Marketing company Harte-Hanks (NYSE:HHS) announced yesterday that it is helping The Coca-Cola Company keep its fulfillment process environmentally sensitive, with packing, packaging, and print communications that utilize sustainable forestry-certified papers, all of which contain at least some post-consumer recycled fiber, and help the global brand honor its corporate responsibility commitments.
Harte-Hanks made the announcement during the Direct Marketing Association Annual Conference (DMA07) held in Chicago on October 13-18. Retail orders that are placed at the Coca-Cola store Web site are fulfilled in part from a U.S.-based Harte-Hanks facility. As part of this process, Harte-Hanks has helped the company source green packaging that extends the drink company’s commitment to environmental responsibility.
“The Coca-Cola brand has a comprehensive corporate responsibility review program that embraces environmental performance in the areas of water stewardship, energy and climate protection, and sustainable packaging,” says Lisa Manley, director of environmental communications for Coca-Cola. “Harte-Hanks has joined us in this commitment, and helps us demonstrate this performance through the sourcing of greener alternatives to traditional packing and packaging.”
Harte-Hanks helps Coca-Cola fulfill thousands of orders per month, covering an inventory of 4,500 products (SKUs). Shipping boxes carry 30 percent post-consumer recycled fiber, and custom wrap for fragile items is 100 percent post-consumer fiber.
Of the virgin fiber content in the shipping boxes, all of it is certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative certification program.
“Harte-Hanks has assisted us in sourcing materials that reflect sustainability,” says Dennis Maloney, director of global e-commerce, Coca-Cola. “Through the company’s innovation, we were able to extend our green fulfillment capabilities beyond what we thought was possible when we initiated this project.”
“Environmental attributes of packaging are dynamic–the marketplace changes, and performance varies by supplier and manufacturer,” says Tann Tueller, corporate officer and vice president of Harte-Hanks. “The use of papers for packaging that are certified for forest sustainability, and the use of recovered paper fiber–where mill efficiency, transport and energy use, and water use are optimized–all help to make more informed decisions about materials that are right for today. We’re proud to help
Coca-Cola in this aspect of its greening efforts, and to help them keep pace with these dynamics. We know it matters to the company’s management, and, of course, to all of Coca-Cola’s stakeholders–its employees, shareholders, partners, and customers. Our employees love it, too.”
