Giving new life to used polystyrene
By Canadian Packaging Staff
SustainabilityCascades partners with NextLife to give polystyrene plastic a second life in meat industry.
Cascades, Inc. of Kingsey Falls, Que. and NextLife of Boca Raton, Fla. have agreed to an exclusive partnership to include recycled polystyrene, or No. 6 Plastic, to give this plastic a second life. Specifically, NextLife transforms recovered polystyrene products into sustainable resin that will be supplied to Cascades who will use it in the production of foam trays designed for meat packaging.
Recovered post-consumer materials are primarily sourced from businesses seeking sustainable solutions and an improvement in their environmental impact.
The sourced material runs through a proprietary process and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in food contact applications.
“NextLife is seeing companies big and small looking for ways to become more sustainable, whether it may be finding ways to recycle and reuse their waste or implementing sustainable recycled resins in their products, Cascades is one such leader and an industry innovator,” says NextLife chief executive officer Ronald Whaley.
Cascades is currently testing this new material and plans to launch a range of expanded polystyrene trays made with post-consumer content by the end of the year.
This initiative aligns with the company’s strategic focus on innovation and increasingly sustainable product offerings.
In support, general manager of Consumer Product Packaging at Cascades Francois Cote states: “Our 2011 Life Cycle Analysis allowed us to better understand the environmental impact of our products and to redirect our efforts accordingly. By leveraging post-consumer materials in the production of our trays, we are able to offer an effective packaging product that is even more environmentally responsible.”
About Cascades:
A member of the Cascades Specialty Products Group, the Consumer Product Packaging sector conceives, manufactures and markets packaging products made of molded pulp and plastic and covers the food, hardware and consumer product industries. Its diversified portfolio also includes site furnishings and construction materials made of 100 per cent recycled plastic.
For more information, visit www.cascades.com.
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