A group organized by the Foodservice Packaging Institute seeks to define the most cost-effective and practical ways to recover this material.
The Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI), Falls Church, Virginia, has organized a group that will examine polyethylene terephthalate (PET) thermoform packaging recycling, noting that it is conducting a study on the PET thermoform packaging stream and defining the most cost-effective and practical pathways for recovery. Through the study, the group says it hopes to establish a common understanding of the most significant opportunities to increase PET thermoform recycling.
According to a report from Grand View Research, the global thermoform packaging market was estimated at $39.86 billion in 2018, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 4.7 percent from 2019 through 2025. PET accounted for the largest share in the material segment of the global thermoform packaging market in 2018. The plastic is used in cups, lids, clamshells, bowls, produce, deli, bakery and take-out containers, as well as other types of consumer packaging.
In partnership with FPI, the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) The Recycling Partnership and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) will pool data and resources to gain a more thorough understanding of this complex issue. Resource Recycling Systems (RRS), Ann Arbor, Michigan, is conducting the study, which it expects to complete this fall.
“Each partner has been working to increase recycling of PET thermoforms in different ways, so it’s important to bring all parties together to find a solution,” says Natha Dempsey, president of the FPI. “While we’re making progress, it just makes sense to combine efforts to define a unified path to increased recyclability for PET thermoforms.”
Project partner NAPCOR reports that the volume of PET thermoform material recycled in the U.S. surpassed 100 million pounds in 2018. Most of this volume was captured in curbside PET bottle bales and processed with bottles by PET reclaimers that accept them at specified percentages of the bale weight. However, as thermoform recycling increases, so does the prevalence of thermoforms in residential PET bales, bumping up against the limits of PET bottle reclaimer acceptance levels, according to a news release about the study distributed by RRS.
Thermoformed products pose challenges for reprocessors when commingled with PET bottles. Thermoformed containers sometimes use pressure-sensitive labels that can be difficult to remove in the washing process. They also produce more fines during processing, and their bulk density is different from that of PET bottles, which makes processing these materials together difficult.
The study will further explore this issue as well as other potential PET thermoform recovery pathways as some municipal recycling programs stopped collecting thermoformed containers following China's ban on postconsumer plastic scrap imports in 2018.
Despite the challenges currently associated with PET thermoform recycling, some reprocessors are seeking out this material. Vernon, California-based rPlanet Earth, a company that produces packaging from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) using a vertically integrated approach, has partnered with Green Impact Plastics to jointly develop and manage the purchase of postconsumer thermoform bales from California and other southern states.
“We know there is a shortfall of available postconsumer recycled PET to meet stated content goals,” says Darrel Collier, executive director of the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), Charlotte, North Carolina. “PET thermoforms offer significant performance benefits to consumers and producers and can help increase the overall supply of this valuable raw material. Our research indicates that PET thermoforms can and are being recycled, though they do pose some technical and logistical collection and sorting challenges. We are pleased to join with our colleagues to explore and overcome these challenges.”
This project is designed to explore the potential limitations and obstacles, viability, costs and related metrics of PET thermoform curbside recycling and other potential recycling pathways. Recycled PET thermoforms can be used to manufacture new PET containers, strapping and other types of packaging, as well as in polyester fiber applications.
“Common food items are sold in PET thermoform containers and the desire of the public to contribute to the environment through recycling drives their expectations to recycle this material,” says Lynn Rubinstein, executive director, NERC, Brattleboro, Vermont. “These packages are being put in recycling containers and often treated as a contaminant. Finding a positive economic solution to productive recycling will help the industry and the economy.”
“PET thermoforms represent a viable feedstock to feed the growing demand for recycled PET resin,” says Steve Alexander, president and CEO of the Washington-based APR. “We are hearing from more and more markets that are interested in using this recycled material; now we need to figure out how to get it to them.”
This study will use combined partner organization knowledge pertaining to potential technical, logistical and market obstacles to increasing PET thermoform recycling, building on collective work to date, the news release states
“Americans want to recycle their plastic packaging but don’t always know what is and isn’t recyclable,” says Liz Bedard, senior director of industry collaboration at The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia. “Brands are committed to using more recycled PET in their packaging but need the valuable supply from curbside recycling. Finding the pathway to collect and recycle PET thermoforms will allow communities to increase recycling rates and, at the same time, provide a valuable recycled material to the industry.”
“Brands and packaging companies are committed to improving the sustainability of packaging,” Adam Gendell, associate director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, Charlottesville, Virginia, says. “Working with groups that represent the entire supply chain, we can find recycling pathways for PET thermoforms and improve the sustainability profile of this important type of packaging.”
Plastic film producer accepts back discarded product to use in its own manufacturing process.
St. Paul, Minnesota-based Cortec Corp. says it is using up to 20 percent recycled content in the production of its vapor corrosion inhibitor (VCI) plastic film packaging. The firm says it patented the technology for making the VCI film using recycled plastic resin more than 20 years ago.
Cortec says it now operates “a vibrant recycling program that produces VCI film, which goes by the VpCI brand, with up to 20 percent recycled film content--a level at which Cortec says it can ensure the quality of newly made VpCI product.”
The company says it “regularly manufactures” VpCI film with 15 percent pre- and postconsumer recycled content. This level is “significantly outpacing recent American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance (ARPBA) milestone goals of reaching 10 percent recycled content shopping bags by 2021 and 15 percent recycled content bags by 2023,” states the firm.
VPI films are considered a specialized market by Cortec, as they are designed to help protect metals from corrosion during shipping or storage.
Cortec says it has been recycling its in-house VpCI film scrap “for decades” at its plant in Cambridge, Minnesota. Several years ago, Cortec says it extended its recycling program “to a major off-road equipment assembly plant that receives engine components from dozens of suppliers across the United States and the world.”
That money-saving program allows the customer to bale its VCI film scrap and send those bales to Cambridge for reprocessing into new VcPI film. Cortec says it pays the shipping costs and gives the customer credit in return
“Their suppliers’ garbage is now a revenue stream for their plant,” says Mike Gabor, Cortec vice president of sales for Eastern North America, who helped launch the recycling program.
Both parties have overcome “inevitable” challenges, according to Cortec, and made a firm commitment to make the program and establish a true “circular economy,” which Cortec says “is not as easy as it is popular.”
The company estimates it “is helping save hundreds of thousands of pounds of plastic from the landfill or incinerator, and transforming it into quality new product while reducing carbon footprints for both companies.”
Cortec has set up a similar program at its European facility in Beli Manastir, Croatia, which now has its own VCI film extrusion, converting and recycling center.
Equipment maker says it is focusing on the recycling business while sharpening its product portfolio.
The Velbert, Germany-based Doppstadt Group and its managing director Ferdinand Doppstadt say the company will be staying on course with a business strategy “focusing even more on recycling technology, aligning its product range to this field alone.”
In late 2019, the company announced the formation of Langenberger Innovation Group (LIG), which will manage brands and products pertinent to the wider minerals, raw materials and biofuels sectors, including forestry chippers.
This differentiated growth strategy follows the aim of ensuring best-in-class products and services for each respective field, according to Doppstadt Umwelttechnik GmbH CEO Gerd Schreier. “The Doppstadt name has an excellent reputation in recycling,” says Schreier. “We not only launched great new machines at the beginning of 2020, we have already embarked on further plans to live up to our reputation.”
The company announced the availability of its Inventhor Type 6 and Methor shredders, plus separation technology like the SWS, in May.
Doppstadt says it also has plans to launch new screening machines soon while also pushing development on a three-fraction screening machine and new versions of its SM 620 and 720 Flex machines. Doppstadt also says it is beginning development on a fast shredder to replace the AK series in the long term “while serving additional application areas.”
The equipment maker says it also will be increasing its range of electric-powered machinery. “This additional focus will allow us to respond even more quickly and accurately to the demands of recyclers for innovative technology,” states Schreier.
Many of the new mobile units also are available as stationary units. Doppstadt indicates increasingly stringent legislation and a trend toward centralization of materials to be processed have increased demand for stationary machinery.
“We have an innovative project development team with the corresponding project leadership capabilities, so we’re well prepared for the upcoming challenges,” comments Doppstadt Systemtechnik GmbH CEO Henning Strunz. “We provide our customers with optimum solutions from basic engineering to final turnkey units,” he adds.
The Doppstadt Group includes Doppstadt Umwelttechnik GmbH and Doppstadt Systemtechnik GmbH with locations in Velbert and Wülfrath, Germany, and Doppstadt Calbe GmbH based in the town of Calbe, Germany.
The newly formed LIG is responsible for machinery in the biofuels, minerals and raw materials sectors, while water-based separation engineering products have been transferred to WIMA, a subsidiary of LIG.
Soap Cycling in Hong Kong and New York-based The Paint Foundation collect and repurpose noncommodity materials.
Thriving secondary commodity markets for metals, paper and board, concrete, some plastics and many end-of-life items boost the world’s landfill diversion rate. Beyond that, nonprofit organizations have been stepping in to find ways to repurpose non-commodity discarded items like soap and paint.
Hong Kong-based Soap Cycling is a nonprofit organization established in 2012 to collect, sanitize and redistribute the considerable volumes of barely used soap generated in hotels there.
The organization benefits from a continual procession of lodgers in Hong Kong who generate an ongoing flow of barely used bars and bottles of soap—products that can play a valuable hygiene role in local households or in parts of the world where soap is difficult to afford.
The organization’s June 2020 Half-Year Report notes its flow of discarded soap has been severely affected by the onset of COVID-19 and subsequent travel restrictions. “As Hong Kong went into lockdown, one of the hardest-hit sectors was the hospitality industry,” states the report.
The increased importance of hygiene brought about by the pandemic, however, prompted greater attention to hand washing, creating renewed distribution opportunities for the inventory of soap products already in Soap Cycling’s Hong Kong warehouse when the pandemic struck. “Starting on Jan. 28, teams of our employees, board members and stakeholders started distributing free hygiene kits, aiming to reach all 18 districts of Hong Kong and raise awareness with the general public about the importance of handwashing with soap,” the organization says in its report.
Among the recipients were Hong Kong street cleaning employees, more than 3,300 of whom received soap, sanitizer and face masks supplied by Soap Cycling. Hygiene products in 2020 also have gone to families or schools in the Philippines, Myanmar and rural China, and to migrant workers in Singapore. Soap Cycling also is seeking donations to see it through the lodging downturn.
The Paint Foundation, based in New York, says its mission is “to provide environmentally sustainable reuse options to generators for their nonsalable, nonuseable waste [and] to recycle it back in a circular economy, creating products of use and value for developing communities.”
The organization is backed by the Mumbai-based Matawala Group Of Industries and Matawala Paints, which uses its paint making facilities and technical know-how to make “production batches of 53 different types of recycled-content coatings.”
The recycled-content product range includes interior and exterior latex paints and primers, plastic emulsions, bitumen emulsions, stucco putties, as well as synthetic enamels and industrial coatings.
Off-spec paint and expired inventory make up part of what The Paint Foundation collects and reprocesses, along with customer returns, incomplete batches and other materials that would otherwise be discarded.
In addition to operating in the United States and India, The Paint Foundation or its affiliates also have a presence in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Poland, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
A 13-page PDF brochure created by the foundation says it is seeking interns and volunteers to help expand its mission. “Everybody with access to background knowledge, contacts, ability and a desire to serve the community are welcome,” states the foundation.
ISRI’s comments to the EPA focus on the economic and environmental benefits of recycling driven by the program.
In early April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it was seeking comments on its current list of items that are or can be made from recovered materials and its recommendations to federal agencies on purchasing these items. The 90-day comment period closed earlier this month.
The federal government’s buy-recycled program uses federal purchasing power to stimulate demand for products made with recovered materials. EPA designates recycled-content items and publishes recommendations to assist procuring agencies using federal funds in meeting their obligations under this program. The last update to the product designations and procurement recommendations occurred in 2007, according to the agency.
EPA was asking for input regarding whether the right products are on the list; if any should be deleted, added or modified; and whether the current recycled-content and procurement specifications are appropriate.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) July 6 in support of updating the EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG). The comments were signed by Adina Renee Adler, ISRI vice president of advocacy.
In its comments, ISRI encourages enhancing the CPG to reflect current market availability of additional goods made from recycled content and the amount of recycled content that can be incorporated into these products. ISRI also suggests the increased purchases of these products by government procurement officials for purposes of stimulating recycling and doing more to divert end-of-life materials from landfills through the use of an enhanced CPG.
ISRI writes that it intends its comments to “suggest separate EPA rule-making that clearly defines recycling and related terms; support the enhancement of the CPG to reflect current market availability of additional goods made from recycled content and the amount of recycled content that can be incorporated into these products; and promote increased purchases of these products by government procurement officials for purposes of stimulating recycling and doing more to divert end of life materials from landfills through the use of an enhanced CPG.”
ISRI describes the CPG as “a vitally important resource for promoting sustainability and the resilience of the U.S. manufacturing supply chain, of which recycling is an essential first step. The guidance set out in the CPG for procurement officials in federal, state and local governments provide a critical market for recycled materials; the purchasing of products made with recycled content spurs more recycling activity in the United States.
The association writes that it is “imperative that EPA pursue a separate rule-making that improves the definitions for ‘recycling’, ‘recyclable’ and ‘recycled material.’ For purposes of these comments—and to consider for rule-making—ISRI defines these terms in the following way:
“Recycling is the series of activities during which obsolete, previously used, off-specification, surplus or incidentally produced materials are processed into specification-grade commodities and consumed as raw-material feedstock, in lieu of virgin materials, in the manufacture of new products. The series of activities that make up recycling may include collection, processing and/or brokering and shall result in subsequent consumption by a materials manufacturer.
“A ‘recyclable’ material is an obsolete, previously used, off-specification, surplus or incidentally produced material for processing into a specification-grade commodity for which a market exists,” the comments continue.
ISRI defines recycled material as “material that was initially obsolete, previously used, off-specification, surplus or incidentally produced and that has been processed into a specification-grade commodity for use in materials manufacturing.”
The association concludes by writing, “We also look forward to engaging in a rule-making process with EPA in which the comments provided herein—which includes proposed additional products that are available in the marketplace and made from recycled content as well as changes to recycled content levels in existing products—could be incorporated to enhance the CPG. Doing so will stimulate additional recycling in the United States, which will lead to greater environmental and economic benefits for the United States. It is vital to the overall success of the U.S. recycling industry that government procurement help to drive demand for recycled materials, which will, in turn, drive more opportunity for growth in recycling.”
ISRI recommends that a number of new building and construction products be added to the CPG:
Among the other new products ISRI suggests adding to the CPG are totes and crates made with 50 percent recycled high-density polyethylene; grocery bags made with 20 percent recycled low-density polyethylene; and beverage containers made with 25 to 100 percent recycled plastic, 50 to 100 percent recycled metal and 20 percent recycled glass.