The 100% recyclable packaging will help NEB to eliminate the use of difficult-to-recycle EPS and minimise carbon emissions

BioLabs

New England Biolabs has replaced EPS with TemperPack’s recyclable packaging for cold chain shipping. (Credit: PRNewsfoto/New England Biolabs, Inc)

New England Biolabs (NEB) has replaced the expanded polystyrene (EPS) with TemperPack’s 100% recyclable packaging for cold chain shipping applications.

NEB is engaged in the discovery and production of enzymes for molecular biology applications. It also offers a range of recombinant and native enzymes for genomic research.

TemperPack’s recyclable packaging will help maintain better shipping temperature conditions for NEB’s products

The company has selected TemperPack’s recyclable packaging to maintain better shipping temperature conditions for its products.

Shipping temperature is crucial for the enzymes and reagents and they usually need shipment on ice or dry ice.

The light and durable EPS is said to be the gold standard for cold shipping, but it is not easy to recycle and has to be ended in landfills.

TemperPack founder James McGoff said: “Not only are they helping to eliminate EPS from landfills, but the transition to the ClimaCell shipper represents a 25% reduction in carbon emissions.”

NEB’s new shipping box features the ClimaCell insert, which is paper-based and holds the capacity to maintain the required temperature conditions for the duration of a product’s delivery time.

NEB plans to replace EPS shipments with ClimaCell cooler in the US in late April / early May this year.

The entire box can be recycled with other corrugated cardboard after unpacking, said the company.

NEB will also maintain its shipping box recycling programme for a minority of its products that still depend on EPS. The programme enables customers to use a free return label to send their EPS shipping box back to NEB for re-use.

NEB CEO Jim Ellard said: “We are continuously working to promote ecologically sound practices and environmental sustainability, to protect our natural resources both locally and globally.

“It is our goal to continuously improve our business processes to minimize our impact on the environment. Transitioning to a 100% recyclable solution for shipping our products represents an important step in achieving this goal.”