to minimize our company’s impact on the environment,” Derrick Miller, president at the company, said. “As we celebrate the transition to recycled plastic and renewable energy, we continue to look for new ways to minimize our impact, serve as community stewards and enhance sustainability across every part of our business.”
In 2020, the company launched an innovation challenge, offering $1 million in funding and development resources to innovators, said the release. It was looking for someone who could develop an economical and environmentally friendly, pilot-ready solution for the 50,000 tons of pomegranate husks generated each year by the company.
In 2021, two winners were announced: BCD Bioscience and Enagon. As a direct result of this funding, BCD Bioscience is discovering ways to harness new value from pomegranate husks, and Enagon is working on upcycling the husks to transform them into new and nutritious ingredients, the release said.
To date, The Wonderful Company has invested more than $1.3 billion in environmental sustainability initiatives to help fight climate change. This commitment includes the unprecedented $750 million gift from the Resnicks, company owners, to Caltech in support of the school’s environmental sustainability research.
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