Berry Global joins Polypropylene Recycling Coalition to bolster US infrastructure

13 Sep 2021 --- Berry Global is joining The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, which is aimed at increasing recycling access for polypropylene (PP) in the US. 

“By expanding and modernizing recycling infrastructure, we will capture the economic value that is currently being lost and supply the recycled content necessary to meet commitments,” comments Robert Flores, VP of sustainability at Berry. 

The coalition has contributed US$4.2 million in grants to 13 US recycling facilities, increasing PP recovery by 13 million pounds annually.

“This is critical to achieving a circular economy and giving natural resources multiple lives,” Flores adds, who is also a newly elected member of The Recycling Partnership’s board of directors.

As a cross-industry effort, Berry joins steering committee members Keurig Dr Pepper, Braskem, NextGen Consortium and the Walmart Foundation. 

The superior substrate?
PP is a widely used plastic for food and non-food applications with high levels of utility. Berry says the material has the lowest carbon footprint when compared to other substrates. 

The company maintains the initiative aligns with its efforts to improve PP curbside recycling, as the company is strategically targeting both investments and partnerships to foster recycling infrastructure. 

Last month, Berry invested in a second recycling facility for FDA-grade recycled PP for packaging use in Leamington Spa, UK. The company highlights packaging produced from the recycled PP material will be 35 percent lower in CO2 emissions, require half the amount of water, and use 90 percent fewer fossil fuel resources.

Recently, Berry also collaborated with Evansville, Indiana, materials recovery facility to purchase and install a new AMP Robotics Cortex high-speed robotics system to sort PP. 

Recovered material will be used back in Berry’s products, but more importantly, learnings from the robot will be evaluated and shared to enhance and promote PP recycling.

By Anni Schleicher