America’s Plastic Makers Are Making Plastic Out of Used Plastic
Is it more sustainable to make plastic out of used plastic? And then use that recycled plastic to make energy-saving insulation and protective packaging?
Yup.
America’s Plastic Makers are making more and more materials that contain recycled plastic, which reduces their environmental footprint and helps meet sustainability goals. And many are working on ways to recycle even more.
One company has even figured out how to make strong, lightweight plastic film with 80% recycled plastic!
Sustainability Benefits of Recycled Plastic
The benefits of recycling plastic are significant.
- According to the U.S. EPA: “Recycling conserves energy. For example, recycling just 10 plastic bottles saves enough energy to power a laptop for more than 25 hours.”
- Research found that it takes 75% less energy to make a plastic bottle from recycled plastic than from new plastic.
- Recycling plastic can reduce carbon emissions and save fossil resources.
- Recycling can reduce the climate impact of products compared to virgin plastic. One assessment found that mechanically recycled plastic reduced total energy consumption by 79% for PET plastic, 88% for high-density polyethylene plastic and 88% for polypropylene plastic.
- Recycling plastic can reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills, or worse, as pollution.
- Recycling plastic can give our resources a second life, allowing them to be used to make new products.
All good. All contributing to sustainability.
Companies Are Making Recycled Plastic
So, who is making plastic out of used plastic… and what are some companies doing to increase the supply of recycled plastic?
Here are some examples:
NOTE: These examples are not exhaustive, are intended for informational purposes only, and are self-reported by the companies. Follow links or contact the companies for more information.
As an early pioneer in the idea of plastic circularity, AmSty has committed to a goal of 30% recycled content in food packaging and foodservice products by 2030 as a first step on the journey to seeing all polystyrene recycled.
In 2013, AmSty designed and implemented a dissolution process to recycle post-consumer polystyrene by cleaning and dissolving it into a recycled feedstock, and then combining it with fresh styrene in a reactor to produce polystyrene and has recycled more than 30 million pounds of polystyrene with this technology. AmSty completed its first sale of ISCC PLUS certified recycled polystyrene to customers in 2023.
Dow offers multiple solutions to enable a more comprehensive array of plastics to be recycled. Dow produces plastic materials, such as REVOLOOP™ Recycled Plastic Resins, that contain post-consumer recycled content for use in a variety of products.
The company recently acquired Circulus, a leading recycler of plastic waste into post-consumer resin, which expands Dow’s offerings in applications such as collation shrink packaging, stretch film, liners and select food packaging to a wider range of applications in the industrial, consumer, and transportation sectors.
Braskem America offers a circular polymer portfolio that includes products made with post-consumer recycled content, including some that can be used in a wide range of food-contact packaging. The materials can be used in a variety of applications, including packaging, caps and closures, consumer goods, automotive components, housewares and industrial products.
Braskem is a founding member of the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition whose objective is to improve polypropylene recycling in the U.S. Among other efforts, the Coalition provides grants to multiple communities to support new and improved sortation technologies to recycle more polypropylene. The grants have resulted in a nine-fold increase so far in the amount of polypropylene that’s being recycled, which is used to make new packaging, housewares, buckets, gardening supplies, and more.
Covestro produces plastic materials in Asia that are made with recycled polycarbonate. The company aims to be capable of delivering more than 60,000 tons of polycarbonates with recycled content per year in 2026.
Covestro also works with the Mattress Recycling Council, a nonprofit organization formed by the mattress industry to operate recycling programs in U.S. states that have passed mattress recycling laws. Every year the organization helps recycle nearly 2 million mattresses. The recycled foam plastic can be used in carpet padding, insulation, pet bedding and more.
Pregis, a packaging maker, was asked by a customer to make a plastic film package with 80% post-consumer recycled plastic. Typical recycled content in plastic film is 25% or less.
The company found a partner who was processing post-consumer plastic film and incorporated it into the design for one of their packaging products, resulting in a high-performing cushioning product with 80% recycled content that performs as well as the original product.
LyondellBasell (LYB) produces plastic materials containing post-consumer recycled plastic that can be used in a variety of packaging applications. The company offers a comprehensive range of circular and low carbon solutions and specializes in recycled and renewable-based products.
LYB is also a founding investor in Closed Loop Partners’ Circular Plastics Fund that deploys capital to improve infrastructure and advance innovative recycling technologies. The company also helped form the Houston Recycling Collaboration to expand the area’s recycling rate and infrastructure.
