Wal-Mart honors Winterborne for sustainable packaging success

-- Converting Magazine, 7/18/2008

Converting 2007 Innovator Award winner Winterborne, Inc., was recognized recently by Wal-Mart for sustainability success with its EnviroShell™ package, “the first 90% recyclable and recycled clamshell package,” according to the award citation. The award was the first of its type, and Winterborne, a Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club preferred packaging provider, was the only packaging supplier to be recognized.

Winterborne president/CEO Joseph Nazari (left) and executive vp Howard Mallen show off their Converting 2007 Innovator Award that the converter won for Sustainability.

Invented by Chatsworth, CA-based Winterborne and first introduced in 2005, EnviroShell is made from 100% recycled PET and a minimum of 70% recycled corrugated. Compared to traditional clamshells, which it was designed to replace, EnviroShell reduces plastic by up to 90%. The majority of the package is highly recyclable—the plastic blister is designed to easily separate which allows for the corrugated portion of the package to be recycled. Due to these qualities, and an energy-efficient, full-service, in-house manufacturing process that slashes transportation costs and holds greenhouse gas production to the minimum, Winterborne customers gain a major sustainability score advantage on the Wal-Mart Scorecard.

The award was presented by the Leadership Team of the Wal-Mart & Sam’s Club Packaging Sustainable Value Network to Winterborne executive vp Howard Mallen. “We appreciate this recognition and are proud of the success of EnviroShell,™” he says. “We’re also very much engaged in developing additional, unique sustainable packaging in partnerships with several customers and will hopefully earn repeat Wal-Mart recognition for new sustainable solutions for years to come.”