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6. Environment > Farewell to the Eco-Pint
In the fall of 2006, we transitioned to a pint container made out of a bleached paperboard that is more readily available and that has superior forming characteristics. Our new supplier has an excellent track record of sustainable forestry practices and can help us achieve our long-held goal of finding a non-petroleum based, renewable coating for our pint package. The move away from the Eco-Pint will also allow us to eliminate approximately 1,000 tons of waste annually from our packaging supply chain. We feel this is a necessary step sideways so we can keep moving forward on our journey to reduce the environmental impacts of the packaging we use for our pints. Our packaging team continues to actively evaluate alternative, renewable resins to replace polyethylene on the pint container. Our preliminary results have been favorable, though we have some technical challenges yet to overcome. |
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After nine years, we said goodbye to the Eco–Pint, the unbleached paperboard pint container used to package our ice cream. We had hoped that other food companies would join us in moving toward unbleached paperboard packaging, an environmentally friendly material that does not require the use of chlorine bleach. But since the market for this kind of packaging never grew much beyond Ben & Jerry’s, we ran into increasing supply, quality, and cost challenges. 
While it moves us farther away from the goal of eliminating chlorine in the manufacturing process of our pint container, it moves us closer to several other goals: sourcing paperboard that comes from sustainably harvested wood; achieving a renewable, non-petroleum based coating for our packaging; and reducing waste.