Blue Apron Sets 2025 Goal for Sustainable Packaging

Meal kit company commits to recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging

7/8/2021

Blue Apron says it is the first major meal kit company in the U.S. to announce time-based targets around packaging goals.

Blue Apron has set specific sustainability goals, announcing that it aims to use 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging for its meal kit boxes by the end of 2025.

“With these new goals, we are building on our history of sustainability through food waste reduction, packaging improvements, and ingredient standards,” said Linda Findley Kozlowski, Blue Apron’s president and CEO. “We estimate that our meal kit packaging is currently 85% recyclable by weight, and we are the first major meal kit company in the United States to use only drain safe frozen gel packs in all of our boxes. While we’ve made significant progress, we recognize that our next big opportunity is further improvements in packaging across our business.”

Another newly-announced goal is to use 75% post-consumer recycled content, by weight, in Blue Apron’s meal kit boxes, also by the end of 2025. The efforts are part of the company’s “Aprons for All” corporate social and environmental impact program that also includes the testing and use of dynamic packaging, innovative packaging materials and collaborations with sustainability-minded third-party partners like the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and How2Recycle.

Additionally, as part of its circular economy, Blue Apron has worked to reduce food waste in fulfillment centers. The meal kit service provider notes that it surpassed the previously set goal of cutting food waste in its operations by half between 2017 and 2019.