Recyclable Food Packaging:
Sometimes there's more to it than what meets the eye. 🧐
First things first. We strongly encourage recycling! Re-using things multiple times and cutting back on the stuff we throw away is just part of being a mindful community member. But did you know less than 15% of plastics in North America actually get recycled? In 2018, the U.S. generated 35+ million tons of plastic waste, and only 3.1 million tons got recycled.
Beverage bottles make up the bulk of what's recycled. Just 8% of "non-bottle" plastic packaging makes it. This means almost all those plastic food containers you lovingly scrub clean for the blue bin don't end up as recycled food containers. That's a grade-A total letdown right there!
Plastics recycling is crucial, but it’s part of a bigger two-pronged objective. The first prong is to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up as trash in the environment. The second is to reduce the need to make new - or "virgin" - plastic.
Now here's the rub. A big portion of plastic still relies heavily on virgin materials, and the vast majority of those materials are made using fossil fuels. Reducing our dependency on virgin plastics through recycling is critical, but understanding the limitations of recycling means we also need to be figuring out how to use less fossil fuel to make virgin plastics. This is why we're big believers in renewable resources. 🌿
2018 EPA Plastic Packaging Recycling Rates
Even when we meticulously clean, sort, and place our used packaging in the right bin, recycling across cities, regions, and even individual waste management companies, is a bit of a hot mess, tbh. Because holy cadoodles, why do all the blue bins have different rules?!? 🙉🤦♀️
We have to remember that recycling is a for-profit industry, so only the most valuable recycled plastics, like PET #1 beverage bottles and HDPE #2 milk jugs, get sorted and sold to manufacturers to make new stuff. Unfortunately, many items we toss into our blue bins end up in landfills because recyclers have to send them there. This can happen when the materials aren't valuable enough for recyclers to sell, when they're hard to sort, or if they're contaminated with food residue.
One way we used to help boost our recycling rates was by exporting bulk plastics to be cleaned and sorted offshore. This practice ended in 2018 after China, which had been the top global importer of of these materials for decades, put a ban on recycled material imports for environmental reasons. That took the U.S. from 7.3 million metric tons of recycled plastic that was being exported annually to a big ol' zero – yikes!
A major challenge for recyclers is the care and precision needed to sort and clean used packaging. Automating this process is costly, and not all recyclers can afford the investment. This is a big reason why recycling rates for many materials are surprisingly low. It’s not about whether we try to recycle – it's about what our recycling systems can handle.
Beyond Recycling:
Embracing multiple ways to reach planet-loving nirvana. 🙏
A discussion about recycling isn't complete without mentioning mixed and "multi-materials." Different colors and layers in packaging, used to enhance barriers against oxygen or moisture, can really complicate the recycling process. This often leads to "downcycling", meaning the recycled materials can only be used for a less valuable or less technically intensive application (for example, black plastic packaging can't be recycled and transformed into clear packaging).
Post-consumer recycled content (PCR) needs especially careful handling to avoid mixing different types of plastic. Additionally, for food packaging, PCR must be processed to ensure it's safe for food contact, which puts more pressure on recyclers to find profitable ways to make it all work.
Like we said earlier, we're full supporters of recycling, and both pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled content can be a part of plant-based packaging. We're big believers that the more eco-friendly options out there, the easier it'll be to create a better outcome for the planet.
What we do is use our plant-based powers to reduce the amount of fossil fuels required to make everyday packaging. We're here to show how you can embrace both plant-based AND recycling to maximize the positive environmental impact.
Want to talk about how you can go easier on the fossil fuels in your packaging? Chat with one of our specialists today and let's do this, you plant-based lover, you!