Best Buy teams up with packaging giant to cut plastic waste: 'We're always looking for new ways to reduce our impact'

Best Buy's new partnership is moving the company closer to its sustainability goals of reducing virgin plastic, all while making it easier for customers to participate in recycling programs. 

As detailed by Packaging World, the electronics retailer has teamed up with packaging giant Sealed Air to roll out packaging solutions that are just as protective but made from recycled materials, reducing the need for the polluting process of manufacturing virgin plastics. 

The solutions include Bubble Wrap brand "High Recycled Content Bubble Cushioning" made from at least 90% recycled plastic; "Recycled Content Inflatable Air Pillows" containing at least 50% recycled plastic; and "Paper Bubble Mailers" with nearly 40% recycled paper. 

In a move even more enticing than the satisfying pop of those tiny plastic bubbles, the initiative makes it simple for shoppers to participate in a cleaner future. Sealed Air has worked with Best Buy to make store drop-off available for the former two packaging types. Meanwhile, the Paper Bubble Mailers are eligible for curbside recycling. 

"We're always looking for new ways to reduce our impact on the environment and as part of that work we are also looking at how to make our packaging more sustainable," Best Buy head of sustainability Tim Dunn said in a statement published by Packaging World. "The partnership with Sealed Air has helped us further weave the circular economy into our supply chain." 

As Dunn alluded to, the groundbreaking announcement isn't the first eco-friendly undertaking by Best Buy. In March, the retailer revealed that it had partnered with How2Recycle to demystify recycling practices, with hopes of improving the likelihood of repurposing materials. 

The company also has a program that rewards consumers for trading in their old electronics, helping to reduce toxic e-waste, which the World Health Organization warns is the fastest-growing type of waste globally, with around 59 million tons produced in 2019 alone.      

As for Sealed Air, its packaging solutions are making waves across multiple sectors, including in automotive and medical. 

"Making sustainability progress cannot be done alone, and an opportunity like this to help Best Buy improve the packaging they use to ship products every day is a great example of the work we are doing at Sealed Air to solve our customers' critical packaging challenges," said Sealed Air VP of Materials Innovation Tiffani Burt, Ph.D., per Packaging World. 

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