Live at PRS Day Two: Danone, Duracell, and Once Upon a Farm on Smarter Packaging Strategies

"Whenever you do a refresh, you want to make sure you're doing it very thoughtfully, and meeting the consumer where they are. This way, we're also bringing all the stakeholders to the table to make sure we're making changes that are truly scalable across the industry."

Partnering up for circularity

Achieving circularity can be a daunting task for emerging brands, but they can get by with a little help from a friend.

Madeline Tien, sustainability specialist at Once Upon a Farm (left), and Ryan Smith, CEO at Recyclops (right)Packaging WorldThat’s according to Madeline Tien, sustainability specialist at Once Upon a Farm, a childhood nutrition company now in over 20,000 retail stores nationwide and online. She shared at the Summit about her company’s partnership with Recyclops alongside Ryan Smith, the recycling innovator’s CEO.

Since beginning a packaging mail-back program with Recyclops in May 2023, Once Upon a Farm has welcomed over 1,600 participants and collected over 120,000 pouches just last year.

Tien explained that the challenges CPGs may face in moving toward recyclability are no reason to give up.

“We are an emerging brand with limited leverage in the supply chain and a very small sustainability team," said Tien. "All this really limits the influence that we can have in the industry alone. But we don’t let complexity equal complacency, which is why we partnered with Recyclops, to be able to offer our program as we continue to explore other ways to improve our impact.”

Duracell's comprehensive approach to a paper packaging switch

Brandon Barr, VP/GM of front-end innovation, DuracellPackaging WorldDuracell first introduced its thermoform plastic packaging for batteries in 1963. When the company decided it was time for a sustainable change, it had to take a comprehensive approach to satisfy the needs consumers, retailers, and its own operations, said Brandon Barr, VP/GM of front-end innovation at Duracell, Thursday at the Summit.

The resulting paper-based blister packaging is not only curbside recyclable but also solves a customer complaint about difficult-to-open plastic blisters, adds a reclosable function, fits twice the packages in the same space, and uses 45% less package material by volume.

“We wanted to change our packaging, but this is not a packaging project," Barr said. "This is a category reinvention project, of which a sustainable package is mission-critical to enabling it. It was a mindset shift to something bigger and broader, where packaging was a key piece.” 

Engaging with MRFs for recyclability insights

Jim Marcinko of WM (L), Justin Davis of AMP (CL), Joaquin Mariel of Balcones Recycling (CR), and Jeff Snyder of Rumpke (R).Packaging WorldAI advancements at material recovery facilities (MRFs) can reveal significant information on the types of packaging coming down the conveyor, and even what material was lost at the end of the process. All this information is great for CPGs, but only if they engage with the MRF to get it, according to Jeff Snyder, senior vice president of recycling and sustainability at Rumpke.

Snyder explained how MRF innovation can impact CPGs’ packaging recyclability along with Jim Marcinko of WM, Joaquin Mariel of Balcones Recycling, and Justin Davis of AMP at the Summit. He shared about past collaboration with CPGs like Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo, and the opportunities those connections provided for improving circularity.

“If the packaging companies don’t understand what happens to their package when it shows up in one of our facilities, then it’s very difficult for them to go back and make changes to make something more recyclable," Snyder said. "From my perspective, as many times as I can get a packaging company into one of our facilities and help them understand how it flows through our MRF, I’m all in.”

Don't miss the next sessions at the Packaging Recycling Summit's final day Friday. Register to livestream the event for free.