Ice River Springs wins environmental packaging award

Our client, Ice River Springs, has been recognized in the DuPont Awards for packaging innovation in the Responsible Packaging category. 

Most food and beverage manufacturing companies generate packaging and at the same time make broad claims about being environmentally responsible; claims that are motivated more by the need to reduce energy expenditures and project an appealing brand image. Ice River Springs is genuinely different.

No company we have ever come across rivals their deep down passion for recycling and energy conservation. They opened a huge operation in Shelburne, Ontario in 2011 that takes in bales of bottles from municipal recycling operations. The plant sorts and cleans the bottles turning them into plastic flake that can then be used to make new products at a fraction of the energy required to make them from virgin plastic.

To say the operation is impressive is an understatement. In scale and technology it rivals large food manufacturing and car assembly plants. It uses sophisticated electronics to sort the plastic into different types and colours. At every step the energy required for washing and purifying the plastic is recaptured.

They found there was a ready market for clear plastic but little demand for green coloured flake which sometimes found its way into landfill. To prevent the waste they developed a green 100% recycled plastic bottle – a first in the market. Beakbane is now helping them roll out the product with the brand name Ice River Green with the rallying cry, “Nothing. It’s worth fighting for.”

The prestigious DuPont packaging award is a fitting recognition of this company’s investments and innovations – which are remarkable.