APR Recycling Campaign Builds Strong Demand for Recycling Plastics

A program designed to expand market demand for recycled plastics has generated almost 7 million pounds of new demand in it’s first year. The APR Recycling Demand Champions Campaign, created by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR, Washington, DC) in 2017 to develop new markets for recycled plastics, announced the results at the APR annual meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla. APR also announced several new participants who have committed to increase their use of postconsumer resin (PCR) in the upcoming year.  

The initial group of companies who increased their use of PCR in the past year include include Berry Global, Champion Polymer Recycling, Clean Tech, Coca-Cola North America, Envision Plastics, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Merlin Plastics, Plastipak, Procter & Gamble and Target. Collectively, these companies increased their PCR purchasing by 6.8 million pounds. This is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 1,747 passenger vehicles driven for 1 year, 92 jobs in plastics recycling, and all of the plastic recyclables from a city the size of Cambridge, MA (113,333 population).

The APR Recycling Demand Champions Campaign plays a prominent role in expanding the market for recycled plastics, driving investment, increasing supply, and producing more high quality postconsumer resin (PCR). Champion companies commit to purchase new volume PCR in three possible ways:

• Purchase “work in process” (WIP) durable goods for use in manufacturing facilities.
• Develop a new application for PCR.
• Increase PCR usage in a current application. 

Berry Global, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Procter & Gamble and Target have committed to the campaign for a second year. New Demand Champion Companies, PAC Worldwide and QRS Recycling, join those that committed earlier this year: Avangard Innovative, Denton Plastics, Eco-Products, Nestle, Unilever and UPM Raflatak. 

This brings the current total to 12 participating companies.  APR encourages new companies to join this campaign.

“We are pleased with the impact and growth of The APR Recycling Demand Champion Campaign. It has become a seminal program of APR, which we expect to continue for many years to come,” says Steve Alexander, President and CEO of APR. “We commend the companies that have committed to the program, and look forward to their continued efforts to expand the market for recycled plastics and enhance the plastics recycling industry.”