Weis Markets announced recently it has received the Silver Award in the 25th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation.

Weis Markets received the award for developing the industry’s first closed-loop 100 percent recyclable modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) meat trays made from recycled plastics. The trays were developed in partnership with Clearly Clean Products, an Orwigsburg-based company that specializes in custom thermoformed packaging solutions.

“We are honored to be recognized by DuPont for this breakthrough packaging,” said Kurt Schertle, executive vice president of Weis Markets. “We’ve made it part of our mission in recent years to become a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable company, carefully analyzing our practices, store designs, as well as our products, to see how and where we can improve. Developing recyclable meat trays with Clearly Clean Products is an achievement we’re very proud of and it is one more step toward our sustainability goals.

“The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is an opportunity to showcase the value of packaging and celebrate the power of collaboration in bringing innovative ideas to market,” said Shanna Moore, program leader, DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation, DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers. “The recyclable MAP meat trays developed by Weis Markets and Clearly Clean Products embodies that spirit.”

The trays are made from 80 percent recycled #1 plastic and are easily recycled by customers after use. The trays are currently used by Weis Markets’ meat plant to package value added meat products, sausage and ground pork.

The patented, Peel-A-Tray packaging will eventually replace more than 11 tons of polypropylene #5 trays on which the company’s fresh meat products were wrapped previously.

The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is the packaging industry’s longest running, independently judged, global awards program honoring packaging materials, processes, technology and service innovations. Recipients demonstrated excellence in packaging innovation, sustainability and cost/waste reduction.

To learn more about Weis Markets’ recycled meat tray and other sustainability initiatives, please visit WeisMarkets.com.  To learn more about the Peel-A-Tray technology, visit ClearlyClean.com.

7/22/2013