Global brand owner Unilever is now using about 75,000 metric tons of post-consumer plastic in its packaging each year. | Konektus Photo/Shutterstock
Global companies such as Keurig Dr Pepper, Dow and Mars recently announced their intentions to bolster the use of PCR. The following is a roundup of several notable news items:
In the U.S., dozens of brand owners, retailers, government agencies and nonprofit groups have joined the U.S. Plastics Pact. | Nagy-Bagoly Arpad/Shutterstock
A program called U.S. Plastics Pact, associated with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, will pursue strategies to eliminate unnecessary packaging, increase recyclability, and ensure packaging contains recycled plastic. It has more than 60 industry backers.
State and local governments are facing increasing pressure to reverse, delay or otherwise roll back environmentally beneficial waste-reduction policies, such as fees or bans on plastic bags, in the name of public health.
In 2019, Waste Management processed a record amount of recyclables: 15.5 million tons, up from 15.2 million tons in 2018. | Courtesy of Waste Management.
The largest hauler in North America processed a record amount of recyclables in 2019, and it invested more than $100 million to improve its recycling infrastructure, according to its latest sustainability report.
PepsiCo’s Naked juice brand is one the company is moving toward 100% RPET packaging. | Sheila Fitzgerald/Shutterstock
PepsiCo spent about $200 million of its “Green Bond” to purchase recycled PET plastic over the past few years, according to the company.
CarbonLite’s 270,000-square-foot Reading, Pa. facility will eventually have the annual capacity to process 140 million pounds of post-consumer PET. | Courtesy of CarbonLite.
A major PET reclaimer has entered the polyolefins recycling business. The company also recently began production at a large facility in Pennsylvania.
