Meal kits get insulated, curbside-recyclable box liner

San Francisco-based healthy meal kit delivery service Sun Basket switches to a 100% recyclable box liner that is also 1-in. thinner than its previous material and reduces box size by 25%.

Sun Basket wanted new insulation materials for its boxes while retaining its commitment to 100%-recyclable packaging.
Sun Basket wanted new insulation materials for its boxes while retaining its commitment to 100%-recyclable packaging.

Healthy, national meal kit delivery service Sun Basket of San Francisco has begun using sustainable box liners from Sealed Air. Known for its commitment to using organic produce and sustainable ingredients as well as recyclable packaging, Sun Basket also wanted new insulation materials for its shipping boxes while retaining its commitment to 100%-recyclable packaging. Sun Basket chose Sealed Air’s TempGuard™ solution, a curbside-recyclable box liner, to insulate its perishable products.

TempGuard thermal insulation is made from recycled paper tested to ISTA 20 certification standards to ensure contents maintain proper temperatures for one- and two-day ground shipping. The padded material also cushions items during handling and transit.

The flexible TempGuard liner is 1-in. thinner than the material Sun Basket used previously and allowed the company to switch to a shipping box that is nearly 25% smaller than its original box, greatly reducing its carbon footprint.

“At Sun Basket, sustainability is one of our core values, and one of the ways we approach that is by ensuring that all of our packaging is recyclable or compostable. We proactively work with suppliers as products are being developed,” says Michael Golub, Head of Strategic Initiatives for Sun Basket. “We learned about Sealed Air’s 100 percent-recyclable paper insulation before it came to market, and because of that we are now the first in the meal kit business to use it.We are excited about this insulation because, among other things, it made the recycling process even easier for our customers while at the same time reducing the size of our box, for both a sustainability and customer experience win.”

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