Accredo Packaging, Inc.’s slogan isDesigned for Sustainability…Built for Success. As a vertically-integrated converting company producing flexible packaging with an emphasis on sustainability, Accredo seems to be living that mantra. One of the few facilities to offer up to 9-layer high-barrier extrusion, exclusive extended gamut printing and diverse bag-/pouch-making, Accredo sees to it that it is a nearly one-stop shop for your flexible packaging needs.

Executive vice president Rex Varn and director of sustainability Malcolm Cohn offered a snapshot into the business of Accredo, to explain the facility, printing capabilities, green initiatives and many of its successful offerings.

Vertical Integration for Success

Cohn explains that it’s not just extrusion or printing that the company offers: “Our products include coextruded, laminated, printed or unprinted barrier roll-stock, pouches, wicketed bags and bundling film, or as value added pre-formed pouches, both conventional stand-up pouches and innovative square-bottom box pouches.”

A fairly recent start-up, Accredo set its bar high from the beginning. “When you’re a start-up operation, the biggest concern is putting the necessary infrastructure in place to serve your customers. This we have accomplished as evidenced by the number of major brand owners now in the Accredo stable. What we’re doing now is to shift this strategy, looking to the future and not the present,” says Varn. “Developing marketplace credibility is a major focus. We’ve put a highly experienced management team in place to manage our growth. Together, they’re capable of leveraging an extensive network of resources.”

Just 24 months after Accredo Packaging began its reduced carbon-footprint production of extruded film and flexible packaging, expanding sales warranted groundbreaking for a new 175,000-square-foot corporate office, converting and warehouse facility. The new building will be completed in August 2012 and located adjacent to the present production facility. Like its 200,000-square-foot sister facility, the new building is being constructed with LEED Silver certification in mind.

Printing for the Industry

Accredo’s printing capabilities go beyond typical expectations with the deployment of a proprietary printing process that brings new meaning to the term “extended color gamut.” Accredo’s 10-color presses are capable of running up to 2,000 feet per minute, and are so finely tuned that the company guarantees a consistent visual match from job to job, whether hours or months apart.

Varn explains Accredo’s vertically-integrated converting line: “Accredo Packaging runs exclusively extended color gamut process printing – no ‘line’ or ‘spot’ colors are used. Our proprietary, enhanced, extended gamut printing has a capability of reproducing near-infinite color shades. We primarily use a combination of CMYK for imagery plus our comprehensive, custom-made process color portfolio, providing the Creative Designers and Brand Team with the very latest technologies and know-how to bring pop to the brand image.”

“Accredo has quickly placed itself among the leading flexible packaging extended color gamut printers globally. Our extended, (also known as ‘expanded’) gamut printing solution adds colors beyond CMYK to the process ink-set, to improve the ability to render ‘spots’, using only process colors. Our system allows for the enhancement of the color brilliance of the image itself, adding further value to our client’s custom packaging solutions,” says Varn.

Green LEED Certification

Accredo Packaging, Inc., a member of the API Family of Companies, is believed to be the first flexible packaging manufacturing facility in the to be granted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Cohn is very proud of Accredo’s LEED Silver certification. “In order to achieve this notable certification, our owners and executive team made a long-term investment of time and resources to design, build and operate a facility according to stringent environmental requirements, from optimization of the procurement of materials, to energy usage, to waste management. As a result, everything we produce has a significantly reduced carbon footprint, even when manufactured to the same specifications as at conventional plants.”

Varn has also been dedicated to seeing this certification through. “From the outset, the company owners envisioned a new flexible packaging division that, from the ground up, would embody the principles of business, social, and environmental sustainability. The attainment of LEED Silver certification was always the goal, right from project conception. The consultants and architects, too, embraced sustainable building concepts when designing our plant to LEED guidelines, resulting in a more energy- and water-efficient plant with nominal emissions.”

“At Accredo Packaging, Inc. we are committed to environmental mindfulness and stewardship in all our activities,” adds Cohn. “Our on-site plate manufacturing does not require the use of solvents or water in the plate-making process which, again, reduces overall energy consumption, emissions and waste. The processing waste rolls are recovered and incinerated for bio-mass energy. This displaces fossil fuel use.”

Ultimate Product Goals

Varn understands that a product is made better when environmental considerations are kept front of mind. “We seek to achieve state-of-the-art, yet environmentally sustainable, flexible packaging conversions by combining the best people in the industry with the latest available technologies. We’ve sought to integrate sustainability into every aspect of Accredo’s business model. As one of our core values, sustainability is a critical consideration in the products we create, our worker safety initiatives and our environmental policies. Our owners and executives take a leadership role in promoting a sustainable operating environment – whether that's looking at current day-to-day operations or forecasting future needs and requirements.”

Converters can look to Accredo as an example of rapid growth and success. “Accredo Packaging, Inc. utilizes the latest technologies and state of the art equipment to bridge the gap from conventional packaging to a more sustainable, environmentally responsible product. From receipt of raw material to finished product out the gate, at Accredo Packaging, Inc. we demonstrate we are environmentally cognizant of the world around us,” says Cohn.

Accredo Packaging, Inc.
(866) 203-3554
www.accredopackaging.com