Blue Apron Sets New Sustainable Packaging Goals

(PRESS RELEASE) NEW YORK — Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN) has announced a new sustainable packaging goal for its meal kit boxes of 100 percent recyclable, reusable or compostable by the end of 2025. The company also strives to use 75 percent post-consumer recycled content, by weight, in 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, CEO of Blue Apron. “We estimate that our meal kit packaging is currently 85 percent 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.”

Blue Apron joined U.S. Food Loss & Waste 2030 Champions in 2016, and it estimates that it had exceeded its goal of reducing food waste in its fulfillment center operations by 50 percent between 2017 and 2019.

Setting the new packaging goals is one of the priorities of Blue Apron’s corporate social and environmental impact program, Aprons For All. The company is dedicated to managing the environmental and social impacts of its business to support an ethical, resilient food system. To learn more about Aprons For All, visit blog.blueapron.com/aprons-for-all.

To achieve its new packaging goals for its meal kits, Blue Apron plans to continue to build on its progress by:

• Using dynamic packaging: With the help of Blue Apron-designed technology, the company optimizes its packaging based on various attributes of a customer’s weekly meal kit order. This allows for the appropriate packaging configuration with the goal of ensuring safe delivery, while reducing the amount of packaging used.
• Identifying new packaging opportunities: Blue Apron’s packaging engineering lab conducts regular tests on new materials and innovative solutions to identify opportunities to reduce environmental footprint, including improved recyclability and increased post-consumer recycled content. This lab facilitates collaboration between members of the packaging engineering, food safety and quality assurance, operations, and corporate social responsibility teams.
• Engaging the right partners: To ensure accountability and support progress toward its goals, Blue Apron continues to engage reputable, third-party partners. This includes How2Recycle, a standardized labeling system that clearly communicates recycling instructions to the public, and Sustainable Packaging Coalition, a prominent voice in packaging sustainability.

Full details of Blue Apron’s packaging commitment can be found at blog.blueapron.com/sustainable-packaging-goals.