Sonoco to increase amount of paper it recycles

Sonoco, a diversified global packaging company based in Hartsville, South Carolina, has released its 2018-19 Corporate Responsibility Report. The report highlights the company’s efforts to achieve greater packaging sustainability and recycling and included an update on the ongoing efforts to improve environmental, governance and social measures. 

The report highlighted several key environmental milestones accomplished over the past year, including reducing normalized greenhouse gas emissions by 3.2 percent and water usage by 1.7 percent. Since 2009, the company reports that it has reduced normalized greenhouse gas emissions by 27 percent and water use by 40.3 percent. 

According to a news release from Sonoco, the company’s commitments for sustainable and increased recyclability of packaging by 2025 include:

• increasing the equivalent by weight the amount it recycles or causes to be recycled from 65 percent to 85 percent, relative to the volume of packaging it places into the global marketplace; 

• increasing the use of postconsumer recycled resins in its plastic packaging from 19 percent to 25 percent; and

• ensuring that approximately 75 percent of its rigid plastic packaging can carry the relevant on-package recyclable claim.

Sonoco collects nearly 3 million tons of materials, much of which it uses as raw materials to make new sustainable packaging. The company uses recovered fiber to produce more than 2 million tons of annually uncoated recycled paperboard, much of which is converted into industrial consumer packaging, Sonoco reports in a news release. In 2018, the company used 26 percent recycled content in its plastics supply chain of which 23 percent was postconsumer material. Additionally, one in five polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles recycled in California are used by Sonoco to manufacturer packaging for fresh produce. 

Also, as part of its 2025 commitments, Sonoco has implemented Operation Clean Sweep (OCS), an international campaign dedicated to eliminating resin loss within the supply chain. Sonoco’s OCS campaign is in place in all 25 of its plastic packaging facilities and is focused on implementing good housekeeping and pellet, flake and powder resin containment practices working toward achieving zero losses, further protecting the environment and producing savings by reducing resource losses, the company reports in a news release announcing its 2018-19 Corporate Responsibility Report.

Sonoco’s Corporate Responsibility Report is currently available on the company’s website.