US food manufacturer ConAgra Foods has introduced a shrink film for its products that contains more than 50% post-industrial recycled material.
The technology is a recycled polylactic acid and will be used for tamper evident seals on ConAgra Foods’ table spreads – Fleischmann’s, Blue Bonnet and Parkay – and for printed shrink labels for multi-packs of the company’s Reddi-Wip whipped topping and Pam cooking spray.
“This conversion to a new shrink material is one of many steps ConAgra Foods is taking in our continued commitment to innovation and sustainable business,” said Gail Tavill, vice president of sustainability at ConAgra Foods. “We’re positively impacting the environment, reducing waste and eliminating the need for more than 400,000 pounds of petroleum-based material by replacing it with a material made from a renewable resource – corn.”
The technology was developed in partnership with Plastic Suppliers, Bluepack and NatureWorks and requires less use of energy at ConAgra’s manufacturing facilities and provides a “higher-quality” finished product due to an improved shrink performance, the company said.
ConAgra said that the company’s conversion to the new material will divert more than 350,000 pounds of non-renewable Polyvinyl Chloride and more than 50,000 pounds of Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol from the company’s raw material stream annually.
Earlier this week, ConAgra appointed ex-Hershey CEO Richard Lenny to its board of directors.
