Zero Waste

When one thinks of the agricultural industry, plastic waste is not the first thing that comes to mind. But the reality is that plastics play key roles in the farming and greenhouse business, leaving behind much waste every year. As an example, just in the United States, the agricultural plastics…

Taste meets zero-waste efforts with Harmless Harvest’s delicious whole-coconut yogurts and drinks.

Council passed a motion delaying the previously approved ban until Jan. 1, 2022, instead of the original Jan. 1, 2021. 

The Rose City is one of three locales where Burger King will test out zero-waste packaging.

On the first day of the NABC/USHBC Virtual Conference and Expo, John Keeley of Highland Packaging, Rick Tomlinson of the California Strawberry Commission and Janis McIntosh of Naturipe Farms discussed the history and future of recycling in the produce industry. One of the main focuses of this session was…

English cucumbers that have been treated by Apeel Science’s shelf life technology to replace plastic wrap, are now available at Walmart stores.

The cucumbers, grown and marketed by greenhouse growers Houweling’s Group, are able to maintain freshness, firmness and color without the tradition single-use plastic wrap on English cucumbers, according to a news release.

Walmart is among the first retailers to pilot the plastic-free cucumbers. Other retailers carry the product; the company “is not at liberty” to name retailers at this time, according to a spokeswoman.

“From the first time we reviewed the potential of plastic-free cucumbers, we saw the opportunity and the challenge of bringing avante garde technology to market,” Kevin Doran, Houweling’s Group president and CEO, said in the release. “From a high level, the opportunity to lead a disruption in this category and improve our decorated sustainability profile put us on course to where we are today.”

For every 100,000 cases of the Apeel cucumbers sold, it eliminates the equivalent of 164,000 plastic water bottles, according to the release. Houweling's will be cutting more than 60,000 pounds from its supply chain every year through the process.

Nature Fresh Farms continue their sustainable initiatives by releasing a new, 100% home compostable wrap for their Long English Cucumbers, a first in the North American market. An alternative to traditional polyethylene plastic, this film is an environmentally friendly compostable wrap that breaks down…

California Giant Berry Farms’ corporate headquarters has been awarded Gold under Total Resource Use and Efficiency (TRUE) Zero Waste certification program.

The Gold certification recognizes California Giant’s achievement of diverting 91.24 percent of its office waste away from landfills and other waste outlets over the past twelve months.

Administered by Green Business Certification Inc., TRUE validates businesses’ efforts to define, pursue and achieve their zero waste goals, which in turn, reduces their carbon footprint and supports public health.

With TRUE’s holistic approach and step-by-step guidance from Measure to Improve LLC, California Giant committed to implement permanent process improvements to reduce their use of materials, encourage reuse and recycling and foster a zero waste culture throughout the organization.

“I am absolutely thrilled that California Giant has achieved this Zero Waste Certification. Especially during these unprecedented times, it is an outstanding display of dedication from our California Giant Family,” said Eric Valenzuela, director of food safety and sustainability. “Over the past year we documented, trained and literally climbed into dumpsters to reach the target diversion rate. Under the stellar guidance of Measure to Improve, the staff worked really hard to achieve this goal as part of our overall arch of sustainability.”