WATSONVILLE, CA - Monterey Mushrooms knows the importance of creating a sustainable future. Throughout its operation, the mushroom grower has always cultivated this culture. This latest announcement is a step further in that direction, as this spring, Monterey Mushrooms will enhance the recyclability of its mushroom packaging by incorporating near-infrared (NIR) sortable material in its recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (rPET) thermoformed tills.

“In the 1980s, Monterey Mushrooms revolutionized the retail industry by introducing pre-packaged mushrooms,” said Bruce Knobeloch, Vice President of Product Development and Marketing. “Since then, the mushroom industry has been repurposing colored rPET, such as opaque blue, opaque green, and black rPET plastics, to give them a new life. We believe using clear rPET is wasteful and a regressive step for our industry.”

According to a press release, the rPET tills are produced using 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials sourced entirely from North America. The use of NIR sortable colorant ensures that the packaging can be properly sorted and recycled into new products.

By using rPET, the mushroom industry can give multiple lives to mixed-color recycled PET materials. rPET with NIR sortable colorant can potentially provide long-term cost advantages compared to other colors, including clear rPET, the release went on to explain.

Monterey Mushrooms added that it considers its tills with the NIR sortable colorant as a black alternative color. The hue will vary between blue, green, purple, and black as the recycled base material used to manufacture the tills will change.

As the United States faces a daunting recycling problem, we need suppliers like Monterey Mushrooms coming up with serviceable solutions.

ANUK has its eyes on the wire for the latest in industry updates.