$1.2 million annual contract awarded to Dolco Packaging Corp.

STUDIO CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 1995--Dolco Packaging Corp. (NASDAQ:DPKG) was recently awarded a three-year contract to supply polystyrene (foam) lunch trays to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), a contract representing $3.6 million in sales, according to the Studio City-based company.

"What makes this contract significant is that it represents the purchase of the first school lunch trays made with recycled (post-consumer) material," said Larry Rembold, president and CEO of Dolco Packaging, a leading U.S. producer of polystyrene packaging, with net sales last year of approximately $67 million.

"The fact that our trays contained 25 percent recycled material was a definite incentive for the district in awarding the company this contract," he explained.

When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreed to the use of post-consumer material in Dolco's food contact foam packaging last year, Dolco anticipated a big boost in polystyrene recycling, opening new markets for the company and enhancing its long-term business objectives.

The recent contract with the LAUSD confirmed Dolco's expectations that communities, institutional organizations and private industry would view polystyrene as an environmentally sound material that is available for recycling into a variety of food packaging and other products. It also demonstrates a continuous cycle of reprocessing and reusing, closing the polystyrene recycling loop.

"Throughout the school district, we strive to purchase recycled material whenever possible," said Beth Louargand, L.A. Unified School District's deputy business manager. "Dolco satisfied our needs by providing us a product that is recycled and reused."

The LAUSD not only purchases trays made from recycled material, but it also has established a lunch tray recycling program which serves as one of the most exemplary models of an institutional recycling program in the nation.

Apart from providing more than 600,000 school children with "hands-on" experience in the recycling process, the program has helped the district meet state-mandated waste recycling requirements, and at the same time has served as a catalyst for recycling other materials such as milk and juice containers, paper goods and aluminum.

"The program has also helped us save money, since the reclamation value for the polystyrene we receive from the recycling center is passed on to the schools to purchase supplies," Louargand added.

With news of the FDA's decision and successful polystyrene recycling programs such as the LAUSD's lunch tray program, Dolco expects fast food chains and food service companies using other products to consider using foam clamshells and containers again without the fear of consumer or public interest group criticism.

Established in 1966, Dolco Packaging is nationally recognized as a leader in innovative plastic packaging and is one of the largest nationwide manufacturers of foam packaging, with four plants located in Washington, Texas, Indiana and Georgia.

Dolco has demonstrated its dedication to the environment by developing new manufacturing techniques, purchasing and incorporating post-consumer and post-industrial polystyrene material in its products, and establishing recycling as well as in-house environmental rograms.

CONTACT: O'Hanlon & Associates, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Linda O'Hanlon, 818/981-2448