Polypropylene Recycling Coalition injects millions into US recycling as reports spotlight wasted PP potential
16 Dec 2020 --- An industry-wide coalition of US businesses and stakeholders is providing an initial US$35 million for polypropylene (PP) collection and recycling facilities across the country, following an investigation showing the significant volume and value of PP being wasted annually.
The Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, launched in July, is funded by corporations such as Keurig Dr. Pepper, Braskem and the Walmart Foundation.
The coalition was conceived originally by the Recycling Partnership, a nonprofit specializing in leveraging corporate funds for recycling initiatives.
Funding raised over an initial five-year period will be granted to Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) for new sortation equipment, storage systems and educational initiatives raising awareness of PP.
PP, often referred to as number five plastic, is used in an array of food packaging items from yogurt pots to confectionery wrappers. It is also an integral material in automotive parts.
PP an overlooked opportunity?
The coalition formed after the Recycling Partnership’s report on “The State of Curbside Recycling” found PP to be a significantly overlooked area of plastic waste, which it says presents a major industry opportunity.
Polypropylene is used in many forms of packaging but only 31% of US residents have access to its recycling.Most MRF-specific resin sorting capacity in the US is focused on PET and HDPE, presumed to be available in higher quantities than PP from household streams, says the report.
However, some limited data from studies suggested there may be as much as 7.7 kg of PP available per year from a single-family household.
This volume would place PP at higher generation rates than both natural and colored HDPE. The total annual PP tonnage by US single-family households would be an estimated 827,000 metric tons.
The economics of PP
A Greenpeace report this year found only 31 percent of US households have access to PP collection and that, even where available, recycling is not guaranteed.
Moreover, the economics of collecting, sorting and recycling post-consumer PP products is becoming ever more stressed and does not provide a sufficient driver for MRF to invest in its collection or separation.
This is due to the falling prices of virgin PP and the falling value of post-consumer PP, the report asserts.
In answer to these issues, the Recycling Partnership claims industry must promote access to this untapped stream of material by driving both citizen education and improved collection and sorting facilities.
First awarded grants
The coalition has announced its first four grantees, which will receive a total of nearly US$2 million in catalytic funding.
The coalition wants to repurpose the potential 827,000 tons of PP being wasted annually in the US.
The winners are: Cougles Recycling in Hamburg, Pennsylvania; Mazza Recycling in Tinton Falls, New Jersey; Rumpke Recycling in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Winters Brothers in Brookhaven, New York.
“As Ohio’s recycling leader, our family company processes more than 450 million kg of recyclables annually, and our customers have a desire to recycle even more,” says Jeff Snyder, recycling senior manager at Rumpke Waste & Recycling.
“The Polypropylene Recycling Coalition grant will aid us in our efforts to responsibly grow recycling within our service footprint while providing end-users with a clean stream of material for their products.”
The coalition says its investments will widen total nationwide access to PP recycling programs by approximately 1.7 percent to an additional four million people.
The next round of grant proposals is due by 31 March, 2021.
Edited
By Louis Gore-Langton
