A broad group of stakeholders in plastics recycling has launched a set of new resources to help communities recycle more plastics. “Plastics Recycling Terms & Tools” has been created to make it easier for consumers to recycle plastics and help improve nationwide tracking of the types and amounts of plastics recycled by providing two sets of common plastics recycling terms (outreach and commodities) for use throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Because communities across the country use slightly different terms to refer to the same things, consumers often are unnecessarily confused about what can and cannot be recycled. To help reduce confusion, the Terms & Tools contain a common set of outreach terms (a glossary or lexicon) for community recycling coordinators to use when educating residents about what plastics to recycle.
To help communities adopt this common language, an easy-to-use online tool streamlines the process of matching the plastics collected in a community recycling program with a common set of outreach terms. The terms, a corresponding gallery of images, and an option to create your own flyer (all available at no cost at RecycleYourPlastics.org) are designed to be used by community recycling professionals coast-to-coast in developing education and outreach materials.
“Public opinion surveys and everyday experience demonstrate that many people are confused about which plastics are accepted for recycling in their community,” says Patty Moore, President and CEO of Moore Recycling, which oversees the Terms & Tools, sponsored by the Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council. “The new plastics recycling terms were generated through extensive surveys and feedback from recycling professionals to get everyone speaking the same language so we can collect more of the plastics that reclaimers need.”
In addition to the outreach terms, the Terms & Tools contain a separate set ofrecycled plastics commodity terms that will enable more accurate characterization of recycled plastic commodities and improve tracking of plastics recycling at local, state, and national levels.The commodity terms, created previously by Moore Recycling in partnership with the Association of Postconsumer Plastics Recyclers, are intended to create greater efficiencies in the buying and selling of used plastics.
The goals of the Terms & Tools are to boost diversion rates of clean material, increase the types and amounts of plastics recycled, decrease contamination, and help meet growing demand for recycled plastics.
“We’re very excited to make the Terms & Tools available to communities nationwide,” says Steve Russell, Vice President of Plastics for the ACC. “Retailers, brand owners, and packaging designers want to use more recycled plastics, and this is an important step toward increasing collection of these valuable post-use materials.”
The Terms & Tools were created with guidance from a wide-ranging Advisory Committee of representatives from throughout the plastics recycling value chain, including reclaimers, recycling coordinators, plastics makers, trade associations, municipal recovery facilities, a recycling company, an exporter, and a nonprofit curbside recycling partnership. In addition, Moore Recycling solicited input through an extensive survey of hundreds of recycling professionals and through Re-TRAC Connect.
