Atlantic Packaging announced that its Packaging Solution Center in Charlotte, NC was awarded Gold certification under the TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) rating system. Administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), TRUE helps facilities measure, improve and recognize zero waste performance by encouraging the adoption of sustainable waste management and reduction practices, which contribute to positive environmental, health and economic outcomes.听
The Packaging Solution Center in Charlotte reached a 95.6% waste diversion rate, well above TRUE’s baseline requirement of 90% diversion from landfills, incineration, and the environment 鈥� enough to earn Gold, the second highest of TRUE’s five certification levels. The achievement makes Charlotte Atlantic’s first facility to be TRUE-certified to the Gold level, building on four existing TRUE-certified facilities in Dallas, Texas; Sturgis, Michigan; Greensboro (Spring Garden St.), North Carolina; and Greenville, South Carolina.听
鈥淩eaching Gold at our Packaging Solution Center shows what’s possible when a team commits fully to a zero-waste mindset. A 95.6% diversion rate isn’t incremental progress, it’s a fundamentally different way of running a facility, and it sets a new benchmark for the rest of our network,鈥� said Gabie Giers, Sustainability Analyst, Atlantic Packaging, who led the project.听
Atlantic’s path to Gold certification at the Charlotte Solution Center included:听
- Operations and system change: The facility overhauled its recycling collection system, replacing a cardboard-only bin with a single-stream setup and retraining office and janitorial staff on proper sorting. The Packaging Solution Center also implemented Atlantic鈥檚 MUST Management System, Atlantic’s patented stretch wrapping optimization program, directly on its own stretch wrappers. By running MUST on its own stretch wrappers, the facility demonstrates firsthand that operational efficiency and sustainability can reinforce each other, not just for customers, but within Atlantic’s own walls.听
- Employee engagement and training: Atlantic’s Sustainability Team hosted a Zero 91TV Training Lunch & Learn, standardized recycling, composting, and landfill bins in breakroom spaces, and offered reusable dishware as alternatives to single-use food service items. An employee garden behind the warehouse, fed by compost purchased back from local partner Crown Town Compost, has become a hands-on symbol of the facility’s zero-waste culture.听
- Benefits for the community: The Packaging Solution Center partners with Charlotte-based Crown Town Compost to divert food and organic waste from the landfill, supporting a local听business while returning nutrients to the community. The facility also maintains a dedicated e-waste collection area open to employees for both office and personal electronics.听
- Innovative aspects and zero-waste best practices: As Atlantic’s most customer-facing facility, welcoming hundreds of visitors each year, Charlotte developed clearer signage and trained customer-facing staff to guide visitors on recycling and composting correctly. The facility also houses Atlantic’s closed-loop stretch film system, capable of recovering up to 10 million pounds of stretch film annually and upcycles pellets that don’t meet quality standards for new film through a recycling partner.听
鈥淏usinesses must go beyond our current wasteful practices and think critically about how to redesign processes so that less waste is produced in the first place,鈥� notes Peter Templeton, President and CEO of U.S. Green Building Council and GBCI. 鈥淚mplementing zero waste business practices requires rethinking, retraining, new tools and strong leadership to change current waste systems. With Atlantic Packaging鈥檚 leadership in this endeavor, they are making great strides for their employees, community and consumers at large.鈥�听