Recently announced government regulations intended to eliminate the import and sale of certain single-use plastics has motivated more and more companies to explore sustainable packaging alternatives. This trend is also being driven by growing consumer demand for more environmentally friendly options. R3 Redistribution’s sustainability program is designed to help educate our customers on reducing their environmental footprint, including greenhouse gas emissions and risks to human and environmental health.
Use our R3 Sustainability Playbook to help you evaluate existing packaging materials, explore more environmentally preferable alternatives and determine the best product/purpose fit to maximize performance and minimize environmental impact so you can help your customers find the right food packaging that fits their needs.
Here’s a look at what you’ll find in the Playbook:
Federally Banned Single-Use Plastics
Recently enacted federally-legislated single-use plastic product category bans have marked an end to certain product types commonly used within the foodservice industry, including cutlery, straws, stir sticks, check-out bags, six pack rings and some problematic foodservice containers.
In response to these bans, manufacturers have halted production of foodservice plastics identified in the bans, which could significantly impact access to some products. Avoid being left short-stocked and use our Sustainability Playbook to help select more sustainable packaging substrates.
Understanding Plastic Packaging
Decode plastic packaging by learning how to use resin codes to identify different plastic types and how to recycle them, as well as helpful examples of common plastic products.
Sustainable Materials 101
There’s no shortage of alternatives to help reduce the use of plastic. The trick is to understand what the alternatives are, when they represent a greener product choice – and when they may not. What’s trickier is that the terms that describe these alternatives are often used interchangeably, when they have very different meanings.
We break down some of the most common: recyclable, reusable, oxo-biodegradable, compostable and biodegradable in an easy-to-ready chart to help sort through it.