TERRACYCLE NEWS

ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®

Encouraging Laundry Care Bottle Recycling

TerraCycle Include USA Tide
Creating green opportunities can drive value for brands. The current recycling infrastructure considers certain items “highly recyclable.” As it stands, recycling makes economic sense for aluminum, steel, paper, and certain plastics such as #2 (HDPE) and #5 (PP). These materials can be collected in high volumes, processed at relatively low cost, and then brought back to market for a profit. Thus, they are often top on mind for consumers as far as recyclable items go. However, a recent report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found that most plastic packaging is used only once; 95% of the value of plastic packaging material, worth $80 billion-$120 billion annually, is lost to the economy after a short first use. Of the more than 300 million tons of new, virgin plastic produced globally per year, it is estimated that up to 129 million tons (43 percent) of the plastic used is disposed of in landfills.