The Economic Value of Recycled Content
We are determined to minimize waste and natural resource usage across the globe by partnering with customers and partners to realize the economic value of utlizing recycled content. We believe we can increase both recycling access and recycling rates while improving the quality of life across the globe.
The Goal: Be a Part of the Solution to Reach a Circular Economy
We strive for a circular economy, where we focus on a make, use, and recycle society. Today, we see and hear the impact of a linear economy, where the plastic consumed reaches landfills or our natural habitats. (Alternatively, the take, make, dispose approach is one of the linear economy). By designing for recyclability, we can work towards the ultimate goal of a circular economy, where 100% of products are able to either be reused or recycled. By utilizing the principles of a circular economy, we can preserve valuable resources, keeping them in use for years to come and ultimately reducing our environmental impacts. Source
The Value of Recovering & Repurposing Plastics
Plastics continue to prove their worth when it comes to our ability to give the material multiple lives. Often lighter weight than alternatives like metal and glass, plastics provide a lower carbon footprint, even when made from virgin resin. When we recover and reuse this once-new plastic material, the benefits compound. Though the benefits are clear, recycling infrastructure and education still lack for recycling plastic on a global scale as we attempt to reach the "circular model."
Through recovery and recycling, we keep plastics out of the ocean, while harnessing their inherent value to manufacture more eco-conscious products. As the plastics industry develops and optimizes its plastic collection programs, more plastics will be recovered, and more repurposing will occur within the plastics manufacturing industry. Source
What Makes a Circular Economy Different?
A circular economy brings product innovation to create a society where resources are reused rather than disposed. Landfill space is reduced. Less material is wasted.
Once Plastics Are Recovered, Markets Will Expand
As more plastic becomes available for reuse, emerging markets and technologies will use this recycled plastic for valuable, innovative products, resulting in the development of the circular economy. The monetization of recycled content will likely incentive more partners in the value chain to emerge, increasing collection and recycling, allowing for recyclers, resin producers and plastic manufacturers the opportunity to access recycled content resins.
We’re Already Making Progress
"America's Plastic Makers" already have these progressive projects in place:
- Materials Recovery for the Future (MRFF) – A research initiative that studies the potential to collect discarded flexible plastic packaging.
- Recover More Plastic – A program that provides tools and resources for communities to collect plastics at curbside.
- Closed Loop Partners – An investment platform for sustainable consumer goods and recycling aimed at those interested in helping with the development of the circular economy. Source
The Push for Innovation & Affordability
In order to preserve the positive effects the industry has on the U.S. economy, we need to bring innovation and affordability to plastic product manufacturing through sustainability.
The Fast Facts:
- Plastics is the 3rd largest manufacturing industry in the US.
- 1.7miillion jobs are dependent on plastics manufacturing.
- 993,000 people are directly employed by the plastics industry.
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