Paragon achieves green certification

The company said that its ISO 14OO1:2004 environmental management certification confirms its commitment to environmental polices. ISO 14001 is the international specification for an environmental management system (EMS). It specifies requirements for establishing an environmental policy and determining environmental aspects and impacts of products, activities and services. The manufacturer said that it has also gained Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) chain of custody certification for sustainable sourcing of paper and board products for its seven UK manufacturing sites. Recycling service​ The certification comes on foot of the launch last month of the company's recycling scheme in Spalding, Lincolnshire. The facility enables Paragon to recycle 60 per cent of the waste from its manufacturing sites and it can also handle self-adhesive label waste for any business in the UK seeking an alternative to landfill, said the packaging manufacturer. Manufacturers using self-adhesive labels are left with a siliconised carrier paper after each label application. This carrier paper accounts for 30 to 40 per cent of the total weight of a self-adhesive label product and for an estimated 30,000 tonnes of landfill in the UK each year, claims Paragon. The company said that: "our​ recycling initiative is an integral part of our responsible packaging strategy to reduce the environmental impact of packaging in the retail supply chain."​There is a handling charge for the recycling but the company claims the scheme is generally a more economical and greener option than landfill. Innovation ​ Paragon also recently introduced a flexible film lid called i-lid to the market, which the company claims is designed to reduce the need for packaging materials, ensure food freshness and help food retailers meet Courtauld Commitment targets. The Courtauld Commitment is an agreement between the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), major food processors and retailers that aims to reduce waste across the supply chain. This can be achieved in part through the development of innovative packaging formats. Industry impact​ Paragon's green initiatives are in line with the Five-Fold Environmental Ambition programme launched last October by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) to help reduce the environmental impact of the food manufacturing sector. One of the ambitions is to seek to send zero food and packaging waste from food manufacturing sites to landfill from 2015. The FDF programme is looking at areas in which the federation believes the industry can have an impact such as CO2 emissions, landfill, packaging waste, water use, and food transport miles.