For retailers and commercial greenhouses, the phrase
“biodegradable planter” often evoked images of moldy,
disintegrating planters, falling apart on store shelves or in consumers’ hands.
That’s until Metrolina, the largest single site heated greenhouse in the United States, partnered with Sonoco to offer ReadyGrow™, a biodegradable planter made from 100 percent recycled paper and sustainable in commercial greenhouse environments.
With ReadyGrow, Sonoco is supplying Metrolina with a more sustainable alternative to the traditional plastic planter. Made from single-wrapped 100-percent recycled paperboard produced locally in Sonoco’s paper mills, the planter is conveyable on automatic or manual greenhouse production lines. ReadyGrow is sustainable in a commercial greenhouse environment and biodegrades in soil within 180 days of planting. Sonoco’s patent-pending planter design is user-friendly and allows consumers to literally “plant it and forget it,” by simply placing the plant and the pot in the ground, eliminating mess and reducing the amount of plastic nursery pots in landfills and customers’ garages.
Challenge:
The use of plastic is the single biggest environmental challenge for commercial growers, making it even more pressing for Metrolina to unearth a sustainable alternative. Although the ReadyGrow planter is not the first biodegradable planter to hit store shelves, other plastic alternatives never quite fit the bill for Metrolina. Earlier biodegradable pots would disintegrate before they ever made it into customers’ yards and gardens, falling apart in greenhouses or on store shelves. Other pots molded, an unattractive and slimy problem for consumers transporting them from the store to their homes.
Solution: Keeping It Together:
Sturdy and Sustainable
For Sonoco, the challenge lay in creating a pot made entirely of paper that would remain robust in commercial environments and degrade for consumers when planted, all while maintaining a price point that would compete with plastic. For over three years, the planter endured exhaustive testing at Clemson University and Metrolina for both pot integrity throughout the growth cycle and degradation tests within the soil.
By working with Sonoco, a global packaging leader, to develop a plastic alternative, Metrolina was able to reduce its total carbon footprint. The ReadyGrow pot is manufactured in a Sonoco plant in Hartsville, S.C., only 100 miles away from Metrolina Greenhouses.
Results: Changing the Horticulture Industry
With Sonoco’s new ReadyGrow planter, Metrolina is able to offer consumers an environmentally-friendly, no-mess alternative to plastic planters that is both sustainable and sturdy. ReadyGrow pots are porous, allowing oxygen to pass through the container to the roots. Sonoco’s RootGuard™ technology is a proprietary coating added to ensure the pot withstands greenhouse watering and maintains good water absorption while in the soil. Once planted, the coating breaks down, allowing the plant’s roots to penetrate through the pot and branch out into the soil bed to absorb water and nutrients, minimizing transplant shock. Retailers no longer have damaged plants and lost sales caused by pots molding, disintegrating, or tearing apart as consumers lift them from greenhouse trays. Instead, they’re now able to offer consumers a truly conveyable package.
