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Flax4Life Up to the Challenge of Switching from PE to Plant-Based PLA Material

For this popular brand of baked products sold in retail, commitment to sustainability and the championing of industrial composting outweighed any early material obstacles.

The company chose to keep the overall dimensions and shapes the same, but modernized the look by smoothing out edges and optimizing the viewing of the product within the package.
The company chose to keep the overall dimensions and shapes the same, but modernized the look by smoothing out edges and optimizing the viewing of the product within the package.

Flax4Life, a producer of certified gluten-free and allergy-friendly baked products, converted its retail muffin and brownie tray material from industry-standard PE to a new Industrial Compostable, plant-based PLA material based on renewable sugar cane. The company says this move will keep thousands of pounds of petroleum plastics from our environment each year. Plus, the process of producing these trays results in a significantly lower CO2 emission rate compared the production of PE plastics. And the only difference to the consumer is the enhanced sustainability profile where industrial composting is available.

“Our main objective is purely starting the conversation and providing resources to educate. Not every municipality has the capabilities now, but we believe by creating a demand we are increasing the chances,” says Sarah Bishop, Flax4Life Marketing Coordinator. “In the places where an industrial facility is not available, and our packaging ends up in the landfills, we are not introducing the harmful chemicals of petroleum plastics. From our research, we are creating less impactful waste on the environment.”

The material switch was not without its challenges. There was a litany of initial concerns that the package design and material ultimately overcame in the interest of sustainability.

For instance, the PLA trays required a custom mold for the air-pressed forming process to maintain relative consistency with the established product line’s existing packaging dimensions. The company chose to keep the overall dimensions and shapes the same, but modernized the look by smoothing out edges and optimizing the viewing of the product within the package.

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