Company Wins Global Award for Packaging Innovation
Makes Compostable and Recyclable Packages from Plant Fibers
Be Green Packaging, a sustainable packaging company based in Santa Barbara, received the highest honor at DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers 23rd Annual Awards for Packaging Innovation.
The 5-year-old company — which manufactures compostable and recyclable packaging from plant fibers — received the award with Proctor & Gamble for their collaboration on the design of Gillette’s Fusion ProGlide razor packing trays, currently available in Europe. The new packaging trays are composed of plant-based fibers and have reduced costs and weight while still retaining Gillette’s aesthetic style.
“The Gillette Fusion ProGlide packaging captures the spirit of innovation to resolve complex global challenges,” said Shanna Moore, global director of sustainable packaging at DuPont, in a June 13 statement.
Be Green Packaging beat out industry giants such as Coca-Cola, Intel, and Heinz for the award. It currently supplies food packaging to Whole Foods Market, South Coast Deli, and Lazy Acres.
“Be Green are leaders in the green packaging industry,” Mike Marcinowski of Proctor & Gamble said. “There has been a big push within the packaging industry to reduce the environmental impacts of our products. We chose Be Green to manufacture the Gillette Fusion ProGlide tray because they had the plant-fiber technology we needed with a host of eco-certifications to back it up.”
Diamond Award recipients Be Green Packaging and Ecovative Design were chosen from over 200 applicants. Entries were reviewed on their level of innovation as well as their commitment to sustainability, involving use of new materials or processing technologies, and waste reduction.
According to a June 13 press release, the company’s technology enables the creation of consumer, industrial, and food grade packaging by molding wild-harvested and annually renewable plants to match any specification. The company maintains an emphasis on transparency by holding eco-certifications from organizations like Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and the Biodegradable Products Institute.
“This award proves that it is possible to bring sustainable green solutions to the marketplace at lower costs than traditional packaging while significantly lowering a company’s packaging footprint,” Be Green Packaging CEO Ron Blitzer said.
