At Sonoco, we believe that if we use fewer raw materials and less energy, and still produce packaging with superior quality and performance, it's a significant environmental victory. And, it's good business.

Why? Because any and every reduction is important. Today's consumers demand more efficient and environmentally friendly packaging. Our own customers, here and abroad, are looking for greater efficiency and cost savings in production and logistics. And all of us would like to reduce our reliance on landfill space. So if there's less packaging to begin with, there's less to throw away.

As a leader in source reduction, Sonoco directs significant technological resources to refine existing products and create new products engineered to use minimum amounts of materials and energy. Through state-of-the-art paper mechanics research conducted by Sonoco scientists, we are working to create stronger paperboard and more sophisticated product design tools. As a direct result of this research, our paperboard tubes and cores use far less material than in the past, yet are stronger and able to perform at today's faster running speeds.

But source reduction is more than cutting back on raw materials. It's also about developing alternative products that are more efficient in their use of energy and raw materials than others on the market.

Sonoco continues to invest heavily in our paper mills to ensure the most efficient use of water, energy and raw materials. In 1943, our Hartsville, S.C., paper mill required 40,000 gallons of freshwater to produce one ton of paper. Today the same process uses just 3,000 gallons. Over the last 60 years, the amount of energy required in our papermaking has decreased by 37%.

Sonoco's ongoing commitment to research and development results in further reductions of raw material usage as sophisticated computer technology is applied in developing packaging products that use the optimal amount of material. Our Sonopost and Sonobase corner and base supports for electronics and large appliances are designed to protect products during shipment using less material. Made of 100% recycled paperboard, Sonopost corner posts are formed into unique shapes to firmly hold specific products in place. Once the job is done, Sonopost and Sonobase supports can be reused or recycled.

Source reduction is a constant balancing act between minimizing the use of raw materials and energy and producing a package that serves its intended purpose. For Sonoco, it's also a top priority as customers continue to look to us for greater efficiency, performance and environmental leadership.

Highlights

• Through the years Sonoco and customers like Planters have collaborated to create more efficient packaging without sacrificing performance. Converting Planters' peanut cans to Sonoco's lightweight paperboard-based composite cans resulted in a total source reduction of 25%. Planters' snack cans were also reduced when they converted from a heavy-duty metal ring top with a membrane to a thin, standalone membrane.
   
• Sonoco's current 12-ounce frozen juice can uses 14% less paperboard than it did 25 years ago.
   
• Sonoco's award-winning opening features for composite cans, Ultra-seal and Safetop, are easy on consumers and the environment. Ultra-Seal and Safetop opening systems combine flexible material with a steel rim or curl top to provide a user-friendly, source-reduced alternative.
   
• Paper bottom rigid containers can help provide further source reduction.

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Reuse is a viable option for many of the packages Sonoco produces, and our customers are the direct beneficiaries. They are able to reduce the amount of material sent to landfill, and achieve greater efficiency and cost effectiveness through multi-use products. Participating in efforts to promote responsible packaging makes our customers--and their customers--feel good, too.

Some of Sonoco's reuse programs like those for our paper and plastic tubes and cores, have been in existence for decades. Plastic film cores can be refurbished, extending the life of what used to be a single-use product. Sonoco also has a program to improve the surfaces of wooden reels making them more suitable for repeated usage.

All packages are not designed for reuse, nor should they be. However, there are many cases when multi-use makes sense. So whether it's a wooden reel, a plastic or fiber core, we make sure our customers receive a package that performs, each and every time it's used.

Highlights

• Nearly 40% of the recovered material used in Sonoco's Hartsville, South Carolina, paper mill is from used tubes and cores that the company has taken back from customers. Once recycled, this material will find new life in a variety of Sonoco's products.
   
• Sonoco's industrial products operation offers core customers a no waste package: A stretch bundle-pallet combination with components that can be either reprocessed or reused. The no waste package accommodates 12 to 42 cores. Traditionally, film cores have been shipped on cumbersome metal trays.
   
• Sludge from our Richmond, Virginia, paper mill is now being composted and made into a new usable product (potting soil) through a joint venture with the City of Richmond and a private company.

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Recycling makes sense when there is a productive use for the recovered material; when it is economically feasible to recycle rather than use virgin material; and when there is a demand for goods containing recycled material.

Fortunately, Sonoco incorporates recycling into day-to-day operations. Each year more than three million tons of recycled paperboard is consumed by our paper packaging operations. It is used in spiral tubes and cones for winding textiles; in our rigid paper containers for foods, beverages and other products; and in a variety of other paper-based packaging.

Reclamation and recycling of our own products benefits our customers and provides us with raw material. For many years, Sonoco's molded plastics operations have worked in tandem with an extensive network of customers to collect and recycle used plastic tubes, cores and reels. The plastic components are sorted, ground up, and reused by Sonoco or other manufacturers in new products.

One of Sonoco's goals is to incorporate as much recycled material in our products as possible. A good example of this is our composite cans, which average 50% recycled content. The paperboard used is 100% recycled. The steel ends contain 25% to 30% recycled content. The amount of recycled content increases to 75% when the rigid paper containers have a paper bottom, as do many of the powdered beverage mixes.

Highlights

• Sonoco has been recycling paper since the 1920s. Today we process more than three million tons a year, with many of our products made from 100% recycled material.
• Sonoco paperboard cans average 50% recycled content. In our nonround, paper bottom cans, this average jumps to 75%

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