MINNEAPOLIS, MN—Meyers, one of the country’s most innovative leaders in branded packaging, product labeling and retail in-store display systems for global companies, has stepped up its deep commitment to sustainability by moving forward with a pledge to being carbon neutral within its operations by 2024. Last month, the company joined 300 other leading businesses by joining The Climate Pledge, becoming a signatory along with Amazon, BestBuy, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nespresso, Quorn and others.
Sustainability has long been a core value at Meyers and is evident across the company’s areas of work and functions, guiding decisions in how the company makes its products and conducts business in general. Combining an aggressive carbon neutrality plan with the use of responsible and sustainable materials also enables Meyers to help its clients meet all their major environmental sustainability goals.
When looking at its overall sustainability goals, the company acknowledged the reality that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a form of pollution that have become predominant, inspiring Meyers to start offsetting any remaining emissions right away, well before the 2040 date committed to through The Climate Pledge. A major first step in reducing its carbon emissions was moving to 100 percent carbon-free electricity, a change that required changing manufacturing processes to 100 percent carbon-free power. Even with that change, some GHG emissions and carbon footprints remain, mostly a result of the natural gas used to heat the Meyers building. There also are some GHG emissions related to the company’s waste stream, and these are significantly more difficult to eliminate—this area will be a more long-term process.
The carbon neutrality plan will begin with what’s known as “Scope 1 Emissions,” an offsetting of the company’s office and manufacturing operations. Part of joining The Climate Pledge included a commitment to offsetting all emissions, across Scopes 1, 2 and 3. The coming months will be focused on verifying and measuring all GHG emissions within Meyers’ office and operations, and reviewing options for offsetting those emissions. The company is taking stringent measures to ensure that its measurements are as accurate as possible and that the specific offsets it purchases are transparent, responsible and cost-effective.
“We recently committed to reaching net zero by 2040 or earlier through The Climate Pledge,” said Chris Dillon, CEO, Meyers. “We knew we had to reach that goal with our own operations long before 2040 and we’re thrilled to make this accelerated commitment on Earth Day. We’re proud to make this possible and to have the opportunity to work with companies that value sustainability as much as we do. We hope this will inspire more companies to set similar goals, thereby building a better legacy for their brand and a brighter future for our planet.”
Meyers recently hired an environmental, health, safety and sustainability coordinator to help boost the company’s sustainability initiatives. Rebecca Gleason, EHS&S coordinator, started in March 2022. Rebecca has a background in environmental studies, including research on climate change, ocean plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Her areas of responsibility include calculating Meyers’ carbon footprint and purchasing offsets, ensuring a safe workplace, compliance with a range of standards and more. This role will help Meyers maintain a leading position in the sustainable packaging industry.
“Good leadership necessitates responsibility for our actions and our impact on the rest of the world,” said Michael Dillon, CRO, Meyers. “That’s why we’re so committed to reducing and eliminating our emissions wherever possible, and it’s why we’re going to offset any emissions we have not eliminated. We believe it’s critical that the work happen in that order. Offsets are only a good solution for emissions that cannot be eliminated.”