Today, the Center for the Circular
Economy at Closed Loop
Partners launched the Composting
Consortium, together
with founding partners PepsiCo
and the NextGen Consortium. A
multiyear collaboration, the Consortium brings together leading voices in the
composting ecosystem in the US to identify the best path forward to increase the
recovery of compostable food packaging and drive toward circular outcomes.
PepsiCo and the NextGen Consortium — composed of Starbucks,
McDonald's
and other foodservice brands — are joined by supporting partners
Colgate-Palmolive,
Kraft Heinz, Mars and
Target, as well as industry
partners the Biodegradable Products Institute and the US Plastics
Pact.
The Consortium is launching as compostable packaging and composting
infrastructure continue to evolve. The demand for alternatives to traditional,
fossil fuel-based, single-use plastic
packaging
continues to rise, and the market for compostable packaging is
projected
to grow 17 percent annually between 2020 and 2025. Compostable packaging
presents potential environmental, economic and social benefits — diverting food
packaging and food scraps within the packaging toward composting infrastructure,
and mitigating the greenhouse gases emitted when these items otherwise end up in
landfill. To meet the growth in compostable packaging, there needs to be more
widely available composting infrastructure to fully recover the value of these
materials.
"With current market forces and environmental challenges driving the growth of
compostable packaging, there has never been a more critical time to collectively
advance labeling, testing and infrastructure investments related to the recovery
of compostable food packaging and food scraps," says Kate Daly, Managing
Director of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners. "We're
excited to work together with leading brands and retailers, including PepsiCo
and the partners of the NextGen Consortium, as well as the entire composting
value chain — from global brands to composters and packaging manufacturers — to
accelerate much-needed solutions."
This new collaboration is the latest in Closed Loop Partners' multi-pronged strategy to eradicate plastic waste and pollution — including its work with Target and other major retailers to Reinvent the Retail Bag. And brands such as
Bacardi,
Just
Salad
and
Neutrogena
have made strides in biodegradable and/or compostable product and
packaging solutions, but standards for their composition and recovery remain an
issue. The Composting Consortium recognizes the challenges in this growing
packaging sector and calls for unity and clarity across stakeholders. New
compostable materials need to be researched with diligence and deployed
strategically as one line of defense against waste.
The Consortium will work to identify best practices for consumer understanding
of compostable packaging labeling and collection; establish when compostable
versus reusable or recyclable packaging applications are most appropriate;
collaborate on best practices to inform policy making; and build an investment
roadmap for expanding composting infrastructure to recover compostable packaging
and food scraps. It brings together leading voices in the US composting
ecosystem — including advisory partners Compost Manufacturing Alliance,
Foodservice Packaging Institute, Google,
ReFED,
the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, TIPA Corp Ltd., University
College London and World Wildlife
Fund
— to increase the recovery of valuable resources otherwise lost to landfill.
"There is increasing awareness of the climate risks posed by food scraps being
wasted in landfills, alongside the challenges of waste from packaging that is
not getting recycled," noted Rhodes Yepsen, Executive Director of the
Biodegradable Products Institute. “This is driving broad support for a change to
the status quo, including a desire for widespread access to composting and
innovative compostable packaging that can be composted with the food.
Collaboration amongst diverse stakeholders is critical — which the Composting
Consortium brings together, so we can make quick progress."
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Nov 9, 2021 10am EST / 7am PST / 3pm GMT / 4pm CET