CPMA releases design guidelines for produce packaging

The Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA) has released nine design rules for plastic packaging tailored for the fresh produce sector. 

CPMA’s rules aim to provide the sector with guidance to reduce the environmental impacts of primary packaging and of business-to-business packaging. 

Rules include removing problematic elements from produce packaging; minimizing headspace in flexible packaging; using on-pack recycling instructions; and reducing virgin plastic use and increasing PCR content in primary produce packaging, to name a few.

In 2019, CPMA created a Plastics Packaging Working Group to address the use of plastics within the produce sector. The association is also a partner of the Canada Plastics Pact (CPP), an organization that is tackling plastic waste and pollution.  

CPP released Golden Design Rules for Plastics Packaging in 2021, which have provided the framework for CPMA’s produce plastic packaging rules.  

“Navigating the process of developing sustainable packaging can be complicated and challenging,” Ron Lemaire, CPMA president, said in a statement. “This new tool has been developed to enable produce companies within our supply chain to make decisions specific to their business.”