KFC’s sustainable sides container is 'sogood'
- Filed in:
- Containers, rigid,
- Food
A reusable polypropylene container for KFC’s side dishes score big in the 2010 Greener Package Awards competition.
“The best packaging idea at KFC since the bucket,” according to KFC Corp.’s Greener Package Awards entry form, its new Reusable KFC Sides Container was a winner in the Food & Pharmaceutical Packaging Category. The new polypropylene container and lid from Anchor Packaging replace KFC’s former single-use expanded polystyrene version for side dishes such as mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, and green beans.
The PP container has been introduced in five markets since May 2010 and will be available nationally by the end of the year. KFC’s expectation for the container is that consumers will reuse and eventually recycle the package. “Through consumer research, KFC found that consumers prefer reusable containers because it gives them control of how the container is reused or disposed of after purchase,” says Susan Miles, engineering manager at KFC. “KFC’s initial research also found that 60% of consumers keep a reusable container for at least six weeks.”
To convey the package’s reusability, it was designed with a clear bowl and red embossed lid that reads, “KFC Reusable, Microwave & Top Rack Dishwasher Safe.” According to Miles, “the embossing assists in carrying the message.”
Because the side dishes are held in a steam environment at the restaurant, one design challenge was to create a container that vents moisture vapor without allowing anything to enter the container. The solution was what KFC calls a new “patented ventless vent technology” that eliminates the need for a hole in the top of the lid. The lid is said to be leak-resistant and provides a secure fit.
Among the sustainability propositions noted by KFC, the new PP container:
• Reduces the shipping cube by 14% over EPS
• Replaces single-use, nonrecyclable EPS with a reusable and more widely recycled resin, PP
• Represents the highest value in stored energy when incinerated as an end-of-life solid waste component and part of a waste-to-energy program, at 38 million BTUs per ton of material
• Requires 25% less energy to produce than general-purpose polystyrene production
• Generates half the amount of greenhouse gases as compared to general-purpose PS
“This new sides container is KFC’s and the QSR [quick-service restaurant] industry’s first formidable foray into reusables,” says Miles. “While reusable containers are not appropriate in all circumstances, KFC’s sides are the perfect application.”
Greener Package Awards judge Dean Bellefleur of D-Idea seems to agree. “Fantasic,” he says, “a reusable container that can actually find its way into anyone’s lunchbox. Top marks for me.”
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Reusable? I see great irony in the fact that this package won the Greener Package awards on this basis when the "Guidelines to Sustainability Claims" guidance published on the Greener Package site clearly states that unless a package can be reused for the purpose for which it was designed (i.e., filled at the KFC for additional servings of sides) reuse should not be claimed.
Excerpted below from the aforementioned document clearly puts this into the unacceptable category (pg 8):
"Refillable/ Reusable Claims
Key points
• The claim that the packaging is refillable or reusable must be such that:
o it can be reused/refilled for their original purpose.
o it was designed with the intent to be reused/refilled.
o there is a system in place to collect and return the package; or there are facilities
or products which exist that allow the consumer to reuse or refill the package.
• Qualifying language should be used to inform consumers about in-house systems for
refilling/reuse. Example: “This is a refillable container. Please bring it to ABC Corp to
have this container refilled.”
• If making a claim that an item is “refillable/reusable x times” make sure you have
documentation to back up this claim.
Examples
Acceptable:
A paper grocery bag is labeled "reusable." The bag can be brought back to the store and
reused to carry groceries but will fall apart after two or three reuses, on average. Because
reasonable consumers are unlikely to assume that a paper grocery sack is durable, the
claim does not need to be qualified to indicate the limited reuse of the sack.1
Not acceptable:
A claim that a tin container, sold containing candy, is “reusable” is not acceptable, since
in this case it can only be reused for storage for items other than the product that was
sold. A package should not be marketed with an unqualified reusable/refillable claim, if it
is up to the consumer to find new ways to refill the package."
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