PLASTICS: Starting a recycling conversation
By PLASTICS Manager, Sustainability and Materials
Heather Nortz
Introduction
The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) is a signatory of the EPA’s America Recycles Pledge, which commits us to “participate in an ongoing dialogue to identify specific actions that we can take collectively with EPA and the other signatories, and within our respective organization, to improve the nation's recycling system.”
We are proud to say that one of our newest contributions to this goal is #PlasticRecyclingWeek – a social media-driven event that was piloted from Nov. 15 to 19, 2021. This weeklong campaign stimulated meaningful conversation about recycling among over 300,000 participants across social media.
Recycling: A Message Worth Sharing
The PLASTICS Recycling Committee established themes for each day of the week, which helped organize the educational content posted from participant channels. For those who may have missed it, here’s a quick summary.
Monday: Celebrating America Recycles Day / Recycling 101
The week kicked off with a celebration of America Recycles Day, the only nationally recognized day for acknowledging achievements and improvement opportunities in recycling. On the first day of our campaign, PLASTICS circulated videos like SciShow’s How Recycling Works and other resources to provide a basic understanding of the complex system that is recycling.
Tuesday: Buying Recycled
Creating demand for products containing recycled content gives value to the recycled material, incentivizing those in the supply chain to invest in recycling to fill that demand. Drawing attention to this solution, we highlighted numerous everyday products that contain recycled plastic (e.g., Avient & BIC’s razor with over 60 percent recycled content).
Wednesday: Innovations in Recycling
This was a perfect opportunity to celebrate what we in the plastics industry have already improved upon for the U.S. recycling system. Midweek we encouraged followers to post about innovations they have seen, or that their companies have achieved in the recycling space. One example we spotlighted was our 2021 Re|focus Leadership in Sustainability Innovation Award winner, Chevron Phillips Chemical and their Marlex® Anew™ Circular Polyethylene, made using advanced recycling technology.
Thursday: Advanced Recycling
One technology innovation that has gained recent traction is advanced recycling. The industry is currently investing heavily in this technology and its potential benefit as a complement to mechanical recycling to increase recycling rates. Thursday was all about highlighting companies leading in this exciting new area, such as BASF, Braskem, Eastman, and ExxonMobil.
Friday: Continue Your Education
There is no way to fit all there is to know about recycling into one week! So, on the final day of Plastic Recycling Week, we provided a handful of resources that interested participants could utilize to continue learning about current events in the recycling industry, as well as how to be effective players in the recycling system. ThisIsPlastics.com is an especially good resource in this regard.
Stay tuned in 2022 for information on the second iteration of Plastic Recycling Week.
In the meantime, we hope you continue the recycling conversation with us at the Re|focus 2022 Sustainability and Recycling Summit from May 23 to 25 in Cincinnati, Ohio!