Plastic concerns

Consumers are a fickle bunch. They want healthy food. CEA says “check.” They wany convenience. CEA says “check.” They want flavor. CEA says “check.” They want to reduce plastic use and waste. Er, some in the industry can say “check.” (See the cover story beginning on page 8.) But do consumers really want to reduce plastic? They talk a big game, but don’t do enough follow-through. It’s not completely their fault – the economics of recycling is nearly broken – but the globe needs an immense amount of buy-in from consumers for programs to eventually be successful.

In a Consumer Reports article, “The big problem with plastic,” Jeff Donlevy, the general manager at a California recycling facility, said “wishcycling,” or tossing every type of plastic into the recycling bin and hoping for the best, can make separating out useful material more difficult and actually reduce the amount of plastic that is recycled, which can lead to recyclable plastic ending up in landfills and incinerators.

According to the EPA, only a fraction of plastic is actually recycled. And the EPA’s most recent data estimates just 8.7% of the plastic that was discarded in the U.S. in 2018 was recycled, which is equal to 3 million tons. However, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic seems to be recycled more often than other types. Most of the blister packs full of fresh produce in my fridge have the PET symbols on the bottom of the package.

Getting that consumer buy-in starts with companies, brands and industries. TerraCycle and Loop founder/CEO Tom Szaky said in a CNBC interview that companies have to lean in and create their own recycling programs. But he says it is still not easy for the corporate mindset to embrace.

“As a retailer or brand, if you just frame it as ‘the right thing to do,’ the funding will be small and sporadic because there is no P&L logic to do it. But if you can use it to drive foot traffic like Walmart with car seats or Staples with pens, it can be monetizable,” he said in the interview. “Brands that run their own recycling programs should be doing it as part of a plan to drive more market share and brand preference, which becomes monetizable in a recognizable way.”

What are your pain points when it comes to adopting sustainable packaging? Send me an email and let’s talk about it.