ACC Investments in Circular Packaging
Achieving circularity for plastics packaging will require input from the entire plastics value chain. In addition to creating the Roadmap and working closely with all elements of the supply chain, ACC’s Plastic Division also has invested in multiple initiatives to advance both mechanical and advanced plastics recycling. These initiatives include:
Advanced Recycling Alliance for Plastics – Housed in the Plastics Division of ACC and comprised of companies engaged in the business of creating new products from used plastics, the Alliance helps improve awareness of the benefits of advanced plastics recycling technologies and grow and scale advanced recycling into a sustainable solution. Among other efforts, the Alliance invests in precompetitive research to help create additional products from used plastics and support the associated environmental and economic opportunities.
Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) – ACC Plastics Division member companies helped found the Alliance, composed of prominent global companies, including brand owners, retailers, chemical and plastic makers, plastic processors, and waste management companies.
The Alliance has set a goal of deploying $1.5 billion over five years in infrastructure, innovation, education/engagement, and cleanup to help end plastic waste in the environment, typically through initiatives that recover and recycle plastics. The initial focus is on rapidly developing countries where population and economic growth has outpaced the development of waste management systems, and on rivers that carry vast amounts of waste out to sea.
Materials Recovery for the Future (MRFF) – A research initiative that studies the potential to collect flexible plastic packaging through curbside recycling programs.
Pacific Northwest Secondary Sorting Demonstration Project – This multi-stakeholder pilot program examined whether secondary municipal recovery facilities (MRF) – facilities that sort materials leftover from community MRFs – can obtain additional marketable materials. The project demonstrated the value that can be extracted from landfill-bound or low-value mixed materials, including plastics.
Plastic Film Recycling – An online resource to educate consumers, recycling professionals, and retailers about how to recycle plastic bags, wraps, and film packaging.
Plastic Recycling Terms & Tools – A common set of plastics recycling terms to help communities collect and recover more plastics.
Plasticmarkets.org – An online resource that connects recycled plastics suppliers and buyers.
Recover More Plastic – A program that provides tools and resources that enable communities to collect plastics at curbside that typically have not been recycled.
Wrap Recycling Action Program (WRAP): Collaborative community programs coupled with consumer information on how to collect plastic bags and wraps for recycling.