Svenska Retursystem, a Swedish packaging company, recently won the Reusable Packaging Association’s prestigious Excellence in Reusable Packaging Award.
The company, which was recognized in the category of companies with revenues of more than $25 million, led a program to establish a common pooling system for more than 20 food producers in the Skandanavian nation and food manufacturers throughout Europe that export their goods to Sweden.
Thanks to Svenska Retursystem’s efforts, every product for every grocery chain is delivered in the same standardized size and type of returnable crate and pallet. Since the program was launched in 2001, nearly 1 billion crates have been delivered, replacing the same number of single-use packaging. By offering the entire industry the same terms and cost of packaging, the program has neutralized packaging as a competitive factor and freed up the food producers to focus more on their core business, according to a RPA news release.
In the category of businesses with revenues below $25 billion, Full Belly Farm — an organic farm in Guinda, California — was recognized for replacing 8,330 cardboard boxes with 2,000 reusable plastic totes with attached lids in July 2013. The plastic totes are filled with produce for weekly deliveries to families then picked up and returned to the farm for reuse the following week.
The delivery sites include Full Belly Farm’s 44 residential produce pick-up sites and three local farmers’ markets.