ISRI has named Sonoco Alloyd as its 2022 Design for Recycling® (DFR) Award winner. Sonoco received the award for its revolutionary Sonoco Alloyd EnviroSense® PaperBlister™ package that offers a recyclable alternative to traditional retail plastic-to-card blister packaging.
Made entirely from renewable resources, the mono-material package is plastic-free, so it is recyclable in the paper stream. While the company’s main bread-and-butter is its plastics packaging, this all-paper packaging gives customers the opportunity to think differently and think sustainably, says Kim Sanderson, marketing specialist at Sonoco Alloyd’s DeKalb facility.
“This packaging is a real turnkey for a lot of our customers,” Sanderson says. “Winning this award means that [the packaging] works. This award means that our packaging is recognized by the recycling industry. It gives me a great sense of pride to win this because of what ISRI stands for and helping our customers meet their goals.”
Sanderson hopes that this packaging will help Sonoco Alloyd’s customers meet many of their goals, which includes cutting out plastics in packaging by 2025. “It’s only 2022 but [our customers] can go to their retailers now and say, ‘Hey, we’ve already taken out the plastic,’” she explains. “This is helping [customers] stay relevant in their respective industries and with their end-customers. All of that makes us excited about moving forward, I know this project will only continue to grow and get better.”
Sonoco Alloyd will be presented with the award March 24, during the ISRI2022 Convention and Exposition in Las Vegas, Nev.
“The Design for Recycling Award® is ISRI’s highest honor and recognizes those who put recycling and sustainability at the forefront of their product design,” says ISRI President Robin Wiener. “We’re happy to honor Sonoco’s EnviroSense™ PaperBlister™ as an exciting innovation that is plastic-free, so it is recyclable in the paper stream. It uses water-based printing and sealing technology. Sonoco truly exemplifies innovation in an elite class of more than a decade of DFR award winners.”
To be eligible for ISRI’s Design for Recycling® Award, a product must be designed/redesigned and manufactured to:
- Contain the maximum amount of materials that are recyclable;
- Be easily recycled through current or newly designed recycling processes and procedures;
- Be cost effective to recycle whereby the cost to recycle does not exceed the value of its recycled materials;
- Be free of hazardous materials that are not recyclable or impede the recycling process;
- Minimize the time and cost involved to recycle the product;
- Reduce the use of raw materials by including recycled materials and/or components; and
- Have a net gain in the overall recyclability of the product while reducing the overall negative impact on the environment.
Previous winners include Lexmark, Nestlé Waters North America, Dell Inc., EcoStrate, Samsung, LG Electronics, Inc., Cascades Fine Papers Group, Hewlett-Packard, The Herman Miller Company, and Wind Simplicity.
Photo courtesy of Sonoco Alloyd.
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