Five questions come to mind when experts discuss the current state of recycling in the US – which is described by most recycling gurus as “anemic at best”. For our purposes here, we will pose these questions directly to you, the reader.
- Do you recycle?
- Are you recycling everything you're able to?
- Are you recycling too much, or recycling the wrong items?
- Do you even know what types of plastic you can recycle?
- And lastly, are you recycling the caps of your plastic bottles?
My guess is that most of us can answer most of these questions; however, few have a definitive answer to all of them. Which is why these questions -- and many more like them -- are among the reasons that recycling has become a thorny issue, and explains in part the obstacles to getting recycling of plastic above its paltry 28 percent recovery rate.
The truth is that the majority of the U.S. population has access to at least some curbside recycling services and that basic recycling has become part of daily living - at least for some people and materials. Unfortunately, even consumers who want to be good stewards of the environment are faced with the problem that there are too many labels and not enough clarity about what they should do.
To overcome those challenges, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, a project of GreenBlue has announced a pilot program and educational website that will put a new generation of recycling label on packaging at major retailers, and, in the process, educate shoppers and manufacturers alike about just how recyclable their packaging is. These new labels are intended to provide radical transparency to the marketplace and an excellent opportunity for manufacturers to rethink packaging designs and materials.
Starting in January 2012, five retailers from a broad swath of categories will begin putting the new label on products. ConAgra Foods, Costco Wholesale, Microsoft, REI, and Seventh Generation have all signed on to the pilot project. The label will go on every type of packaging -- plastic, paper, glass, metal -- and the labeling system is designed to be dynamic and expandable as recyclers start to take in more types of materials. The website will also serve as a destination to help shoppers find out just how recyclable their purchases -- or potential purchases -- actually are.
Because the pilot starts in 2012 and will incorporate feedback over the course of the year - with a wider run planned for 2013 - none of the participants predict substantial immediate changes to the packaging material itself. All of which suggests that, while we are apparently on the path to improvement, there's a long road ahead to get to widely recycled packaging.
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