Evergreen Packaging, Memphis, Tenn., USA, a manufacturer of gable top beverage cartons in the U.S., this week announced  the company received the 2015 American Forest & Paper Association's (AF&PA), Washington, D.C., Leadership in Sustainability Award. AF&PA honored Evergreen for its efforts to increase paper recovery through the company's On-Packaging Recycle Use project. This is the second consecutive year AF&PA has honored Evergreen for its sustainability initiatives.

"Many thanks to AF&PA for recognizing Evergreen Packaging with the 2015 Leadership in Sustainability Award for Paper Recovery for Recycling," said Evergreen Packaging President and CEO John Rooney. "Our On-Packaging Recycle Logo Use Tracking Project reflects our commitment to carton recycling and our larger corporate commitment to sustainable packaging. This project enables us to enhance the sustainability efforts of our customers and improve the recycling of the cartons we produce."

Recent surveys show that a product's package is the first place consumers look to find out if a package is recyclable, and the absence of a recycle logo leads consumers to believe the package is not recyclable. Given the importance of on-package logo use, Evergreen developed and implemented a recycle logo tracking system for the cartons they produce. This information is used to encourage customers to include the logo on their cartons and communicate to consumers that those cartons are recyclable, thereby increasing recovery. 

"Evergreen took a creative and constructive approach to increase recovery for recycling," said AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman. "Their proactive efforts have helped educate their customers and the wider public about the recyclability of paper cartons."

The Leadership in Sustainability Award recognizes exemplary sustainability programs and initiatives in the paper and wood products manufacturing industry. Projects that support progress toward the "Better Practices, Better Planet 2020" sustainability goals qualify for recognition in the "Leadership" category, which has five subcategories that correspond to the goals: Sustainable Forest Management, Paper Recovery for Recycling, Energy Efficiency/Greenhouse Gas Reduction, Safety, and Water.

Th AF&PA also awarded Evergreen with a Leadership in Sustainability Award for Sustainable Forest Management in 2014. That award was based on the company's development of Evergreen Forest Certification®, a group certification program that allows multiple landowners to be certified under a single group certificate – a cost-effective way for landowners to have their forests certified to internationally recognized standards.