St. Pete Fortune 500 firm puts a face on sustainable packaging [Video]

Add documentary film producer to the list of credits for Jabil Inc.

Jabil (NYSE: JBL), a manufacturer that offers design, supply chain and product management services for its customers, has produced a documentary on sustainable packaging that will debut Thursday.

Since the 1990s, the global economy has produced more than 9.2 billion tons of plastic, and 91 percent of that has never been recycled, according to a trailer for the documentary, The Sustainable Packaging Revolution.

The documentary looks at ways technology can help develop new solutions for a more sustainable approach to packaging.

KW Plastics, a major plastics recycler, and Danimer Scientific, a company that develops and makes biodegradable plastics products, provided input for the documentary, which will premier on YouTube at 11:30 a.m. June 27.

The premiere coincides with the launch of a new suite of sustainable packaging services at Jabil. Jabil, No. 140 on the Fortune 500 and the largest company headquartered in St. Petersburg with $22.1 billion in 2018 revenue, got into the packaging business in 2013 when it acquired Nypro. The packaging line of business has repeatedly been cited as one of Jabil’s faster-growing operations.

Companies producing consumer packaged goods – or CPG’s – are at a turning point, Jabil said in a news release. Those companies are faced with increased regulation, higher taxes and pushback from consumers unless they find smart ways to make their products and packaging sustainable.

“For CPGs, there has never been a bigger challenge than the transition to a truly sustainable business model,” Jason Paladino, vice president of technology at Jabil Packaging Services, said in the release.

Forty-four percent of packaging decision-makers cited a lack of technical solutions as one of the biggest barriers in meeting sustainability goals, according  to a survey by Jabil released in March.

Jabil is “uniquely positioned” to help brands solve their challenges, Paladino said.

The company has expanded its custom packaging services to include three services — design for sustainability, sustainable assessment and materials sourcing and development.

The company did not disclose any financial details about the new services, and declined to make a spokesman available for comment in advance of the documentary premiere.