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Boulder County, CO —Five local food and beverage businesses have been selected to participate in the Boulder County Food & Beverage Pollution-Reduced Packaging Pilot: Future Fit Foods, Hävenly, Pastificio Boulder, Quinn Snacks, and The Tea Spot.
Boulder County invited food and beverage manufacturers to apply to participate in an EPA-supported pilot program assisting the transition to pollution-reduced and sustainable packaging formats. To be eligible for the pilot program, businesses had to be food or beverage manufacturers with headquarters or a business location within Boulder County.
Boulder County received 30 eligible applications with a total request of $358,000 for packaging redesign. The county will award $40,000 in incentives to the five accepted teams to help them transition to pollution reduced packaging formats. If the teams are successful in completing their transitions, they have the potential to reduce the pollution impacts of 2.1 million product units manufactured annually.
“The teams have unique challenges, sustainability goals, and products," said Deandra Croissant, Boulder County Sustainability Specialist. "This makes for a diverse pilot that will help us gain insights on the cost and environmental performance of various pollution-reduced packaging types. We're looking forward to seeing what's possible when it comes to circular design and improved environmental performance of food and beverage packaging.”
“We need to reuse and reduce packaging at the front end, and not later when it is in the waste stream," said Commissioner Matt Jones. "I am proud that these Boulder County companies are partnering with us to help solve this problem, internalize costs, and take climate action.”
The pilot program is funded by the EPA Source Reduction Assistance grant program. Each pilot team will receive 20-30 hours of technical assistance from Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) consultants, in addition to participation in a collaborative workshop."
The Tea Spot
"$10,000: Researching alternatives for their stand up pouches and other tea packaging material.
"We at The Tea Spot are thrilled to have been selected to participate in Boulder County's Pollution-Reduced Packaging Pilot program," said The Tea Spot Founder and CEO Maria Uspenski. "We are eager to educate ourselves and our consumers on the importance and necessity of sustainable packaging. Through this pilot program, we look forward to sourcing sustainable packaging for all of our tasty tea products.""