Saputo Cheese USA Inc., Lincolnshire, Ill., said its Treasure Cave and Frigo Cheese brands removed their carton sleeves, moved to direct printing and added instructions on the cups to inform consumers  about proper disposal for their deli cup packaging sold in retail. Both brands have national distribution of their deli cup SKUs across the dairy and deli aisles, and these changes result in a number of positive environmental impacts. For example, removal of the carton sleeves eliminates over 600,000 pounds of paper from the supply chain — reducing consumption of natural resources, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and waste associated with their production, shipping and storage. 

Additionally, Saputo Cheese USA said these changes should support recycling. Removing the carton sleeves eliminates the risk of the packaging cross-contaminating the paper and plastic recycling streams, while switching to direct printing reduces recycling contamination in general. This is important because contamination can reduce the quality of the recycled material and even lead to rejection of the material to landfill or less beneficial uses. Furthermore, adding instructions for proper disposal should encourage more consumers to recycle and recycle properly, increasing recycling rates and further reducing contamination.