Uncle Dougie’s swaps glass for plastic squeeze pouch as LCA study reveals sustainability gains

27 May 2019 --- Uncle Dougie’s – the manufacturer of natural and organic sauces, marinades and rubs – has significantly reduced its carbon footprint by shifting to a flexible pouch for its newest line of USDA Organic barbeque sauces. As reportedly the first company in the condiment aisle to debut the inverted flexible squeeze pouch, the brand is disrupting a category dominated by rigid glass and plastic bottles.

In partnership with US packaging supplier Glenroy, the company responsible for producing the new squeeze pouches, Uncle Dougie’s worked with the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) to measure the environmental footprint and sustainability of squeeze pouches against typical glass barbeque sauce bottles. Results of this study show that the squeeze pouches:

• Reduce fossil fuel usage by 65 percent;
• Reduce greenhouse emissions by 78 percent;
• Reduce overall water usage by 80 percent.

“We wanted to understand our environmental impact from a holistic standpoint and look for ways to reduce our natural resource consumption as we launched these organic items,” says Rob Johnson, CEO of Uncle Dougie’s. “This package is a huge upgrade for convenience and usability, and proves you can bring meaningful innovation to consumers and do good for the planet at the same time.”

The comparative analysis conducted by NMI utilized COMPASS software, the industry standard in measuring environmental impact. COMPASS was developed in collaboration with the Sustainable Packaging Coalition in 2006 and is continuously updated to reflect new materials, processes and impacts. The tool measures the impact of the raw materials, manufacturing processes, transportation and end-of-life disposition (where the package will end up) so that environmental performance criteria can be taken into consideration during package development and design.

“The Environmental Protection Agency considers source reduction to be the single most effective method of waste management because it’s a true preventive measure and addresses pollution at its source. At Glenroy, we equally support this vision,” notes Amanda Dahlby, Marketing Manager at Glenroy.”

While the inverted squeeze pouches are not yet recyclable, the packaging is far more sustainable than glass due to its significantly lower carbon footprint and natural resource utilization. Recyclable, flexible food-grade plastic has yet to be developed, but Uncle Dougie’s will be in a unique position to immediately adopt this type of plastic once it becomes available the company notes.

“We did take recyclability into consideration, but glass recycling is becoming more and more difficult for consumers, and in a lot of cases it’s worse for natural resource consumption,” adds Johnson. “Examining our sustainability practices from a holistic standpoint allows us to make smart decisions that will more significantly reduce our carbon footprint and do better to leave the world a better place than we found it.”