When a package or material does not meet the criteria for recyclability (see page 23, Pathway to Circularity), companies are encouraged to take action. Coalitions can address the recycling challenges of today and consider solutions for the challenges of tomorrow.
The Partnership currently leads three material-specific coalitions:
- The Polypropylene Recycling Coalition (see page 16) is an inspiring example of stakeholders catalyzing rapid change to improve recycling access.
- The Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition concentrates on proving and scaling solutions to efficiently recycle these materials, focusing on every aspect of the recycling journey from design to sortation to end markets. Just 1% of U.S. households can recycle this material from home today and with nearly 95 pounds found in each American home per year, system improvements are crucial. The Coalition led extensive research in collection methods and is actively leading projects to recycle film collected from homes through curbside recycling.
- The PET Recycling Coalition, formed in 2022, aims to improve current systems and increase opportunities to change the paradigm of PET recycling. While PET bottles are highly recyclable, there is broad recognition that recycling rates must double—or increase even more—to achieve meaningful circularity. The opportunity to improve circularity of non-bottle PET formats such as trays, cups, and clamshells is even greater. The PET Recycling Coalition will improve the recyclability of non-bottle formats while increasing the capture of all PET packaging, resulting in additional recycled content.
Advancing the recyclability of one material type improves the system for all by increasing the amount of material captured and reducing contamination. The Partnership is committed to working with all material types to address their unique challenges. The Partnership also has informal working groups and is open to forming task forces and supporting the creation of new coalitions.
See more stories of how The Recycling Partnership is solving with materials manufacturers in the 2022 Impact Report.