Sustainability at Summit Films

• Scrap from manufacturing
  Our 2024 year-long waste reduction initiative began in January to reduce waste by 10%.  Will provide results when available.
• Pellet Loss
  We continue efforts to prevent resin pellet loss to keep pellets out of the natural environment. Procedural changes, training staff and equipment/building changes provide a means to keep pellets in the production process.
• No hazardous waste is generated by the facility
• New pelletizing equipment in 2024
  Summit Films manufactures and converts custom packaging.   Re-purposing used or scrap polyethylene material is an area important to Summit Films.  Reusing existing materials lowers emissions, treats used material as valuable keeping them out of the natural environment and prevents down-cycling.  For over 10 years, Summit Films has re-pelletized its own internal scrap to make new material.  In 2024, investment in new pelletizing equipment will allow the company to increase its recycling of used material to include re-pelletizing from outside sources. The company sees itself not only as a source for custom packaging, but also as a collaborative partner for others in recycling used plastic.

We reclaim and reuse millions of pounds of plastic every year through our recycling plant. Collecting and re-pelletizing existing plastic helps lower emissions, reduce energy consumption and replace virgin plastics with recycled plastics recovered from the waste stream.

• Post Industrial Recycled Content (PIR) Material
   Scrap from our internal extrusion process is collected and then re-pelletized to make new material. The material is recyclable at end of life. The minimum is 1000 pounds.
• Closed Loop Material
  Scrap material is pooled from all our manufacturing facilities (Mississippi, New York, and Wisconsin) to create the material by re-pelletizing the collected material. Bag to Bag recycling avoids downcycling. The material is recyclable at the end of its life. The minimum is 1000 pounds.
  Note
  if you have material to return to us to re-pelletize to close your own packaging loop, please let us know. Collaborating with organizations to collect existing plastic keeps existing materials in the economy, away from landfills, out of the natural environment, and available to make new packaging.
• Certified PCR
  Certified post-consumer recycled content resin (PCR) is blended with virgin resins to create a PCR option. The material is recyclable at the end of its life. The minimum is 1000 pounds.
• Downgauging
  Reducing the material thickness is a good way to reduce cost and reduce environmental impact. Samples and low-volume trial orders are available upon request.
• Other Options
  There are many sustainable options available. If you have questions or have requests for certain specifications (biobased, compostable, etc), please let us know and we can help vet out the possibilities.
  Inks: Water-based inks used in production for in-house prints.

We make our own custom boxes for each order. In doing so, we reduce the amount of “dead space” in the package which results in a smaller environmental impact in 2 ways.

• Less cardboard

• Less damage in transit and potential for return which creates more emissions through remanufacturing and transportation.

We have invested in more durable skids for outward bound shipments to help prevent damage in transit.  Avoiding damage avoids emissions from re-making material and from multiple transports. 

Summit Films invested in new pallet wrappers.  The new wrappers use less stretch wrap and less energy than the previous equipment.  

• Partner to Close Loops
  If you have plastic to recycle, we would like to partner with you. Our machinery can take plastic bags, regrind, remelt, and re-pelletize the plastic to make new plastic. Bag to Bag recycling avoids downcycling. Downcycling is when an item is recycled to a different product. (Packaging becomes a fence post). We strive to keep the material “on the same level” as much as possible.
• Recycling cardboard and cores
  We close as many internal loops as we can in recycling our internal cardboard and cores.
• View PDF

• Blogs
  We strive to educate as much as we can through the use of our blogs. Check the blog page for updates.

• Internal Sustainability Team
  Ten people from our staff went through a 6 part training series on sustainability that lasted 5 months. See blog posts for what the training entailed. The team meets throughout the year to govern sustainability efforts.

• Training
  The entire Summit Films staff will be trained in sustainability efforts in 2024.  Management run employee meetings will include a slide on sustainability efforts to bring heightened awareness and fresh ideas to the overall program.  

Summit Films is always looking to collaborate on new materials with vendors and customers.  The collaboration leads to more learning and helps bring new materials to scale faster.  The Summit platform (Summit Films, ClearView Packaging Albany, and ClearView Packaging Milwaukee)  of companies is currently involved in multiple collaborations on different Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) content and bio materials.