Plant Fiber Packaging Company, Be Green Packaging, LLC., Receives Renewed Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute Certification

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) SANTA BARBARA, July 25th - Be Green Packaging, LLC. today announced that it has successfully completed its annual Cradle to Cradle^cm recertification process.  The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII) is an international eco-certification body that maintains progressive environmental standards.  The organization requires an annual review of product materials and manufacturing processes to ensure compliance with its protocols.

A Cradle to Cradle^cm certification provides a high level of transparency into a company's affairs by allowing an independent, 3^rd party organization to review product design, manufacturing facilities, and processes in order to provide feedback on areas that may need improvement or adjustment.  If a company meets or exceeds the institute’s standards, a certification is awarded according to varying levels of achievement along a continuum.

The  Cradle to Cradle^cm standard is based on the principles outlined by Dr. Michael Braungart and William McDonough in their seminal book ”Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things”, which laid the framework for reassessing how we view a products life cycle.  According to C2CPII literature, a "Cradle to Cradle Certification is a multi-attribute eco-label that assesses a product’s safety to humans and the environment and design for future life cycles."  Products (and the associated manufacturing processes) must meet or exceed a series of standards that assess applications in the following five areas: material health, material reutilization, energy (renewables usage, conservation), water stewardship, and social responsibility.  As of the writing of this press release, Be Green Packaging is the only foodservice packaging manufacturer to have received a Cradle to Cradle^cm certification.

"We are serious about going the extra mile to get our products certified by independent organizations that maintain stringent eco-standards." commented Be Green CEO Ron Blitzer on the recent achievement. "Our director of eco-social initiatives, Eva Van Wingerden, ensures that Be Green maintains a strong commitment to the triple bottom line philosophy, which balances the environment, economy, and equity, by working hard to receive independent verification of all of our claims from various eco-certification bodies the world over.  The renewal of our Cradle to Cradle certification is proof that we care about more than our bottom line.”

The company recently received industry wide attention for its work with Gillette (P&G), which garnered the duo a Diamond award at DuPont's 23rd Annual Awards for Packaging Innovation.  In addition to P&G, Be Green currently supplies notable organizations such as Whole Foods Market, 7-11, and Sonoco, among others.  The company will be expanding its worldwide operations by opening the nation's first plant fiber packaging facility in South Carolina later this year.

Cradle to Cradle Certified^cm is a certification mark sub-licensed by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

[Authors Note: The Cradle to Cradle Certified^cm program was founded by sustainable design consulting firm McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) and has moved to the recently established nonprofit organization Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute for administration.]

Be Green Packaging LLC, based in Santa Barbara, California, manufactures and distributes Cradle-to-Cradle certified, tree-free, compostable packaging for the food and consumer packaging industries. The company’s products are made from annually renewable plant fibers that are safe for people and healthy for the planet. For more information about the company, please visit: www.begreenpackaging.com