Community Updates

From Bubble Wrap to Today:
The Circular Economy Model at Sealed Air

Published 9 years ago | About a 3 minute read

What does circular economy mean to you? For many companies, the concept of a circular economy has only recently become a priority. For Sealed Air, we have been thriving and innovating in a circular economy business model from the very beginning, as many as sixty years ago. This week I had the honor of participating in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s event on The Circular Economy, and speaking on a panel about Advances in Circular Economy Business Models. At Sealed Air, we tangibly demonstrate our commitment to a circular economy business model at all three levels of our organization, from our operations, to our products, to the societal impact of our work. Circular economy, simply defined, is a business model that focuses on ensuring all resources used are remade, repaired, resold, or recycled in some form. This is a departure from a business model that simply monitors resources through the product’s end use and disposal without regard for the entire life cycle. A circular economy business strategy offers many advantages, not the least of which is offsetting rising raw material prices and reducing the amount of materials sent to landfills. At Sealed Air, we have been working from a circular economy business model from the beginning with our iconic Bubble Wrap product. Bubble Wrap supports products during distribution, and, due to its air retention, can be reused. The best part of Bubble Wrap, the popping, supports our intention for the product to be recycled, and it can be deposited with your plastic grocery bags in available recycling bins. In addition to Bubble Wrap, 100% of our plastic packaging product is technically recyclable. In our operations, we have aggressive goals regarding our waste to landfill measures, and we are achieving them. In 2014, we measured two-thirds of our manufacturing plants reached Zero Landfill with plastic raw materials. Since 2006, we have diverted over 770 million pounds from landfills. One of those efforts, something we call waste productivity, has increased as much as 43% since we started measuring in 2011. Around the globe at Sealed Air, our employees and partners work together to improve livelihoods with our societal programs. Soap For Hope is one such program that takes discarded soap bars from hotels and distributes them in local neighborhoods. Teams train local citizens on remaking the soap into a product that can be sold. The benefit is two-fold, when local citizens become empowered with work and producing their own livelihood, and a former waste product is reused. This program in particular is a strong example of a circular economy, where something previously sent to a landfill is now providing income for families struggling to overcome poverty. At Sealed Air, a Circular Economy business model is not just a new trend or buzz word for management meetings. It’s a way of life for our operations, our product innovation engineers, and our Corporate Social Responsibility programs. Our business model reduces the need for virgin raw materials, saves energy, and enhances lives. We are demonstrating daily how our Vision to Create a Better Way For Life is doing just that, and preserving the world we live in. Learn more at www.sealedair.com By Meredith Rigdon Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs Sealed Air