Novolex, a packaging and food services company headquartered in South Carolina, USA has released its fifth annual Sustainability Report, highlighting how its environmental, social and governance initiatives evolved over the past year.
The new report has been written in compliance with the Global Reporting Initiative.
Among the accomplishments in 2022 detailed in the report are the company’s expansion of its recycling capacity, the increased amount of waste diverted from landfills and the increased use of Chain-of-Custody certified fibre and bio-based resins in its products.
The report includes a commitment to double the recycling of post-consumer films at the company’s recycling facility North Vernon, Indiana by 2024 to advance the circularity of our products - a commitment that comes on the heels of a recent announcement that Novolex will operate a new recycling facility for Nova Chemicals, expanding the collection of post-consumer film and the production of recycled material.
As well, Novolex has also reported its ‘waste footprint’ for the first time, implementing a new metric focused on reporting total waste generated in operations. This initiative allowed the company to monitor and consequently minimise waste streams from operations. Since the waste programme’s launch, the company has diverted more than five million pounds of waste away from landfill.
In 2022, the company’s use of Chain-of-Custody certified fibre was 1% higher than in 2021, reaching 7% of the total virgin fibre volume used These third-party certifications provide assurance that the fibre comes from responsibly managed forests.
In 2022, 49% of Novolex’ raw materials came from renewable, bio-based or post-consumer recycled sources.
The company also reported that it was using software designed to prepare life cycle analyses to quantify the benefits or impacts of different raw material and design decisions. In 2022, Novolex conducted analyses of some 40 products , giving the company more insight into the types of raw materials, products and supply chains that reduce emissions across the value chain.
Novolex chair and CEO Stan Bikulege said that Novolex ‘continues to set and achieve ESG goals for our business and for our customers’.
“The 10,000 members of the Novolex family are working hard to develop more sustainable packaging solutions, expand recycling and reduce waste. To achieve our ambitions, we continue to look for innovative ways to promote our safety culture, develop talent and provide an inclusive workplace.”