Outlook Group has once again won the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) Business Friend of the Environment (BFOE) Award for Sustainability. This 32nd Annual BFOE award highlights what Wisconsin companies are doing in the areas of sustainability, innovative technology and environmental stewardship.

For this year’s award, Outlook Group focused on printed flexible packaging films which have grown to be a leading packaging technology for brand owners, driven by consumer demand for more environmentally-friendly packaging.

In response to retailer and consumer demands, the flexible packaging industry has introduced a myriad of recycle-ready, compostable, and biodegradable material structures you see on store shelves today, each having their own set of pros and cons.

Outlook Group introduces packaging products that will biodegrade in a standard landfill environment and do not require consumers to change their recycling habits. Biodegradable films are engineered to undergo an enzymatic degradation process that is initiated by the heat and pressure that are presented in an anaerobic environment that exists in U.S.-based landfills. Outlook Group’s “Oil2Soil” films perform the same as all standard flexible packaging materials, but will disappear in 5-6 years.

The enzymatic process breaks down the film into CO2, methane, and water, with many municipal landfills collecting methane to use as an energy source. As well, consumers simply discard their empty packages into their curbside trash container, the contents end up in a landfill, and the positive “end-of-life” story simply just happens. And while this is the simplest path to a positive “end-of-life” package, these films also represent only a modest 10%-15% upcharge when compared to “standard” films.

Outlook Group has been a 98% landfill-free manufacturing facility for over a decade. Sustainability is part of our DNA. Our products ensure a competitive continuous supply chain, using materials that convert with ease, and drive a positive customer experience. 

Jim Woller, Outlook Group’s director of market development – Flexible Packaging, says, “As producers and consumers are bombarded with the Three Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – we like to remind them of the Fourth R – Reality. And the Reality is that infrastructure and cost make recycle-ready and compostable options unrealistic. Outlook Group’s Oil2Soil biodegradable films provide a sustainable product that actually is sustainable, even in Reality.”