Packaging designed to be reused may seem like a more sustainable alternative to single-use, recyclable containers. But like so many issues in debates about packaging and sustainability, it can be much more complicated than expected.
Today's example? Oberweis Dairy, a 109-year-old dairy business based near Chicago that entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April due, in part, to the costs of reusable containers.
Oberweis markets itself as only using glass for its half-gallon and quart-size milk containers. (It also uses plastic milk crates to transport those bottles.)
Returnable glass bottles may have been a good choice when it was only working with customers close to home, but as the company expanded home delivery to Virginia, North Carolina and even Texas in the early 2020s, its costs quickly ramped up, our sister paper Crain's Chicago Business writes.
It purchased a new fleet of delivery trucks and bought "thousands" of crates and bottles. But — as you can probably guess — it wasn't profitable to ship milk from North Aurora, Ill., to Texas, then haul empty bottles back to Illinois. That's before adding in the carbon footprint associated with that travel.
"Management underestimated the costs and logistical hurdles involved in transporting milk and empty bottles between Texas and Illinois," the company stated in its Chapter 11 filing.
I also have to ask: Did no one point out to executives that Texas also has cows? And maybe shipping milk that far didn't make sense?
The dairy operations remain open with an asset sale expected through the bankruptcy court. Chicago-based Dutch Farms, another dairy and farm products company, is listed as the stalking horse bidder in court documents.
