Two Organizations Partner for Recyclable Seafood Packaging Project

The New Orleans Fish House and Global Green USA have begun a pilot program to test recyclable coated corrugated boxes to transport seafood.

Cascades Industrial Packaging of St. Bruno, Quebec, and Interstate Container of Reading, Pa., made the boxes recyclable, unlike the paraffin-coated packaging typically used, and they also can withstand the icy seafood packing process. The companies are part of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Global Green’s Coalition for Resource Recovery (CoRR), the environmental advocacy organization said in a news release.

The New Orleans Fish House distributes locally caught seafood to restaurants, hotels and retail outlets in 30 markets nationally.

Global Green calls the pilot a step toward creating more sustainable food systems. Greens, vegetables, seafood and meats are often transported in paraffin-coated cardboard, generating 1.45 million tons of solid waste that is sent to landfills or burned.  If the boxes are designed for recycling and recovered, retailers and restaurants could realize combined cost savings and revenue of $200 million nationally, the group said.