Romania Replaces 10M Plastic Packs with Cardboard

Ten million plastic containers are disappearing from Romanian grocery stores, replaced by something far kinder to the planet: recyclable cardboard punnets designed to work even faster on packing lines.

DS Smith, now part of International Paper, teamed up with Serele SupeR, a Romanian agricultural cooperative, to completely reimagine how fresh tomatoes travel from farm to table. The partnership tackles one of the food industry's biggest environmental challenges: single-use plastic packaging that protects produce for days but pollutes for centuries.

The design team studied Serele SupeR's existing plastic containers and created four new corrugated cardboard designs. Each punnet is made from FSC-certified fibers, meaning the materials come from responsibly managed forests that are replanted and protected.

But here's what makes this switch remarkable: the new packaging actually speeds up operations. Production workers can pack tomatoes more quickly in the fiber-based containers than they could with the old plastic versions. That detail matters because it proves sustainability doesn't have to mean compromise.

The shift eliminates plastic while also cutting emissions across the supply chain. Lighter materials mean less fuel burned during transport. Recyclable packaging means less waste rotting in landfills or floating in oceans.

The Ripple Effect

This project does more than clean up one cooperative's packaging. It creates a working blueprint that other fresh produce companies across Romania and beyond can follow.

When agricultural businesses see that sustainable packaging improves efficiency rather than hindering it, the decision becomes obvious. The tomato punnets serve as proof of concept for an entire industry struggling to reduce its environmental footprint.

DS Smith representatives noted the new designs demonstrate effectiveness to the wider horticultural sector in Romania. They hope other fresh produce growers will start viewing fiber-based packaging as the new standard rather than the exception.

Romania's agricultural sector is watching this partnership closely. If cardboard punnets work for tomatoes, they'll work for peppers, cucumbers, strawberries, and countless other products currently wrapped in plastic.

Ten million packages represent just the beginning of what's possible when packaging companies and farmers work together toward shared environmental goals.