Gaurav Kale currently leads the packaging engineering function at Blue Apron with a focus on design, engineering, and sustainability. He has been actively working with SPC and How2Recycle to understand and improve packaging sustainability in meal kits. Blue Apron is the first meal kit company to launch many packaging sustainability initiatives including the implementation of the How2Recycle program.
Kale also helped with the initiation of the Cold Chain Packaging Collaboration project at SPC and actively participated in it to develop a baseline and roadmap for opportunities in sustainability.
He started working in the sustainable packaging field in 2004 at Michigan State University under the guidance of Rafael Auras and Ramani Narayan. His focus was compostable polymers and the research work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and books.
He received the Innovation in Design Optimization award on behalf of Blue Apron at SPC Impact 2019 in Seattle as an outcome of unique innovations in packaging design. He also received the 2019 Dow Packaging Innovation Silver Award for innovation in the gel (ice) packs for the development of novel drain-safe gel packs that diverted waste from landfills to municipal wastewater systems.