Sustainable Packaging by SOLUT!

As a supplier to Wal-Mart and/or Sam's Club, can SOLUT! improve my Retail Link Packaging Scorecard?

YES! The Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard is a unique and innovative system for sustainable packaging. It was developed by Wal-Mart to measure and compare the sustainability of every supplier's total packaging system for all products sold to Wal-Mart and Sam's Club within a defined product category. As of February 2008, all direct suppliers to Wal-Mart and Sam's Club are required to complete a sustainable packaging scorecard within the Wal-Mart Retail Link system. The Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard is a tool used by Wal-Mart buyers to influence purchasing decisions based on the comparative packaging sustainability of products within a given category.

The Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard evaluates and compares each package within a given product category in the following seven areas:

1. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
2. Sustainable Material
3. Average Distance to Transport Materials
4. Package to Product Ratio
5. Cube Utilization
6. Recycled Content
7. Recovery Value

SOLUT! sustainable packaging options provide unique benefits in each of these areas when compared to traditional food packaging materials such as CPET plastic, aluminum foil, and traditional paperboard trays. The benefits of SOLUT! paper tray technology will significantly improve your Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard results. In fact, SOLUT! can use the actual Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard system to compare your current packaging with a SOLUT! alternative. This will demonstrate how SOLUT! disposable paper baking pans and foodservice trays can help improve your Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard result.

The benefits of SOLUT! sustainable packaging evaluated by category of the Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard system are described below:

1. Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions: SOLUT! paper trays are made largely with unbleached corrugated paperboard. The Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard metrics below indicate that the process of making corrugated paperboard generates far less carbon dioxide (greenhouse causing gases) than any other material commonly used for food packaging.
   
   

   	Co2 Emissions per Ton (lower is better)
   Aluminum Foil	17.12401
   PET & CPET Plastic	1.76
   Polystyrene Plastic (e.g. Styrofoam)	1.84
   Unbleached Corrugated Paper	0.843544

   
   
2. Sustainable Material: Simply stated, Paper is Good! The reality is that, among these options, paper is the only truly renewable packaging material source. Plastic is derived from oil and natural gas which are non-renewable resources. Aluminum is also a non-renewable resource. Paper is derived from trees which is one of the most renewable resources on the planet.
       - More wood grows in our nation's forests than is harvested (about 49 percent more), documenting wood fiber as a renewable resource. (USDA Forest Service)
       - The forest products industry plants 1.7 million new trees every day, contributing to the long-term viability of North American forests, preserving wildlife habitats, sequestering carbon dioxide and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. (SFI)
   
   
3. Average Distance to Transport Materials: All SOLUT! sustainable packaging, disposable baking pans and food trays, are made in the USA. All of our raw materials are sourced from domestic (and often local) suppliers. Our 100% domestic sourcing and manufacturing eliminates the high costs of transportation and energy required by importing.
   
   
4. Package to Product Ratio: By using fewer raw materials, SOLUT! packaging weight rates highly on the Package to Product Ratio metric in the Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard. SOLUT!'s unique corrugated paper tray technology effectively utilizes the inherent strength in the engineered structure of corrugated paper to reduce total raw material usage, especially in large format tray sizes. Plastic and aluminum tray manufacturers must add much more raw materials to achieve greater strength. This is a very important distinction… the structure of corrugated board allows for added strength without significant added material, for instance through the use of a larger flute profile. This is sustainable packaging at its best.
   
   
5. Cube Utilization: SOLUT! offers comprehensive custom size tray design for your sustainable packaging, prototyping and manufacturing to maximize your profitability by minimizing your costs for excess packaging, storage, and transportation costs. Typically, a company could feel pressured into using a 'stock' plastic, aluminum foil, and traditional paperboard tray because the lead-times or high tooling costs to 'right size' the packaging to fit your product have traditionally added unnecessary additional costs.

   SOLUT! can design a custom sustainable packaging to fit your product with quick lead times and low tooling costs that can be half the cost of custom tooling for plastic or aluminum trays.

6. Recycled Content: All SOLUT! paper baking trays and disposable plates and platters can be designed to utilize recycled paper content, and even post-consumer paper fiber if desired. The Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard metrics below reflect the fact that paper is a highly recycled packaging material:
   
   

   	Industry Avg. Post Consumer Content
   Aluminum Foil	51%
   PET & CPET Plastic	3%
   Polystyrene Plastic (e.g. Styrofoam)	0%
   Unbleached Corrugated Paper	35%

   
   
   
7. Recovery Value: In the Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard, the measure of Recovery Value is based on the actual Wal-Mart recycle rate of each packaging material below; and paper clearly ranks as the best rated material for recovery.
   
   
   

   	Wal-Mart Recovery Value (lower is better)
   Aluminum Foil	2
   PET & CPET Plastic	3
   Polystyrene Plastic (e.g. Styrofoam)	5
   Unbleached Corrugated Paper	1

   
   
   

   SOLUT! can deliver a unique, cost-effective, functional, and sustainable packaging alternative that will help you significantly improve your Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard results. However, don't just explore your options to improve your Wal-Mart score, but explore your options to improve your life and our planet. Give us a call today.