Meal kit producer opts for plastics offsets

BOULDER, Colorado – Meal kit producer Green Chef has a new plastic offset program with Vancouver-based Plastic Bank, which works towards reducing ocean plastics and providing work opportunities for people living in impoverished areas.

In an effort to reduce the environmental impact of its meal kits and neutralize its plastic footprint, Green Chef is partnering with Plastic Bank to offset more plastic than is used in every box, while supporting conservation efforts in developing countries.

Green Chef will fund Plastic Bank’s presence in Southeast Asia to help the removal of plastic litter from some of the world’s most polluted beaches. Plastic Bank provides residents in these communities with rewards like cash, digital tokens, school tuition or health insurance in exchange for collected plastics. Plastic Bank then recycles the plastics into raw materials that will be used to manufacture new goods.

Green Chef offsets 100 percent of the carbon emissions generated from its operations, travel, and shipping. In addition, it is the first meal kit brand to introduce ClimaCell in its packaging, a bio-based insulation that is easily recycled curbside. The launch of the new plastic offset program supports Green Chef’s ongoing effort to make its product more sustainable while working towards a longer-term solution for primary food packaging.

“At Green Chef, we are continuously working to bolster our commitment to stewardship so that our customers can be confident they are making the most sustainable choice available,” said Brian Popper, COO at Green Chef.

“We balance critical customer requirements for food quality and safety against the commercial packaging options available for food, and we recognize there is significant work remaining to be done in this area. We’re proud to become the first plastic neutral meal kit brand while we continue to work towards more sustainable food packaging solutions.”

In April 2019, the University of Michigan released a study which found that meal kits have a 25 percent lower carbon footprint than the same meals purchased at a grocery store. Due to a streamlined supply chain that reduces food waste and greenhouse gas emissions, meal kits were deemed a more sustainable option when looking at every step of the process, from dirt to the doorstep.