Starbucks, ConAgra Foods progressing in sustainability initiatives, with Starbucks planning to make all its cups reusable or recyclable by 2015 and reduce coffee packaging; ConAgra Foods uses PLA, rejected rPET, executives say

Graziela Medina Shepnick

LOS ANGELES , May 10, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) –

ConAgra Foods Inc. and Starbucks Corp. have made headway in their sustainability efforts in recent years but continue to strive for even greater progress in the years ahead, according to executives from the two companies, reported PlasticsToday.com on May 10.

Starbucks has set a goal to have 100% of its cups reusable or recyclable by 2015, said Brant Denniston, Starbucks VP of global procurement, during a presentation at the TAPPI Place Conference, held May 6-9 in Seattle, Washington.

The Seattle-based coffee shop chain is also looking into reducing packaging for some of its products, including its whole bean and ground coffees, PlasticsToday.com reported.

The focus is on “leveraging packaging technology to improve freshness and product shelf life,” said Denniston, adding that Starbucks is not satisfied with the current coffee packaging because “it doesn’t set itself apart from the competition in terms of shopability.”

Denniston hinted that in the coming months Starbucks would be introducing a new product to motivate the consumer to bring in a reusable cup.

ConAgra Foods believes that sustainability initiatives mean “more sustainable economics,” and is striving to make its packaging “as efficient as possible,” said Gail Tavill, the company’s VP of sustainable development, at the same conference, reported PlasticsToday.com.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based food company was the first in North America to use postindustrial recycled polylactic acid (PLA) in shrink film packaging. Currently, ConAgra Foods’ PLA shrink film contains more than 50% postindustrial recycled material and is used on tamper-evident seals for some of its table spreads.

To prevent contamination in bottle-to-bottle recycling systems, ConAgra Foods has “strict restrictions on PLA” to make sure it doesn’t stay with the package, said Tavill, PlasticsToday.com reported.

ConAgra Foods also uses recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in some of its frozen food trays and uses rejected recycled PET (rPET) for some of its microwave dishes, where the clarity is not needed because the dishes are eventually colored, Tavill said.

Tavill acknowledged the challenges with rPET and virgin PET, due to their different chemistries and properties, when blending, extruding and thermoforming trays to meet standards set by the company and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Sustainability is complicated, she said. “You can’t have radar vision. One decision has consequence to others,” reported PlasticsToday.com.

The primary source of this article is PlasticsToday.com, Denver, Colorado, on May 10, 2012.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.