How One Distribution Site Reduces an Estimated 60 Metric Tons of Packaging Annually
MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, revolutionized its approach to packaging sustainability with its SMASH Packaging initiative. Building on the program’s success since its original launch in 2019, the company introduced SMASH 2.0 last year. SMASH 2.0 is an updated packaging sustainability framework to optimize its implementation across the organization, with new targets set for 2030.
Highlighted below are three packaging projects from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, distribution center, one of the company’s largest distribution centers in the United States:
- “Packaging for Smalls”: This project minimizes the packaging dimensions for shipping small products like small vials. The change is anticipated to impact approximately 1,000 shipments daily, reducing cardboard usage by up to 61% per box. This will lead to a total annual reduction in shipping weight of 60 metric tons.
- Air Pillow Replacement: A switch was made to plastic air pillows made of 95% recycled content, reducing the amount of virgin plastic in the company’s supply chain, affecting 56 metric tons of plastic every year.
- Deforestation-Free Packaging: The Milwaukee site uses an estimated 3,800+ metric tons of fiber-based packaging per year. The site has made significant progress, with 83% of fiber materials that meet the company’s deforestation-free requirements. This year, two projects are in progress that add sustainable forestry certification to over 300 metric tons of material, bringing the Milwaukee site to 91% alignment of responsibly sourced fiber materials. These deforestation-free requirements not only include fiber material certifications, but also include the use of recycled fiber materials, which contribute to this measurement.
To learn more about MilliporeSigma’s SMASH Packaging plan and progress, visit the company’s Sustainability & Social Business Innovation webpage.
