BRIDGEWATER, MICH.—Xela Pack, a Bridgewater, Mich.-based company, was named a Silver Winner in the Sustainability Pioneer category during the 2025 Sustainable Food Awards. The awards ceremony, held in Amsterdam, was organized by U.K.-based company Ecovia Intelligence: a specialist research, consulting and training firm that focuses on global ethical product industries.
For nearly 40 years, Xela Pack’s focus has been producing environmentally conscious, small-dose packaging. The award recognized the company’s use and innovation of its PaperBottle, which uses only SFI- and FSC-certified sustainably sourced fibers in its construction. The PaperBottle has been evaluated by Centro Qualità Carta to be recyclable with paper in the European Union. Xela Pack’s newest material option has also passed Western Michigan University’s Repulpability & Recyclability Process Tests to be recyclable in the U.S.A.
The company ethos is simple: to reduce waste by producing the best possible packaging while paying utmost respect to the earth. “For every million 1-oz PaperBottles our customers use—instead of 1-oz plastic bottles from a competitor—there is a reduction in plastic use by nearly 10 tons,” says Anthony Gentile, President of Xela Pack. The PaperBottle offers additional benefits when shipping. “To ship a million 1-oz PaperBottles also requires 630 fewer corrugated boxes, 26 fewer shipping pallets, and uses one less truck than shipping a million plastic bottles,” Gentile added.
Using a PaperBottle also reduces the amount of product left in the packaging, reducing product waste in addition to packaging materials: whether that product is olive oil, shampoo, or peanut butter. “Unlike a plastic or glass bottle, you can squeeze the product out of a Xela Pack.”
