TLMI has announced that association members Label King, AWT, Grand Rapids Label and Hub Labels have been awarded TLMI Calvin Frost Environmental Leadership Awards at the association’s Virtual Annual Meeting.

In 2018 it was announced that the awards have been officially renamed the Calvin Frost Environmental Leadership Awards, an eponymous tribute to one of the packaging industry’s most respected environmental and sustainability thought leaders, longtime TLMI member, and esteemed L&NW columnist.

The awards recognize association members that have consistently demonstrated a commitment to progressive environmental practices across a range of areas including solid waste reduction, recycling, waste or energy recovery, the implementation of new “clean” technology and/or processes and the implementation of an educational program. This year, the Awards Committee, under the leadership of Aimee Peacock of TLMI supplier member company FLEXcon, redesigned the application process to make it more conducive to smaller companies that might not have the same resources to dedicate to best environmental practices.


Rosalyn Bandy, TLMI’s vice president of sustainability, comments, “I would like to personally congratulate all of this year’s winners of the Calvin Frost Environmental Leadership Award winners. I would also like to thank Aimee Peacock and the entire Awards Committee for their hard work in reviewing submissions and ensuring the awards align with TLMI’s goals and strategic plan. As pressures surrounding sustainability continue to mount in our industry, it’s more important than ever that TLMI members have the educational resources they need and the recognition they so deserve.”

As of this year, TLMI members can submit applications in the following three categories:

• The Trailhead Award: For companies in the early stages of their sustainability journey.
• The Journey Award: For companies that are further along in their sustainability journey.
• The Elevation Award: For companies with sophisticated in-house sustainability programs and that are making a significant industry impact.

The winner of the 2020 Trailhead Award was AWT Labels & Packaging. The Awards Committee was impressed with the way the company highlighted their program on downgauging, recycling and landfill avoidance. The judges were also impressed with AWT’s education program for both employees and customers, and the company’s in-house sustainability policies and goals.

This year, the Awards Committee created an additional Trailhead recognition award for Leadership in Liner Recycling Recognition. The award was given to The Label King given the company’s extensive work in the area of liner recycling.

The winner of the 2020 Journey Award was Grand Rapids Label. The Awards Committee noted that Grand Rapids has numerous metrics in place to demonstrate the company’s positive environmental impact in addition to an extensive recycling program in the plant. Grand Rapids is over 80% landfill-free and measures all company impacts through ISO 14001 certification.

The winner of the 2020 Elevation Award was Hub Labels. The judges recognized that Hub was one of the first TLMI members to become Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) certified and that the company recycles and diverts all of its waste from landfill. Hub is also currently working with partners to secure renewable energy and to assist their suppliers with their own sustainability goals.