Amcor triples goal for use of recycled resin

Amcor’s 2022 sustainability report also noted that 74% of Amcor’s total production by weight is now designed to be recycled and it has made a 33% reduction in material sent to disposal over the past three years. | 360b/Shutterstock

After several years of gains in recycled content usage, Amcor is setting a new recycled content goal of 30% by 2030, tripling its previous target.

The packaging company announced the more ambitious target as part of its 2022 sustainability report, also committing to net zero emissions by 2050. In 2022, it had doubled the amount of PCR purchased since 2019.

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Amcor reported producing nearly 2.4 million metric tons of plastic packaging in 2021, 44.8% of which were PET bottles. Overall, in 2021 it used 5.6% PCR, an increase of 0.6 percentage points over the year before.

In 2022, it purchased 155,000 metric tons of recycled resin and aluminum, the sustainability report noted, about 4.8% of its overall 3.2 million metric tons of raw materials.

The 2022 sustainability report also noted that 74% of Amcor’s total production by weight is now designed to be recycled and it has made a 33% reduction in material sent to disposal over the past three years.

“By continuing to address sustainability challenges from all angles, we have not only grown our range of more sustainable packaging solutions in FY22, but we have also made it easier for customers to identify them,” the report noted. “In June 2022, we launched a new EcoGuard mark to highlight the sustainability features of products, such as recycle-readiness, lower carbon footprints and use of recycled content or biomaterials.”

Amcor is also increasing the use of chemically recycled materials, the report noted, and has been purchasing certified circular PE resin made with ExxonMobil’s Exxtend technology.

David Clark, vice president of sustainability at Amcor, said in a press release that by ramping up targets for recycled content, “we’re helping radically scale the amount of recycled content coming into the market to create a circular economy for packaging.”

“We do this by not only making sure that the packaging produced is designed to be recycled, but also by boosting infrastructure and consumer awareness to ensure content gets recycled and stays in the economy,” he added.