Success Story: The J.M. Smucker Company and Dynamic Lifecycle Innovations Reuse & Recycle Shrink Wrap

Generator of Material: The J.M. Smucker Company in Lexington, KY

Amount of Material: 3-4 tons annually

Material Diverted: Shrink wrap plastic film, on a cardboard core

Receiver of Material: Dynamic Lifecycle Innovations in Nashville, TN

Environmental Impact: 12-13 metric tons of CO2 equivalent savings

Total Savings and Value Creation: $10,500 per year

Respect for the environment has been a focus of The J.M. Smucker Company since its founding in 1897. Smucker has established specific environmental goals to reduce its impacts related to waste, water and greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, including diverting 95 percent of waste from landfills. To help reach these goals, the Lexington team joined the Materials Marketplace.

The plant had been working to find alternatives for the discarded film rolls from their shrink wrap machines. The mostly-spent rolls still have valuable material on them but because the film is still on a cardboard core, it is too costly to be processed by their current recycler.

When they posted these shrink wrap rolls to the Materials Marketplace, they were discovered by Dynamic. Dynamic Lifecycle Innovations is a full-service electronics and materials lifecycle management company providing solutions for IT asset disposition, electronics recycling, product refurbishment, remarketing and more with locations in Onalaska, WI; Nashville, TN.; and Minneapolis, MN. Dynamic is dedicated to protecting the environment by keeping reusable materials out of the world’s waste streams and believed they could use the discarded rolls to replace new rolls they purchase to package goods for delivery. When they have used all they can, the leftover film and the core are ethically recycled. Even more, they are able to work with Smucker to pick up the material on backhaul trips by their fleet.

By diverting these spent rolls, Smucker is able to get closer to their overall goals and realize cost savings from the 3-4 tons of material going to landfill. Dynamic is able to put that material to beneficial use and save around $10,000 per year in new film purchases. This reuse application results in a reduction of 12 metric tons of CO2 equivalent.