Weis Receives DuPont Award for Packaging Innovation

Weis Markets was recently honored with a Silver Award at the 25th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation for developing the industry’s first closed-loop 100 percent recyclable modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) meat trays made from recycled plastics. The trays were developed in partnership with Clearly Clean Products, an Orwigsburg-based company that specializes in custom thermoformed packaging solutions.

“We’ve made it part of our mission in recent years to become a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable company, carefully analyzing our practices, store designs, as well as our products, to see how and where we can improve,” said Kurt Schertle, EVP of Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis Markets. “Developing recyclable meat trays with Clearly Clean Products is an achievement we’re very proud of and it is one more step toward our sustainability goals.”

The trays are made from 80 percent recycled #1 plastic and are easily recycled by customers after use. The trays are currently used by Weis Markets’ meat plant to package value-added meat products, sausage and ground pork. The patented, Peel-A-Tray packaging will eventually replace more than 11 tons of polypropylene #5 trays on which the company’s fresh meat products were wrapped previously.

The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is the packaging industry’s longest-running, independently judged global awards program honoring packaging materials, processes, technology and service innovations. Recipients demonstrated excellence in packaging innovation, sustainability and cost/waste reduction.

Founded in 1912, Weis Markets operates 164 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.