Comprehensive waste management programs are in place at all Dole (Saba) facilities in Sweden. Cardboard, corner boards, plastic, wooden material and organic waste are all recycled and contribute significantly to Saba’s environmental protection efforts.

Cardboard recycling is equivalent to the amount of raw material from 3,200 trees on a yearly basis.

Plastic recycling during 2007 resulted in over 50 tons of hard and soft plastic being recycled.  Saba Fruit and Vegetables has had a plastic recycling program in place since the 90’s and was joined by the Fresh Cut (SFC) section in 2001. Under the program both hard plastic (boxes and corners used to stabilize pallets) and soft plastic (films from wrapped pallets, films from bagged salad and plastic twine used to bind pallets together) are recycled.  Soft plastics are burned to make energy for combustion mostly to be used for district heating and by a centralized heating plant which distributes hot water to help meet the heating needs of the city.  Hard plastics are recycled into plastic pellets which are later sold on the market. Once the clean polyethylene plastic is separated from the laminated films it is melted and turned into granulate which is used as a raw material for new plastic production.

Organic waste from fruits and vegetables is treated via composting into topsoil. The program results in a volume of more than 40 truckloads of fresh topsoil each year.

Banana waste from the facility in Stockholm is used to produce biogas. The gas is now mainly used for vehicle fuel. This process takes place in the Sofielund recycling plant which is a modern facility located outside of the city.  Organic waste volumes from bananas in 2007 totaled 10 tons.

Wooden material waste is used for combustion and energy production. A majority of the banana pallets are sent back to the tropics for reuse. Saba recycles about 1,100 tons per year and has set itself the goal to recycle 100% of all wooden pallets. Sita Sverige AB is the company responsible for recycling all of Saba’s wooden pallets.

Water for washing raw material in the fresh-cut salad plant does not contain chlorine. Only cold fresh water is used. The cooling device in the Saba Fresh Cut facility is used to cool the plant.  By using the cool waste water to lower the temperature of the new fresh water, to be used for the washing process, approximately 200,000 kWh are saved every year.

Saba’s Company car policy, for environmental reasons, permits no cars consuming more than 10 liters per 100 km.