multifaceted approach to sustainability Berry Global

multifAceteD ApproAcH to sustAinAbility

Berry Global is committed to its mission of ‘Always Advancing to Protect What’s Important,’ and proudly partners with its customers to provide them with valueadded customised protection solutions.

As a leading producer of nonwovens, films, and packaging supplied to more than 19,000 customers across the globe, Berry Global, headquartered in Evansville, Indiana in the United States, is committed to building a more sustainable future.

“We are taking advantage of the benefits of plastics to lightweight products and decrease greenhouse gas emissions while also emphasising recyclability in packaging as well as geosynthetics and the use of recycled and raw material content,” said Nadine Khoury, Marketing Communication Manager EMEIA.

As a producer of nonwovens, we are also committed to innovating in downgauging and the use of more natural sources of raw materials whenever applicable. We are also engaging with our suppliers, customers, industry partners, and the communities in which we operate to ultimately improve the positive sustainability impact of our company and our industry.

RPC Group acquisition

On July 1st of this year, the Company announced the acquisition of RPC, a global manufacturer of plastic packaging and a leader in recycling. The combination of Berry and RPC creates a leading sustainable supplier of engineered products and one of the world’s largest plastic packaging companies, able to support global customers through an expanded wealth of knowledge, product portfolio, innovative technologies, and geographic footprint.

Innovation in Hygiene applications

Innovation is one of the Company’s pillars and growth drivers. For the Hygiene industry, where demand for more natural and biobased materials is high, the Company has launched a portfolio of films and nonwovens that incorporate natural or bio-based materials and reflect innovations in material science and technology. Airten™ Enviro PLA & Airten™ Enviro Cotton/Tricot, are a line of nonwoven solutions that contain materials made from bio-based resources. The company’s line of backsheet films for baby and adult care as well as wrapper films for femcare applications are produced from plant-based sources.

Cost-saving solutions with the environment and end-consumer in mind include Sof-Flex® Ultra, a disruptive downgauging technology with up to 25% total material reduction at a lower costin-use, suitable for backsheet films and laminates, representing a new generation of lighter basis-weight films and laminates for hygiene applications.

Still, Berry’s efforts to minimise its environmental footprint have a wider reach - the Company is a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. “This Alliance is different from other organisations in that it spans the value chain. Brand owners, plastic resin producers, chemical companies, converters like ourselves, as well as waste management companies and recyclers, all aligned towards a common goal of how we ultimately end plastic waste,” said Tom Salmon, Chairman and CEO of Berry Global.

Impact 2025

In April, Berry announced its sustainability strategy through a Company initiative named Impact 2025. The new strategy approaches sustainability through three key areas: products, performance and partners.

“Sustainability is multifaceted and such is our strategy. Ultimately, we’re focused on making a positive impact through our products, performance and partners, and in order to succeed, we must consider all three prongs of the strategy,” said Salmon.

In terms of product, the Company will focus on optimising design to achieve lightweight as well as using bio-sourced raw materials. Berry has also committed to making all its plastic packaging reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025.

On the sourcing side, Berry wants to increase recycled content of packaging and encourage the development of renewable materials, working with partners to end plastic waste and limit global warming. For performance, the Company seeks to minimise negative operational impact, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2025.

“We see a tremendous demand for sustainability, especially in the plastics and packaging industries,” added Salmon. “We wanted to launch this strategy to provide a concise message to the market as well as to our people about our priorities and the steps we are taking to drive sustainability.” n