CLOSED LOOPS MAY HELP BOOST US FOOD-GRADE PCR SUPPLY

TIME：April 7, 2025

Postconsumer recycled content that can be used in new food and beverage packaging still faces obstacles to widespread use. Companies like Nova Chemicals and Atlantic Packaging are trying to leverage B2B closed loops to increase supply.

Some states have also passed laws mandating minimum levels of recycled content in certain types of packaging.

There’s also some evidence that the shift to more PCR use could win brands favor with customers. In a recent Nova Chemicals consumer insight survey, three-quarters of respondents agreed that companies ought to increase their use of packaging made from recycled materials.

But there are barriers to achieving this ubiquity, and industry participants lament imbalances in the recycled plastics economy.

“One of the issues that I see is a real disconnect between supply and demand,” said Crystal Bayliss, who leads the PCR workstream at the U.S. Plastics Pact. She said that procurement teams need to think about the long term, working with converters to establish a supply of the PCR grades they need.

It’s a pressing issue: A recent study by Closed Loop Partners highlights an increasing demand for food-grade polypropylene, citing infrastructure challenges as a key barrier to increasing supply.

Today, food-grade PCR is most often found in the form of recycled PET in soda and water bottles. Many companies include recycled content targets among their voluntary packaging sustainability goals, though progress toward those goals has varied.

A recent report from Smithers noted that 1.2 million metric tons of food-grade PCR was used for packaging in 2024. That’s up 9% from 2019 and “driven by strong demand in end-use sectors such as food and drinks, as well as greater emphasis on the use of recycled material in the manufacture of plastics packaging,” the report said.

And a 2023 McKinsey & Co. report said that “if brands with public recycled-content commitments follow through on their plans, the U.S. demand for recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) in 2030 would outpace supply by about three times.”