Last night, BioPak was awarded the prestigious Woolworths Sustainability Supplier of the Year in recognition of our ongoing efforts to reduce packaging and we couldn't be more excited.
“It is an honour to be acknowledged by Woolworths as a business showcasing excellence in sustainability. Their commitment to engaging us to innovate sustainable solutions was the catalyst to making real change! Woolworths leads an industry waiting for change to “just happen”, they took on the responsibility to force a change in habits that have a real environmental impact`` said Gary Smith, CEO BioPak.
As the world is grappling with a recycling crisis and climate emergency, the spotlight is on leading brands, like Woolworths, to reduce the waste associated with doing business.
While on-premise waste management practices limit waste to landfill from the supermarkets, the environmental impact of packaging that ends up in consumer’s homes must be considered and managed.
The Solution
BioPak carbon-neutral, plant-based packaging is designed to reduce negative environmental harm and increase positive community impact.
We designed Woolworths award-winning Bakery Trays with sugarcane fibre (bagasse), a by-product of the sugar refining industry that is certified home compostable to Australian Standards (AS5810) and deemed recyclable by PREP.
BioPak has also supplied Woolworth’s Countdown stores in New Zealand a complete range of sustainable picnic-ware including paper cups, clear cups, Cutlery, Napkins, paper straws and plates.
Together, BioPak and Woolworths are also driving innovation across their fresh produce ranges to reduce the amount of regular plastic used in packaging – we supply sugarcane pulp trays to a number of Woolworth's fresh fruit and vegetable farmers and packers.
Our packaging is sustainably sourced and ethically manufactured in production facilities certified to ISO14001 environmental standards; this ensures the production facilities implement processes and procedures to protect the local environment in which they operate.
The Result
Switching from single-use packaging made with plastics derived from finite fossil resources to more sustainable plant-based packaging makes a big difference:
Bakery Trays
Using BioPak compostable Bakery Trays this year has enabled Woolworths to:
- Offset 3,213 tonnes of carbon emissions — which is equivalent to driving a new car around the world 302 times
Avoid 1,209 tonnes of plastic being made and the 1,184,835 litres of crude oil used to make it
Woolworths has also offered an opportunity for their customers to divert the trays from landfill and create compost instead. If all trays were composted they would:
- Create 846 tonnes of compost (that's 58,032 bags of compost)
Fresh Produce Trays
Woolworths has made a big difference by choosing produce partners that will supply fresh fruit and vegetables, switching to compostable BioPak sugarcane pulp trays this year, The impact has been:
- Reduced carbon emission by 60 tonnes
- Avoided the use of 167 tonnes of fossil-fuel-based plastic
- Offered home composting as an end-of-life recycling solution
Countdown New Zealand Picnic Ware
In New Zealand, Countdown has converted Millions of compostable picnic ware products from fossil-fuel-based plastics over the past year and thereby offset 391 tonnes of carbon.
Positive Impact
Through our ‘Give Back’ program, 7.5% of profits are donated to environmental restoration initiatives with Rainforest Rescue (Australia) and Forest & Bird (New Zealand), and community programs in conjunction with our charity partners. This year we expect to plant at least 50 seedlings on Woolworth’s behalf. By choosing BioPak you and your customers are reforesting and protecting 450 square metres of rainforest.
