SUSTAINABILITY
At Sabert, our commitment to the environment is a fundamental part of our business philosophy.
Our commitment to sustainability spans far beyond recyclable or compostable product lines. It impacts our entire business model, from new product development to ongoing modification and product improvements.
We pride ourselves on a deep-rooted commitment to environmental values and responsibilities, which we bring to life each day through continued efforts to reduce our corporate environmental impact. From our facilities to our packaging, sustainability and quality are never compromised.
Not only do we want to make food look great, but we want to keep it safe and sustainable, too.
We are continually looking for ways to deepen our sustainability efforts and partner with our customers to make a meaningful and lasting environmental impact. Details about our initiatives are outlined in our 2025 Sustainability Report.
Download Our 2025 Sustainability Report
View Our Interactive 2025 Sustainability Report
OUR SUSTAINABILITY PILLARS
IN 2025 SABERT:
96% of the waste generated at our manufacturing facilities was diverted from landfills.
39,666 MT of PCR material has been processed at Nuvida since 2019.
WASTE REDUCTION
Reducing waste across the manufacturing, use, and end of life of our food packaging solutions remains central to our circularity approach.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Our facilities decreased their waste intensity by 14% compared to 2023
Continued an employee-led waste reduction, reuse, and recycling across facilities
Continued our comprehensive program to further improve machine reliability, aimed at reducing waste generation
Continued to optimize operation conditions to reduce line scraps and employ best practices to ensure finished goods meet specifications
Shredder grinders at all plastics facilities ensure all resin scrap is internally reused and extruded again
Continued segregating waste at all plants to prevent contamination, thereby improving reuse and recyclability of waste streams
- Strengthened our stage-gate review process for new waste education initiatives, ensuring that each site can identify barriers, track progress, and replicate successful practices
- Implemented waste-sortation locations throughout facilities to make recycling easier for employees, expanded access to recycling in harder-to-recycle regions, and utilized Waste-to-Energy (WTE) facilities where available
ENERGY CONSERVATION
We are committed to finding cleaner and more efficient ways to use energy, water, and other precious resources across all of our operations. In 2025, we also committed to setting company-wide emission reduction targets through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
OPERATIONS HIGHLIGHTS
Continued to build on programs to conserve energy, water, and other natural resources, which helped us achieve a 9% reduction in energy intensity compared to our 2019 baseline, along with a 10% decrease in GHG emissions intensity since 2020
- Advanced efficiency through third-party audits, equipment upgrades, process optimization, and proactive maintenance
- Improved building, fleet, and production performance while embedding energy efficiency into new lines and site operations
- Reinforced accountability through energy-related KPIs, reporting, and performance-based incentives, including expanded incentives in
Belgium - Reduced energy and GHG emissions intensity through coordinated site-specific actions,
including retiring refrigerant leaking equipment, optimizing molding operations, and improving processes at our China facility - Plants emphasized real-time energy awareness, consistent monitoring, and preventative maintenance to keep equipment running efficiently
TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS HIGHLIGHTS
- Now in its fourth year, Project Perfect Pallet remains a major driver of avoided emissions and operational efficiency across our logistics network. Cumulatively since 2021, the initiative has delivered more efficient packaging, reduced transportation demand, reduced warehouse storage space and resulted in meaningful emissions reduction. By the end of 2025, Sabert reached 89.3% cube utilization, keeping us on track toward our long-standing goal of achieving 93% utilization
Sabert is a US EPA SmartWay Transportation Partner. In the latest reporting year, 76% of ton-miles of freight shipped at Sabert North America were transported with SmartWay carriers
EDUCATION & ADVOCACY
At Sabert, we believe that meaningful sustainability outcomes require partnership. Our role extends beyond just being a sustainable food packaging solutions provider. We collaborate closely with suppliers, customers, industry peers, and local communities to advocate for lasting change in
our industry
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
In 2025, we worked with customers/partners to:
- Package Food Responsibly: We helped customers evaluate food packaging solutions through comprehensive assessments, providing transparent, detailed, data-driven analyses so they could understand the full impact of different packaging options
- Continuously Improve: We work closely with our customers to develop food packaging solutions to help meet their current goals while anticipating what’s next. From increasing recycled content to lowering emissions, our process is one of continuous collaboration and customization.
- Stay Ahead on Health, Safety and Legislation: We proactively deliver expertise and real-world data to our customers, offering transparent, clear, and actionable guidance. We track legislative and regulatory developments across markets and engage with policymakers and industry organizations to provide our customers with resources and insights on how to be compliant today, and what actions they need to take in the future.
Industry Engagement and Thought Leadership in 2025:
- Sabert takes an active role in trade organizations and industry partnerships dedicated to creating the policies, infrastructure, innovations, and logistics required to build sustainable food packaging solutions. Proud members of The Association of Plastics Recyclers, Sustainable Packaging Coalition, Foodservice Packaging Institute, and AMERIPEN
SMART SOURCING
Supply chain resilience is increasingly important, and our sourcing strategy is designed to mitigate risk while maintaining consistent quality and supply. By proactively using recycled and certified materials, we help customers stay ahead of regulatory shifts while supporting consistent product performance.
KEY INITIATIVES
- We evaluate raw materials through a lifecycle lens to ensure they support food safety, circularity, and overall product performance. This includes expanding the use of recycled resins, increasing certified fiber inputs, and improving traceability across the supply chain
- We increased access to recycled plastic feedstocks through both supplier partnerships and our Nuvida PCR capabilities
- We expanded the use of recycled and certified fiber inputs from sources aligned with FSC®, PEFC™, and SFI® standards
95% of the raw materials in the US were sourced domestically, 100% of the raw materials in Asia were sourced domestically, and 88% of raw materials in Europe
RESEARCH & REINVENTION
We understand that the future of food packaging will be defined by the decisions we make today. We take a strategic approach to product development, combining cutting-edge innovation with a relentless commitment to creating smarter, safer, and more inspiring solutions for tomorrow’s world.
KEY INITIATIVES
- Sabert’s team of experts in material science, product design, engineering, and manufacturing collaborate and influence our delivery of new, sustainable, innovative solutions to the marketplace
- Globally, our teams launched 481 new SKUs, of which 78% are categorized as sustainable, defined as those products containing at least 25% recycled or bio-based content and designed to be recyclable or compostable at the end of life
- We actively invest in certified post-consumer recycled content (PCR) to help brands and companies meet legislative demands, lower carbon emissions
and energy use, and reduce the reliance on virgin plastic. Additionally, Nuvida’s full range of resins achieved APR PCR Certification, confirming resins are manufactured from PCR sources to ensure regulatory compliance - We enhanced our pulp coating infrastructure at our Greenville, Texas, facility, expanding our capacity for sustainable coated molded fiber pulp solutions. This advancement localizes production, reduces environmental impact, and directly aligns our capabilities with the evolving needs of our key customers
- With a long-term focus on material and process development, our Centers for Innovation are a critical link in our ability to pave a path to innovation in the products we bring to market while simultaneously moving the industry forward
- Our Advanced Technology Center and internal labs serve as a one-stop shop where customers can access our comprehensive capabilities,
combining rapid prototyping, small-run production, materials expertise, and performance testing across multiple substrates - We continued investment in in-house tooling capabilities to bring sustainable solutions faster to market and automation
- Our New Product Development team works across all Sabert functions to realize manufacturing efficiencies and more sustainable solutions
SABERT’S RECYCLING FACILITY: NUVIDA
Sabert has in-house recycling capabilities through our plant, Nuvida, one of the world's largest processors and suppliers of food-grade recycled plastic. Nuvida is integral in our waste reduction and smart sourcing pillars, helping us to incorporate recycled plastic otherwise destined for landfill into our product lines.
Find out more in the video below!
