Capturing small-format packaging for recycling is not only possible, it can be achieved by leveraging technologies that are already on the market, according to a new report by Closed Loop Partners’ The Center for the Circular Economy. The organization is launching a consortium to advance recovery of these recyclables at MRFs and glass recycling facilities, in a bid to keep them from being disposed or contaminating glass streams.
Equipment upgrades could help to capture materials including polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate and metal, said Georgia Sherwin, senior director of strategic initiatives and partnerships at CLP’s Center for the Circular Economy. Capturing small-sized recyclables represents an “overlooked opportunity” for recyclers to tap a revenue stream and to keep the items out of landfills, she said.
According to the researchers’ sampling at one major glass recycling facility, up to 12,000 tons of small-format recyclable packaging could be diverted each year, and recyclers could capture that value “if we were to implement interventions for small-format packaging recovery,” Sherwin said. That tonnage is “really the tip of the iceberg” and could expand by tens of thousands of tons when considering equipment upgrades nationwide, she explained.
Field work and findings
The Center for the Circular Economy’s report is based on field work it conducted to collect materials at two MRFs and one glass recycling plant in the United States, Sherwin said. The researchers engaged with half a dozen other MRFs across the country to discuss glass screens — recycling equipment designed to separate small glass pieces — and visited the new Rumpke MRF in Columbus, Ohio, to see such screens in action.
The work originated in 2022 when beauty brand Maybelline New York approached the center to conduct testing to assess recovery solutions for small-format packaging. Last year, Kraft Heinz, L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble and Target joined the initiative.
The small items can come from sectors such as beauty, pharmacy, food service, beverage and retail. Examples include cosmetics pots, pill bottles, tubes, lotion pumps and coffee pods. Miniature hotel amenities fit the bill, and caps that were separated from their bottles also show up a lot: “You see loads of [caps] as contamination in the glass stream,” Sherwin said.
The researchers found that even items larger than the industry standard for small-format packaging — less than two inches in at least two dimensions, according to the Association of Plastics Recyclers’ definition — can slip through existing sorting systems. That brings into play items that generally fall in the two- to three-inch range, such as deodorant sticks, and items larger than three inches, such as lids for PP tubs.
“What's exciting to me is really the cross-sector nature of this challenge,” Sherwin said. “It's an exciting opportunity to unite brands from across sectors to really look at solutions.”
Supporting the concept of equipment upgrades, the research team detailed observations after a MRF upgraded its glass screen. They found a 67% relative reduction in mid- to large-sized small plastics contaminating the glass stream, with the technology allowing the smalls to be sorted and directed to bales.
The report generally focuses on plastic packaging, although materials including metal showed up in field work as well.
Reclaimers flagged PE as being more complex — and sometimes problematic — than much of the polypropylene items. For one, PE “was less monomaterial than some of the PP we were seeing,” Sherwin said.
“One example that came up during this research phase was something called cross-linked PE,” Sherwin said, referencing a durable form of PE resin. “Reclaimers, they expressed that's a real challenge, that it would contaminate their process and would result in the specific batch not getting recovered.”
This will likely be one topic the new Consortium for Small-Format Packaging Recovery will examine in more detail, she said.
Another area they would like to explore further is differences between mechanical and chemical recycling. Both types of recyclers have expressed interest in small-format materials. But chemical recyclers currently pay a lower price for feedstock than mechanical recyclers, according to the report.
“We're still trying to engage on exactly why that is,” Sherwin said. “But obviously, the financial model ... the willingness and the price to pay for these materials, does impact the business case.”
Consortium kicks off next phase
CLP aims to launch the consortium this year, with a broad goal to implement technologies in the field and demonstrate an active proof-of-concept.
In part, the consortium will fund infrastructure upgrades to capture small rigid plastics. It will also work to build a value chain that includes recyclers and policymakers, among others.
CLP currently is soliciting participation from partners from across the value chain, including manufacturers, brands and other stakeholders. It anticipates the first phase of demonstrating a proof-of-concept will be approximately a three-year process, Sherwin said.
Down the road, consumer education could enter the picture. But, “before we would consider engaging consumers in recycling small-format packaging, we need to make sure that there’s sufficient access for it,” Sherwin said.
“We need to drive toward solutions and make sure this material is getting recovered,” Sherwin said. “I'm really eager for us to be able to demonstrate a proof of concept in the U.S. and share that, both nationally but also globally, because I don't think it's a challenge that has been solved yet.”
