Circular Economy Collaboration & Co-Creation

New Cross-Industry Consortium Takes Aim at Small-Format Plastic Waste

Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy calls on brands to join critical work to increase recovery of valuable small-format plastic packaging typically lost to landfills.

Published 2 months ago | About a 5 minute read

Image: Maybelline NY

Today, Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy unveils a first-of-its-kind report on increasing recovery of small-format plastic packaging. The report builds on over two years of market research and comprehensive recycling tests in partnership with Maybelline NY and its parent company, L’Oréal Groupe; with the support of additional partners Kraft Heinz, P&G and Target.

The findings demonstrate the positive economic and environmental impact of recovering small-format packaging, catalyzing the launch of a new industry collaboration managed by the Center for the Circular Economy: The Consortium to Recover Small-Format Packaging.

Alongside the NextGen Consortium, the Composting Consortium and the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, the Consortium for Small-Format Packaging Recovery is the latest cross-industry collaboration advancing the Center for the Circular Economy’s mission to identify, test and scale solutions that solve material challenges and advance a circular economy.

The newest Consortium is focused on testing the Center’s research findings about increasing recycling of small-format plastics in real-world scenarios across the US. As small-format packaging is used in beauty, pharmacy, foodservice, beverage, retail and beyond, this is a cross-industry challenge; so, the Center is inviting research-phase partners to join while also expanding participation to brands across various sectors.

The study, and why it matters

The Center for the Circular Economy’s latest research reveals a viable pathway to recover tens of thousands of tons of valuable small materials, including plastics such as polypropylene, from materials recovery facilities (MRFs) and glass recycling plants across the US. With the right equipment upgrades and reconfigurations, significant volumes of these materials can be successfully recycled instead of being lost to waste. For example, upgrading the glass screen (a type of material sorting equipment) at a MRF resulted in a 67 percent relative reduction in mid- to large-sized "small" plastics contaminating the glass stream — materials that would have otherwise been discarded are now effectively sorted and directed into appropriate bales for sale in the recycled materials market.

Each year, consumers buy billions of beauty items, medications and food packaged in small-format plastic that is difficult to recycle due to its size and other factors. Currently, most of this ends up in landfills or incinerators; the small fraction that does end up at recycling facilities often slips through sorting equipment due to its size, contaminating the glass stream and ultimately being sent to landfills.

As brands work to meet waste-reduction goals and achieve compliance with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, the opportunity to capture previously unrecovered small-format plastic packaging can have a significant positive impact.

“We’re eager to put our findings to the test and, through the Consortium to Recover Small-Format Packaging, deploy equipment and infrastructure upgrades to drive real-world proof-of-concepts in the field,” says Kate Daly, Managing Partner at Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy. “It’s critical that we advance solutions to recover valuable small-format materials, like polypropylene, that otherwise typically end up in landfill. This is inherently a cross-industry challenge — we’re inviting our research-phase partners and brands across various sectors to join the Consortium and help address an urgent waste challenge.”

The research was conducted in collaboration with Circular Services — a Closed Loop Partners company that operates over 20 MRFs across the US and manages municipal contracts in major cities including Austin, New York City, Phoenix and San Antonio. The study consisted of an extensive, in-field process to identify solutions for small-format packaging recovery — including evaluating glass stream contamination at more than half a dozen MRFs across the US. The Center collected samples from two MRFs’ glass streams and one glass recycling plant’s residue streams, trialed equipment configurations to sort plastics from these streams, sent samples to reclaimers to test their processability and market value, and iterated this process multiple times.

How brands can benefit

In the beauty industry, while a growing number of brands are leading with circular packaging solutions — including plastic-free, reusable and refillable containers — both material and recycling solutions for conventional packaging formats remain piecemeal.

"As the number one makeup brand in the world, we have a responsibility to create the most sustainable makeup life cycle possible,” says Trisha Ayyagari, Global Brand President at Maybelline New York. “Most makeup packaging is too small to be recycled — it literally falls through the cracks at recycling facilities. That’s why it was so important to partner with Closed Loop Partners’ Center for Circular Economy to pioneer solutions for small-format recycling and to help us and the beauty industry accelerate our sustainable transformation. We look forward to making progress together.”

The report highlights five key insights critical to increasing recovery of small-format packaging and how consumer-products companies can benefit:

Many small-format plastic materials hold significant market value
Logistical solutions already exist to handle them
Current technologies can be adapted to effectively recover portions of them at MRFs and glass recycling plants
Market demand for these materials is strong — especially from mechanical recyclers
Targeted investment in recycling facilities is essential to build a compelling, scalable business case to recover smaller materials.

These findings can apply to recycling facilities across the country and beyond — meaning tens of thousands of tons of plastics in the US alone could be recovered annually, avoiding landfill and generating market value.

Come one, come all

A next step identified by the study is investment in equipment and infrastructure upgrades for rigid small plastics recovery in the field. The Center anticipates significant brand benefits — including a quantifiable tonnage of materials diverted from landfill, carbon emissions avoided, and post-consumer recycled content generated. The Consortium will lead the establishment and engagement of a robust value chain for recovery of small materials from recyclers, reclaimers, policymakers and more.

If your company is part of the small-format packaging value chain — whether as a manufacturer, brand owner, or other stakeholder — and you're interested in joining the Consortium to Recover Small-Format Packaging to advance collaboration, recycling infrastructure investments and policy for nationwide recovery, contact Closed Loop Partners here.