As You Sow singles out Capri Sun packaging as nonrecyclable

A Kraft Foods Group shareholder resolution regarding a form of difficult-to-recycle packaging received 29 percent support at the food company’s annual meeting in early May.

The nonprofit group As You Sow, Oakland, California, sponsored the resolution and expressed optimism that the resulting attention may push Kraft toward considering a new form of packaging for its Capri Sun juice line.

“It’s a tremendous waste to be using nonrecyclable packaging when recyclable alternatives are readily available,” says Conrad MacKerron, As You Sow senior vice president, regarding the Capri Sun pouch.

As You Sow says the company’s Capri Sun package is made from a foil and plastic laminate that cannot be recycled into new pouches and is rarely collected for postconsumer recovery. The amount of waste generated annually by U.S. sales of Capri Sun juice pouches “would circle the globe nearly five times” the group says.

“Shareholders are concerned that the company is using packaging essentially designed to be dumped in a landfill,” MacKerron says. He suggests Capri Sun could be dispensed in recyclable PET plastic or glass bottles, paper cartons or aluminum cans. MacKerron says Honest Kids juice drinks, which compete with Capri Sun in some regions, recently announced that because of environmental concerns posed by plastic pouches it is switching to more recyclable aseptic cartons.

The shareholder proposal asked the company to assess the environmental and operational risks associated with continuing to use nonrecyclable packaging and to develop a timeline for phasing it out.

Last year, As You Sow says, following a 25 percent vote on the same proposal at Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods company agreed to make 90 percent of its packaging recyclable by 2020. “If P&G can do it, why not Kraft? We hope the company will recognize the risk to its brand posed by throwaway packaging and act to develop recyclable alternatives,” MacKerron says.