Ben & Jerrys : Eco Pint

In 2001, Ben & Jerry's U.S. completed transition to "Eco-Pint" packaging, which packaged all pint flavors in environmentally-friendly unbleached paperboard Eco-Pint containers, a decision it later reversed. The use of brown-kraft unbleached paperboard had been a critical first step toward a totally biodegradable pint made without added chlorine. However, due to what they described as increasing supply, quality, and cost challenges, Ben & Jerry's discontinued their use of the Eco-Pint in 2006, transitioning to a pint container made out of a bleached paperboard that it said was more readily available with superior forming characteristics.

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Beginning with its top-selling flavor, World's Best Vanilla, Ben & Jerry's will switch to a more environmentally-friendly unbleached paperboard in its packaging. The Burlington, Vt., firm will be the first ice cream company in the nation to make these pints, converting a significant portion of its containers this year.

"We're hoping what we call the 'ECO-Pint' will become the new industry standard for ice cream containers," says Andrea Asch, manager of natural resource use for Ben & Jerry's.

So what's the big deal about unbleached paper? Standard paper-making uses chlorine compounds as a bleaching agent?a process that discharges millions of gallons of organochlorine-laced wastewater daily, according to Greenpeace, the environmental activist group. Some of these chemicals are considered human health hazards, and EPA has identified a few, such as dioxins, as carcinogens and highly toxic.

"We embarked on a global search for the right kind of paperboard," notes Asch, adding that the search led to an Atlanta-based paperboard manufacturer.

"This technology had never before been adapted to ice cream pint containers," notes Michael Brink, Ben & Jerry's manager of packaging development. "Just being able to fabricate it in round, precise dimensions posed unique challenges for our manufacturing team."

Over two years in the making, Ben & Jerry's new ECO-Pints are constructed from unbleached brown (kraft) paperboard, with an exterior clay coating that allows colorful printing. The new ECO-Pint is being printed and formed by the Sweetheart Cup Co. at its facility outside of Baltimore.