"The plant-IT-Friendly retail sleeve is the solution to the retail plastic problem"

"The current way plants are produced for retail sales in Europe and the US is in plastic pots, and then later adding plastic tags, plastic hang tags, or to apply adhesive labels to the pot. This creates a massive amount of waste for the landfill, and unnecessary additional cost for the grower," the Blackmore Company states.

They add: " A 1 gallon pot contains 30-64 grams of plastic along with the weight of the tag or label.Plastic pots are typically made of polypropylene with <2% recycled after retail sale.Tags, hang tags, and adhesive labels are typically made of PVC or vinyl with 0% recycled.The presence of multiple plastics (pot and tag or label), adhesive from the label, or dirty pots may make recycling unavailable.

"Placing tags or hang tags onto pots is often not automated. Labor is required. Assuming a labor cost of $20.00 per hour: one person can place about 800 stick tags per hour into a gallon pot (Labor cost = $ 0.025 per unit. And one person can place about 400 hang tags per hour into a gallon pot (Labor cost = $ 0.050 per unit). The application of adhesive labels can be automated at about 2000 label per hour, but a person still needs to watch the machine (Labor cost = $ 0.050 per unit). Current on-demand printed labels are limited to supplementing pre-printed tags or labels.

Pots are often grown for a specific customer. Selling those plants to a new customer often requires changing pots, tags, and/or labels (extra waste and labor)."

According to Blackmore Company, the plant-IT-Friendly retail sleeve is the solution to the retail plastic problem ,and is part of Air Tray Technologies.

• "Plant-IT-Friendly sleeves reduces plastic currently being shipped to retail by 95%.
• Allows for up to 67% more gallon-equivalent plants per 24-ft truck and 40% more gallon-equivalent containers in the same retail space.
• Does not require the additional cost of plastic tags or labels.
• Allows for complete on-demand printing of plant details, bar code and pictures at a rate of up to 3,000 retail sleeves per hour at time of ship. No more re-potting or re-labeling.
• Plant-IT-Friendly sleeves are recyclable and Ellepot paper is compostable."

Gallon-Equivalent plants are grown in 8ct Air Trays and 100X160mm Ellepot with Air Tray racks. "The use of Air Trays and Ellepots allows growers to reduce their grow times by 30% while also reducing their soil usage by 40%. Air Trays provides the plant with a better root system that works for free, giving the consumer a better plant. The use of Air Tray Racks allows for affordable and efficient plant movement from the production area to the growing location and finally to the shipping where on-demand printing allows the grower to choose the garden center at the point of shipping instead of at the time of planting, saving on re-potting and/or tag/ label changes."

"If lack of consumer recycling is the problem, then it is best to keep as much plastic as possible away from the consumer and to concentrate recycling efforts with the production greenhouse or nursery where consolidation and recycling can occur easily and inexpensively. Air Tray Technologies and Plant-IT-Friendly retail sleeves provide the grower savings from planting to final sale while also giving the consumer a positive experience by significantly reducing plastic waste while receiving healthier plants," the Blackmore Company concludes.

See the Blackmore Company at Cultivate, booths 3019, 3025, and 3131