Good for Customers – Good for the Planet
Nutrisystem is a leader in the weight loss industry, having helped millions of people lose weight for nearly 50 years. Their mission is to “help you transform your life inside and out with a personalized weight management experience that’s effective, simple to follow, and made just for you”. As part of their program, the company delivers frozen meals and snacks, which offer their clients additional tools to help them meet USDA Dietary Guidelines for a balanced diet.
For years, Nutrisystem had been successfully shipping its frozen items to customers in expanded polystyrene (EPS) coolers. The company recognized the many benefits of the material. Not only did it provide the thermal protection needed to keep foods at the right temperature, but was lightweight and easy to pack/unpack, and was extremely economical. In addition, EPS is 100% recyclable and uses significantly fewer resources (land, water, energy, CO2 emissions, etc.) than paper, so was an optimal choice for lower environmental impacts.
The one challenge for some Nutrisystem customers was to find a local source for recycling the coolers they received. Nutrisystem wanted to find a way to make recycling easier and they approached the Foam Fabricators (FFI) team to exchange ideas. FFI knew there were numerous locations throughout North America to recycle EPS; they simply needed to figure out a way to get that information to Nutrisystem’s clients.
Together, the companies found a solution to help spread the message – a website dedicated to providing information on where to recycle EPS: REUSEPS.com. The site, which is managed and kept current by FFI, provides information on how to recycle the material and includes links to help customers find the closest location to their individual zip code. Nutrisystem immediately added the information to their website, and included it with every shipment to their customers. By doing so, they have helped thousands of customers reuse or recycle their coolers.