Fresh Attitude salads now sold in 100 per cent recycled plastic packaging

Fresh Attitude salads now sold in 100% recycled plastic packaging produced by Cascades. Photo Credit: CNW Group/Cascades Inc.

Vegpro International Inc., said to be the largest fresh baby lettuces producer in Canada, has partnered with Canadian packaging supplier Cascades to replace all Fresh Attitude salad containers, traditionally made from virgin plastic, with 100 per cent recycled and recyclable plastic containers.

The containers are manufactured at the Cascades Inopak plant in Drummondville, Que.

In a July 6 statement, the two companies said that the container is expected to offer a smaller environmental footprint that also helps to extend the shelf-life of salads. The containers are said to improve airflow and prolong conservation time by limiting the build up of excess humidity.

“A life cycle analysis of similar Cascades packaging demonstrated that, compared to virgin PET, using 100 per cent recycled PET reduces GHG emissions and the consumption of non-renewable resources required to manufacture packaging,” the statement said.

“Vegpro is proud to keep pace with its consumers’ marked interest in more environmentally friendly, high-performance containers. Since a semi-rigid package is necessary to protect our delicate baby lettuce, our challenge was to find a more ecological material than virgin plastic,” said Gerry Van Winden, Vegpro’s founder and CEO. “We are proud to have met this challenge in collaboration with Cascades, thanks to the company’s expertise in eco-packaging design.”

The production of this new packaging has begun, and the transition will take place gradually, until early 2021, when all Fresh Attitude containers will be made from 100 per cent recycled plastic.

Vegpro products are distributed by the major grocery chains in Quebec, Ontario, the Maritimes, and the eastern U.S.