Food major Cargill redesigns packaging to reduce use of plastic

US-based food major Cargill on Monday said it has redesigned packaging for edible oil to reduce the usage of plastics and make it recyclable.

"Cargill in India is working to address plastic waste management in three ways: reduce, recycle and recover," the company said in a statement.

In association with Dow Chemical, the business reformulated its plastic material, making 90 per cent of its plastic packaging recyclable.

The company has redesigned its packaging across oil business by cutting down on the amount of raw plastic used across all products.

Cargill is committed to promoting a sustainable environment by reducing raw plastic usage in its edible oil brands Gemini, Sweekar, and NatureFresh.

It has also reduced the use of plastic by removing the paper label and converting it into in-mould labelling and converting paper used in the corrugated boxes to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified.

These efforts resulted in a reduction of 225 tonnes of plastic annually and has successfully reduced CO2 emission.

To improve the recovery of recyclable plastics, Cargill is working with the Indian Pollution Control Association, which helps the business in gathering post-consumer multi-layered plastic (MLP) and non-MLP waste as part of the extended producer responsibility initiative.