Sonoco Seeks Zero Landfill Status for All Manufacturing Facilities

Sonoco, based in Hartsville, S.C., has announced plans to have all of its manufacturing facilities achieve landfill-free status. To accomplish this goal, Harris DeLoach Jr., chairman and CEO of Sonoco, says the company has implemented a number of employee-driven programs at five of its manufacturing plants in the company’s Packaging Services, Consumer Packaging and Tubes and Cores operations that are focused on reducing waste streams to less than 1 percent (on a waste-to-landfill ratio) by the end of 2011. In addition, the company has established a goal to have 10 percent of its global manufacturing operations achieve landfill-free status by 2015.

“As one of the largest packaging recyclers in North America, we have established programs through our Sonoco Sustainability Solutions LLC (S3) service that are eliminating landfill wastes at our customers’ manufacturing plants and have moved 10 plants to landfill-free status,” DeLoach says. “While we have always worked to reduce landfill wastes from our own plants, we are now focused on taking the next step in moving our operations to landfill-free status where possible.”

Sonoco’s Winston-Salem, N.C., corrugated point-of-purchase display manufacturing facility is its first plant to achieve landfill-free status, according to David Holcomb, director of manufacturing, Sonoco-Corrflex.

Starting in 2008, the plant’s employees formed a “Green Team” that was initially focused on reducing the plant’s landfill wastes by 50 percent over 18 months. During that time, they reduced wastes by 65 percent and currently are achieving a less than 1 percent waste-to-landfill ratio. Due to these efforts, the Winston-Salem plant was honored with a 2010 North Carolina Triad Green Award for its waste reduction improvement.

Sonoco-Corrflex has set up recycling programs in two other fulfillment/promotional pack sites and has identified other operations in which it will work to move to landfill-free status in the near future. In addition, Sonoco has programs in place at its Hartsville tube and cores converting plant and its West Chicago, Ill., composite can plant to achieve landfill-free status by end of 2011.