WASHINGTON -- A program to help retailers separate waxed corrugated boxes from nonwaxed containers will begin this July, when boxes marked with the word "wax" in English, Spanish and French will arrive in North American supermarkets.
The nonwaxed containers can be recycled, but identifying which is which has been a problem for supermarket employees in the past.
"The marking system will be a tremendous move forward," said Tim Vogel, manager of environmental affairs at Wakefern Food Corp., Elizabeth, N.J. "This is huge."
The program grew out of a study conducted by the American Forest & Paper Association and the Food Marketing Institute, both based here, which indicated that as many as 10% to 15% of nonwaxed boxes end up in landfills rather than being recycled.
"Stores can increase their revenues, because 10% to 15% of the material in their compactors are clean old corrugated containers that can be recycled," said Pat Layton, senior director of environmental marketing at the AF&PA.
Having wax boxes that are clearly marked will also help improve store operations, according to retailers.
"Marking of the waxed box will greatly improve backroom efficiency in our stores," said Cynthia Forsch, manager of environmental affairs for Albertson's, Boise, Idaho. "It's a good first step in providing a recycling method for waxed cardboard."
Kroger Co., Cincinnati, sees "two benefits for our store operations -- recovering greater amounts of clean corrugated that's mistakenly discarded into compactors, and reducing the sorting and handling costs in the back room," said Claude Moldenhauer, vice president of produce, merchandising and procurement at Kroger Co.
A campaign to educate store personnel about the new marking will kick off during the Supermarket Industry Convention, sponsored by FMI, in Chicago this week. The campaign includes distribution of multilingual posters for display in the backroom, break room and other locations; and information brochures in three languages for store associates. Support materials emphasize how the program will cut sorting costs and help recover greater amounts of clean old corrugated containers for more cash value.
The AF&PA, along with the Canadian Corrugated Case Association and Canadian Paper and Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council, both in Toronto, and the Fibre Box Association, Rolling Meadows, Ill., developed the marking program.
"The program is a striking example of cooperation between the supermarket industry and the paper industry that will help solve a problem that affects all of us," said Tim Hammonds, president and chief executive officer of the FMI.
