Reducing Waste With Packaging Innovations & Reconfiguration - Altria

As the parent of companies that depend on our planet’s natural resources, Altria Group has set a goal to reduce the environmental impact of our businesses and to promote the sustainability of the natural resources on which they depend.


Packaging Reconfiguration

Altria Group's companies actively seek ways to reduce the material resources needed to meet their packaging needs while maintaining product quality. By changing the way they package their products, Philip Morris USA and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates are consuming fewer resources, reducing emissions and generating cost savings and efficiencies.

PHILIP MORRIS USA REDUCES PACKAGING FOOTPRINT

Consistent with its "lean manufacturing" approach, PM USA understands the importance of using fewer materials in its manufacturing production processes and working with suppliers in pursuit of packaging innovations that deliver environmental benefits. In early 2010, PM USA reduced the thickness of its poly wrap used in its cigarette packaging. The switch reduces the environmental footprint of PM USA's cigarette products and delivers significant efficiencies. This change continues to yield positive results. In 2011, this effort resulted in:

 
  • a 1.9 million pound reduction in cigarette packaging materials;
  • reduced complexity for machine operators who have less material to manage;
  • 42 fewer truckloads of packaging materials shipped to our facility;
  • fewer oil-based resins used by the supplier; and
  • significant direct material cost savings for PM USA.

STE. MICHELLE WINE ESTATES REDUCES PACKAGING

In 2011, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates implemented several innovations to processes and packaging that yielded environmental benefits and cost savings, including:

 
  • expanding the use of shorter cardboard partitions in all cases of Columbia Crest and in some cases for additional labels including Red Diamond, Chateau Ste. Michelle, 14 Hands and Stimson Estates Cellars; and
  • reducing glass weight on almost one million cases of Columbia Crest Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc.

Together these initiatives achieved environmental efficiencies including:

  • reducing packaging bottle weight by about 3 million pounds in 2011;
  • using smaller partitions made from recycled fiber with 40 to 60 percent post-consumer waste; and
  • eliminating an estimated 2.8 million pounds of carbon dioxide according to the Environmental Defense Calculator because the new materials occupy less truck space, reducing the number of trips needed.
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