The Sustainable Packaging Coalition and The Recycling Partnership are coming together to study the U.S. recycling system.
The aim of the program, called ASTRX (Applying Systems Thinking to Recycling), is to identify the tools to build a more uniform and cohesive recycling system.
The two nonprofit organizations will study a range of factors affecting the infrastructure of materials recovery, including packaging design and materials processing. The initiative is geared toward identifying barriers and opportunities within the system and then making recommendations on how to make the system stronger and more connected.
“Recycling is a loosely connected, highly dependent system,” The Recycling Partnership’s Keefe Harrison said in a release. “By looking within and between each link in that system, we can route a considerably more informed and robust course of intervention.”
Other stakeholder groups are involved in the project, including the Association of Plastics Recyclers.
The Recycling Partnership also announced Target as its first retail partner. The Recycling Partnership noted in a release that with the addition of Target, all members of the recycling chain are now involved with organization.
