US Plastics Pact unites value chain’s circularity mission

26 Aug 2020 --- The US Plastics Pact, a collaborative led by The Recycling Partnership and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), has launched as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's global Plastics Pact network. The Pact aims to unify diverse public-private stakeholders across the plastics value chain to rethink how the US designs, uses, and reuses plastics, creating a path toward a circular economy. Several FMCG leaders are among the more than 60 Pact activators, including Nestlé, Mondelēz International and Henkel, and global plastic packaging giant Amcor.

In April, the European Plastics Pact became the first regional pact to join the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's global Plastics Pact network. The first North American Pact of its kind, the US Pact joins the European Plastics Pact, and the UK, France, Chile, the Netherlands, South Africa and Portugal as part of the global Plastics Pact network. While the US Pact follows the precedents set by the existing global network of plastic pacts, it will be tailored to meet the unique needs and challenges of the US market.

The US Plastics Pact brings together companies, government entities, NGOs, researchers, and other stakeholders in a pre-competitive platform for industry-led innovation. The initiative will “drive collaborative action” and “deliver a significant system change” toward a circular economy for plastics, enabling companies and governments in the US to collectively meet four goals by 2025:

• Define a list of packaging to be designated as problematic or unnecessary by 2021 and take measures to eliminate them by 2025.
• By 2025, all plastic packaging is 100 percent reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
• By 2025, undertake ambitious actions to recycle or compost 50 percent of plastic packaging effectively.
• By 2025, the average recycled content or responsibly sourced bio-based content in plastic packaging will be 30 percent.

WWF's ReSource: Plastic Footprint Tracker will ensure transparency by measuring the change in each of the target areas. The tool provides a standard methodology to track companies' plastic footprints and publicly report their plastic waste commitments each year. The report will be made public annually.The US Plastics Pact will “drive collaborative action” and “deliver a significant system change” toward a plastics circular economy. The next step for the US Plastics Pact will be to create a roadmap, laying out the steps to achieving the four goals outlined above.

“Plastic pollution is a global crisis that needs local solutions, and the US is one of biggest opportunities where regional interventions can result in transformative change around the world,” notes Erin Simon, Head, Plastic Waste and Business at WWF. “To do this, WWF sees the US Plastics Pact as the linchpin for uniting the critical stakeholders – industry leaders, waste management systems and policymakers – under a common vision and action plan for meaningful, measurable impact.”

On the current trajectory, annual flows of plastic into the ocean could nearly triple by 2040, equating to 29 million metric tons of plastic leakage into the oceans at the cost of US$100 billion to the global economy. This is according to a groundbreaking report by The Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ, which employed a comprehensive plastic system modeling tool to create a global analysis that evaluates various strategies to reduce ocean plastic flows and quantifies the associated economic, environmental and social implications of each pathway. The report concludes that the plastic pollution problem can be solved in a generation but requires political leaders, policymakers, business executives, and investors to shift from incremental to systemic change.

Nestlé’s investments heavily in circularity
In 2018, US Pact activator Nestlé announced its ambition to make 100 percent of its packaging reusable or recyclable by 2025. Since then, the food and beverage giant has accelerated work to eliminate hard-to-recycle materials in accordance with its Rules of Sustainable Packaging.

The company also seeks to reduce its use of virgin plastic by one third by 2025. In January 2020, Nestlé announced an investment of up to CHF 2 billion (US$2.08 billion) to lead the shift from virgin plastics to food-grade recycled plastics and accelerate the development of innovative sustainable packaging solutions. With this investment, Nestlé is working to create a market for food-grade recycled plastics, which does not currently exist on an industrial level for plastics other than PET.

Nestlé’s ability to achieve 100 percent reusable or recyclable packaging partially relies on helping upgrade underfunded and often outdated recycling infrastructure in the US. Efforts already underway in this pursuit include the company’s investment in the Materials Recovery for the Future Collaborative, which demonstrated the successful collection, separation and preparation for recycling flexible plastic packaging (FPP) in a curbside recycling program pilot.The Ozarka, Deer Park and Zephyrhills natural spring water brands are now using 100 percent rPET across multiple sizes (Image credit: NWNA).

“FPP plays an important role in our daily lives – protecting products to keep us safe and healthy. Yet, there is a critical need to address the environmental impacts of FPP and develop viable ways to recover these materials for reuse and recycling in innovative ways,” Diane Herndon, Senior Sustainability Manager, Nestlé Purina, tells PackagingInsights. “This pilot created a path for community recyclers to collect and sell packaging that is not commonly recycled today.”

Nestlé continues to work on scaling up solutions for recycling flexible plastic by participating in The Recycling Partnership’s Film and Flexibles Task Force. Additionally, in 2017 Nestlé Waters North America began a multi-year US$6 million investment in the Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund to support projects that help increase recycling capabilities throughout the country. Nestlé has added the How2Recycle label to most of its US packaging portfolio, providing clear and concise information to make accurate recycling easier.

Mondelēz within sight of recyclable portfolio 
As part of the US Pact, activator Mondelēz International states that it recognizes that significant, systemwide change is imperative to realize a circular economy for plastics. “We believe that sector-wide initiatives in collaboration with government are key to reducing the impact of packaging on our planet,” comments Christine Montenegro McGrath, Vice President and Chief of Sustainability and Global Impact at Mondelēz International.

As part of a long-term commitment to reduce environmental impact, Mondelēz International set 2025 packaging innovation targets to ensure 100 percent of its packaging is designed to be recycled, contains on-pack recycling information and contributes to CO2 emissions reductions. The company reports that 93 percent of its plastic and non-plastic packaging, including iconic snack brands Toblerone and belVita’s packaging, is designed to be recycled.

Henkel on target for zero waste to landfill
Henkel North America's consumer products businesses are “well on their way” to achieving the company's global target of 100 percent of packaging being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. The company also aims to reduce the amount of new plastics from fossil sources in its consumer products by 50 percent by 2025.Henkel aims to reduce new plastics from fossil sources in its consumer products by 50 percent by 2025.

To avoid environmental waste disposal, Henkel's North America consumer products manufacturing facilities are also on target to achieve zero waste to landfill by 2021. As part of its broader sustainability strategy, the company has set global climate and energy commitments including being climate positive by 2040, with 2025 targets that include a 65 percent reduction of the CO2 emissions of its production, and a reduction of 100 million tons of CO2 saved together with its consumers, customers and suppliers.

“Henkel is committed to developing more intelligent packaging for the benefit of people and the planet. Our mission is to integrate materials from sustainable sources into intelligent designs to complete the circle,” says Jillaine Dellis, Head of Sustainability for Henkel North America's Consumer Products Business. “We are proud to join the US Plastics Pact as a founding member, reinforcing Henkel's comprehensive commitments to develop solutions that minimize and manage plastic waste.”

“Together through the US Plastics Pact, we will ignite system change to accelerate progress toward a circular economy,” concludes Sarah Dearman, Vice President of Circular Ventures for The Recycling Partnership. “The US Pact will accelerate system-wide change by inspiring and supporting upstream innovation through a coordinated national strategy, creating a unified framework and enabling members to accelerate progress toward our ambitious 2025 sustainability goals. Members’ full participation will be vital to reaching our shared goals.”

By Joshua Poole