April 2021 marks the 51st anniversary of the beginning of Earth Day. We’re proud to lend our support and voices to the Earth Day cause, but more importantly, we’re also taking action.
It all starts with recycling.
All of our signature containers and lids are made with sustainability in mind. We ensure that each molded unit we make is 100% recyclable and reusable—all 2 billion+ of them. However, regardless of those efforts, we know that we have a global problem regarding plastic waste being discarded into landfills and our natural environment.
So we’ve made significant efforts, partnerships and acquisitions designed to maximize our post-consumer recycling efforts. In fact, we’re a top consumer of post-consumer plastic ourselves. Airlite is a zero resin waste facility, which means that all scrap produced in our manufacturing process is reground and reused to create products for our other divisions like Fox Blocks® and TrueGrid®.
Innovations in reduction.
On top of creating premium containers that stand out on the shelf, we’re also focused on creating containers that keep products on the shelf longer.
We’ve been able to help our customers, and grocery chains reduce their impact by providing full-wrap in-mold labeled (IML) containers with an EVOH oxygen barrier layer. The oxygen barrier helps protect the product from spoiling, being thrown out, and restocked unnecessarily.
Another innovation in the grocery aisle is Airlite’s “Microwaveable Sleeveless Tray” (MST), a breakthrough in the microwaveable ready-to-eat food category. The MST removes the need for the secondary paperboard sleeve and therefore eliminating the waste of tons of raw paper material.
With the premium-branded IML lid of the MST, a consumer can heat mashed potatoes, refrigerate unused portions without tin foil or cellophane, and later reheat the product in the same container. And best of all, the MST can be made using up to 50% post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR). This is a big step towards accomplishing our vision of a circular economy, where all plastic is recycled, and all of our products are created without the need for virgin resin.
Reusability is key.
At Airlite, we create products that have the ability for a second life. The vast majority of our products are durable, dishwasher safe, microwavable, and reusable. So when the product is gone, they’ll have a container that remains easy to repurpose in the kitchen or around the home.
Our focus on creating a circular economy for our products led to the launch of our Again! Cup® which aims to help put a significant dent in the 120 billion disposable, single-use coffee cups American’s use every year. The waste from these cups alone adds up to over 2.2 billion pounds of waste annually. The Again! Cup® is a sustainable, BPA-Free, injection-molded drink cup that is ultra-durable, dishwasher-safe, and infinitely reusable. This cup provides the opportunity for local, regional, and national coffee shops, restaurants, and convenience stores to incentivize and reward the use of these reusable cups. And like the MST and all of our products, it is fully recyclable and can be produced using 50% FDA-approved, post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR).
Learn more on our sustainability practices page.