Carolina Industrial Resources is committed to environmental stewardship and fully supports sustainability in our processes, services and products. We now have many current and in-process sustainability initiatives at our manufacturing locations.

We are a member of Green Blue’s sustainable packaging coalition and have created a sustainability team with representatives from Operations, Technical Support, Sales and Marketing, Executive Officers and Customer Service. We also attended the 2009 Sustainable Packaging Forum.

CIR is the sales, marketing and distribution arm of Accredo Packaging, a flexible packaging manufacturer focused on producing sustainable flexible packaging.They have built the most environmentally friendly converting facility in the United States, using 100% wind-generated power, processes designed to eliminate waste and minimal impact from carbon emissions.

REDUCE: Our extrusion facilities have installed water evaporators to reduce production waste water

RE-USE: We reuse cores from the paper industry to wind our film, reuse our plastic scrap at the extrusion facilities and reuse our recycled inks at our printing locations

RECYCLE: All plastic production is either sold as first grade product, recycled internally in less demanding products, or sold to a recycler. We also have programs in place to recycle corrugated and paper waste.

SHIPPING: Transportation of finished product is one of the largest contributors to a company's carbon footprint. Our extruders are strategically located to keep transit distances short. We ship and receive product by rail when possible (98% of raw material) and consolidate shipments. Wherever possible we double stack and optimize truck capacity.

ENERGY: We have installed T-5 and T-8 lighting systems for an energy reduction of 52% to 65%. Heat exhaust from our equipment is used to heat our plants in cold weather

PRINTING: Two plant locations have changed from solvent to water based inks and all waste water is picked up and recycled. We have installed four new W&H 10 ten color flexographic presses with built-in VOC capture system to increase efficiency by 30%. Solvent inks are recycled through a semi-automated close-loop system to reduce the amount of solvent evaporated in the air.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY: Our EAP (Employee Assistance Program) promotes and maintains wellness mentally and physically. We have safety programs in place at all locations to reinforce safety consciousness and maintain an accident-free work environment.

TECHNOLOGY/INNOVATION: We have redesigned our vertical machine film packaging to eliminate 8 pounds of corrugated packaging from each pallet of film for a reduction of approximately one million pounds of packaging per year. We have engineered film blends to increase product strength, allowing lower gauge films for product applications. We have customer programs in place using recycled film and biodegradable additives (ECM).;

COMPOSTABLE AND BIODEGRADABLE FILMS
Carolina Industrial Resources is committed to provide environmentally safe green products that are Biodegradable and comply with ASTM D6400 for compostability.

We proudly offer a responsible alternative for your packaging needs, whether you need to meet a government requirement, a company agenda or if it is a personal preference.

These film products comply with FDA food safety requirements (2002/72/EC and FDA under food contract notifications 372 and 780). They are water and tear resistant, printable and weld-able, have a high wet strength and are grease resistant.

Biodegradable films have effective shelf lives. Only after they have come in contact with microorganisms found in a compostable atmosphere are they metabolized into carbon dioxide, water, energy and biomass. There are no negative consequences for nature or the environment. They are free from regulated metal compounds and do not leave any toxic residues behind.

Compostable product types include food & beverage films, can liners, industrial liners, converter bags & converter films, shrink bundling films and lamination films.

For more information on CIR's sustainability programs and biodegradable films, call 800-849-1819 or email ryork@cir-poly.com