CPG stakeholders heard the latest recycling insights from industry experts for day two of the Packaging Recycling Summit, presented by Packaging World. Here's what they learned.
Amazon's focus on data for sustainability initiatives
Nicholas Ellis, principal of the Amazon Climate Pledge FundAmazon is partnering with recycling startup Glacier to implement AI models for identification and recovery of biomaterials and flexibles at material recovery facilities. Nicholas Ellis, principal of the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, shared about this partnership at the Summit alongside Rebecca Hu, founder and CEO of Glacier.
Ellis shared Amazon's perspective that data is power when working to improve sustainability.
“If you don’t have the data, you can’t make a good decision. Amazon is an especially data-driven organization, so we are constantly scrutinizing what’s going on and how we know what we know. We oftentimes say we need three data points to make a compelling argument. If you only have two, you might as well be quiet. We’d like to wait for that third or fourth data point so we can see that trend emerge and really have confidence in the decisions that we’re making," said Ellis.
Colgate-Palmolive's sharing strategy for toothpaste tube recycling
Greg Corra, VP of Global Packaging & Sustainability at Colgate-PalmoliveAs Colgate-Palmolive worked to adapt its toothpaste tubes for recyclability in HDPE rigid recycling streams, it knew making a true impact in waste reduction would take a group effort, Greg Corra, VP of global packaging & sustainability at Colgate-Palmolive, explained at the Summit. Corra also spoke alongside Hu of Glacier about how the two companies are improving collection and recycling systems for tubes.
As of 2024, supported by this collaborative approach, nine out of 10 toothpaste tubes sold in the U.S. are designed recyclable within the HDPE rigid stream, said Corra.
“Even though we are the world’s biggest toothpaste company with a little over half the market share, us doing this alone would not have moved the needle. We knew that it would take more than just us, so we decided that we were going to share the technology. We have a patent that we are not defending, we’re openly sharing it," Corra said.
How Google achieved its plastic-free packaging goal
David Bourne, lead for environmental strategy at Google,Back in 2020, Google pledged to make all its hardware packaging plastic-free by 2025. The company’s packaging was already 94% fiber-based at that point, but the last 6% was a challenge to replace, according to David Bourne, Lead for Environmental Strategy at Google, who spoke at the Summit on Tuesday with Miguel Arevalo, Packaging Innovation Lead.
Google achieved its goal ahead of schedule – All of the company’s products launched in 2024 and going forward are using 100% plastic-free packaging. Bourne said an inspired team of engineers is vital to achieving ambitious goals.
“One of the key things that helps overcome those challenges is making sure the engineers feel empowered and inspired by the work they’re doing. The fact that we had a public commitment with an externally stated goal was a motivating force for our engineers. I think motivated engineers are the biggest ingredient that you need to overcome challenges," said Bourne.
The infinite PET recycling potential of advanced recycling
Advanced recycling technology is complimentary to mechanical recycling, according to Marija Massey, strategic sourcing manager, circular feedstocks, North America at Eastman Chemical Company, who spoke at the Summit today. She discussed how advanced recycling technologies can turn packaging waste into opportunity in a panel alongside Tamsin Ettefagh of PureCycle Technologies, Carla Toth of Nexus Circular, and Adam Peer of the American Chemistry Council.
Massey explained that chemical recycling’s focus is on colored and opaque thermoform and other forms of PET, rather than competing with mechanical recycling for the clear bottle bales and PET space. Further, as recycling rates increase, the technology has the potential to transform how we recycle PET.
“Today we’re not recycling enough, but if we were recycling at really high rates and if we were incorporating a lot of mechanically recycled content in a bottle, after a few turns you’re going to start seeing some of that degradation. The option is to renew it somewhat with virgin-based feedstocks, or you can use chemical recycling because it is providing virgin-like quality and almost renew the material. Speaking in PET terms, it can create that infinite recycling which we wouldn’t otherwise have," said Massey.
Limit variables in the switch to sustainable materials
Switching to new, sustainable packaging materials can involve significant planning and decision-making. To limit delays in the transition, it’s best to not make too many changes at once, Betsy Metzger, product development manager at Glenroy, Inc., suggested at the Summit.
Metzger joined Greg Berguig of PAC Machinery, Michelle Bryson of BW Packaging, Ken Forziati of Harpak-ULMA Packaging, Tom Seidel of Printpack, and Glen Long of PMMI for a panel discussion on the implications and strategies of integrating recyclable materials with established machinery. She explained that it's best to not delay material changes with additional adjustments to things like graphics.
“Please don’t feel like you have to change your graphics right away. Often our customers are saying, 'it’s a new material, let’s take this opportunity to change the graphics.' Frankly, we find that adds time. God bless marketing people, they put great ideas out there, but it adds time,” said Metzger. “It takes away that there is technical learning that still has to happen, not even just in your plant, taking it through the distribution channels. Changing the graphics just adds one more layer to companies feeling like now they’re invested in that one solution, and then they may pursue that material too far.”
Editors report on distinguishing characteristics that define each new product and collected video demonstrating the equipment or materials as displayed at the show. This topical report, winnowed from nearly 300 PACK EXPO collective booth visits, represents a categorized, organized account of individual items that were selected based on whether they were deemed to be both new, and truly innovative, based on decades of combined editorial experience in experiencing and evaluating PACK EXPO products.
Nicholas Ellis, principal of the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund
Greg Corra, VP of Global Packaging & Sustainability at Colgate-Palmolive
