The Danish dairy cooperative said it is taking another step towards its climate goal to become completely carbon neutral by 2050, as the milk crates that transport millions of liters of fresh milk to Danish consumers are now being made from 100% recycled plastic.
Three-hundred thousand of the new crates will hit the streets in the coming year, but they will look a bit different as the transition not only makes the crates greener, their color is changing to black. This is because the plastic used for the crates is recycled from the car industry, which cannot be produced in the former green color.
The change means that CO2 emissions are being reduced by at least 30%. In the first year alone, Arla says 250,000 kilos of CO2 will be saved.
Jakob B. Knudsen, head of Arla Denmark, said, “We’re very devoted to making our dairy products more sustainable, and climate friendly packaging is a central part of the solution. We’re of course aiming to produce as few new milk crates as possible, but when new ones are needed, it’s important for us to make the greenest choice even though it means we have to go with a darker look.”
Currently there are between 2m and 3m of Arla’s milk crates in use in Denmark. And for years, several initiatives have been put in place to make the milk crates more sustainable. Broken crates are collected and reused and every year, a national event is organised to collect milk crates that have gone astray.
Last year 100,000 milk crates were found and returned safely.
