Hi-Cone is honored to have won the ‘Most Responsible Packaging Solutions – United States 2020’ award from CFI.co whose award program aims to identify individuals and organizations that truly add value. As we continue to push forward on our sustainability journey and work to provide valuable research and sustainable packaging solutions to our customers and consumers, we are humbled and grateful to receive such recognition.
We shared with The Capital Finance International Judging Panel, who have a combined 170 years of experience, the changes we have made over the past year to our brand, our product, and also to the way we operate. These changes were made to reduce our environmental footprint as a company as well as make a meaningful contribution to the global sustainability movement. The judging panel recognized what drives our motivation in sustainability, stating: “Hi-Cone reminds us that plastic has contributed massively to our modern lives and is not waste, but a valuable resource that needs to be reused or recycled at the end of its first life.” With this motivation of helping create a place for plastic in the new circular economy, we have succeeded in bringing our +50% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content ring carrier, RingCycles™, to market and have published our first annual report on The State of Plastic Recycling (staging.hicone.flywheelsites.com/sustainability).
In addition to these projects, we have also committed ourselves to supporting more community-based and global initiatives by partnering with environmental leaders such as TerraCycle® and Avangard Innovative in our different regions of operation. Together with them, we have helped provide better ways for consumers to recycle their ring carriers as well as for more recycled material to be used in the production of new ring carriers. The judging panel further applauded the 30th anniversary of our Ring Leader Collection Program which has resulted in the recycling of well over 2.7 million pounds of ring carriers, in addition to those recycled through the latest partnerships.
These milestones are only some of many on our sustainability journey. The judging panel recognized our ambitious mission ahead: “Hi-Cone is determined to become 100% recyclable, biodegradable or compostable by 2025, and will work with consumers, government, and industry to reduce the use of plastic.” Moving into the rest of 2020 and beyond, we will be continuing efforts to offer consumers helpful insights into better recycling practices as well as continuing to provide valuable data to our partners and customers on plastic recycling and the environmental impact of different packaging materials. Our new RingCycles™ product, launched in the Fall of 2019, will also continue to roll out across all markets and be completed by early 2021. Using this award as fuel, we will be finding more ways to participate in the global shift towards sustainability and develop products that support the future circular economy.