Sonoco Launches New Waste Reduction Consulting Service

Sonoco Sustainability Solutions Provides Manufacturers, Distribution Centers and Retailers Productivity Savings and New Revenues

HARTSVILLE, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sonoco (NYSE: SON), one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, today launched Sonoco Sustainability Solutions (S3), a new service that can provide manufacturing facilities with productivity savings by identifying ways to reduce waste materials going to landfills, and increase profitability by converting waste streams to revenue streams by finding alternative uses for a facility’s previously unrecycled wastes.

“However, once we identified the many benefits of the program, we began partnering with some of our customers’ locations and found that the service could provide significant productivity savings along with new revenue sources and environmental benefits.”

S3 is a new service of Sonoco Recycling, one of the largest recyclers in the packaging industry, said Jack Sanders, senior vice president of Sonoco. “S3 was originally developed and piloted at 12 Sonoco plants to improve productivity by reducing waste materials going to landfills,” Sanders said. “However, once we identified the many benefits of the program, we began partnering with some of our customers’ locations and found that the service could provide significant productivity savings along with new revenue sources and environmental benefits.”

Through S3, Sonoco waste reduction experts audit a customer’s location to review its existing program for handling wastes. Then tailored programs are developed that offer significant savings by reducing waste hauling charges and landfill fees. The service also can provide incremental income as Sonoco Recycling works to convert a location’s unrecycled waste streams into revenue streams by facilitating the sale of previously landfilled materials and finding alternate uses for certain wastes. Finally, the service provides reporting of productivity improvements both in terms of financial savings and environmental benefits.

“The goal of S3 is to have zero landfill wastes coming from our customers’ facilities,” said Myles Cohen, division vice president and general manager, Sonoco Recycling. “Most manufacturing plants, distribution centers and retailers have active recycling programs, but they still have wastes going to landfills. Because of our extensive knowledge of the industrial and consumer packaging industry and our expertise in recycling, we have been able to find alternative recycling initiatives for wastes that were previously thought to be unrecyclable, such as plastic banding, bulk plastic liners and sacks, flexible packaging and other materials.”

For more information about Sonoco Sustainability Solutions or to review S3 case studies, visit Sonoco Recycling’s Web site at www.sustainabilitysolutions.com or contact Derek McFarland, national manager, sustainability services, at +803/396-2174.

Sonoco annually collects about 3.5 million tons of recyclable materials including old corrugated containers and other paper, plastics, metals, glass and other materials. Sonoco Recycling collects and processes recyclable materials at 46 locations in North America and Europe, operates a fleet of trucks with 1,300 trailers and has a team of recycling professionals many of whom are experts in waste management and manufacturing process improvement.

About Sonoco

Sonoco, founded in 1899, is a global manufacturer of industrial and consumer products and provider of packaging services, with more than 325 operations in 35 countries serving customers in 85 nations. Additional information about Sonoco is available at http://www.sonoco.com.