(Credit: DS Smith)Mountaire Farms is using a corrugated shipping container made from DS Smith's Greencoat material: a wax-free, 100% recyclable coated, and food contact safe alternative to wax-coated boxes. This has saved 205,254 tons of greenhouse gasses from being emitted and sets the brand up to achieve the conservation of more than 2 million tons of greenhouse gases in the next 10 years with the same rate of replacement.
In 2021, Mountaire used the recyclable DS Smith Greencoat box to replace nearly 87,766 tons of wax-coated containers that would have otherwise gone to landfills.
The sustainable wax alternative coating provides a safe and leak-proof shipping method for the poultry, produce, and seafood industries in the US and worldwide, DS Smith says. The fully recyclable material is being used as part of a $140 M R+D investment made by DS Smith.
The global sustainable packaging market will increase at a rate of 5.9% per year through 2027, reaching $351.4 billion, up from $263.8 billion today, according to a new report from Research and Markets. Factors driving the market's growth include the increasing awareness among consumers toward environmental issues caused by packaging, stringent government regulations, demand from the food and beverage industry, consumer preference, and eco-friendly material initiatives.
Last year, DS Smith invested more than $8.8 million to expand its anaerobic treatment facility to create biogas at its Rouen paper mill in northern France, which will allow the site to generate green energy from 100% of its wastewater. It is also looking to use seaweed across its packaging network as an alternative fiber source to wood. After initial testing, the company is also researching seaweed’s potential role as a barrier coating, replacing problem plastics and petroleum-based packaging used to protect many foodstuffs.
