The North American environmental and waste disposal service provider WM is expanding the list of accepted recyclable materials: In future, more and more municipal collection systems will be able to recycle both plastic cups made of polypropylene and paper to-go cups via the household collection of recyclable materials.
WM wants to work with local authorities and customers to ensure that the new materials are included in as many local authority acceptance lists as possible. The aim is to achieve two new labels in the How2Recycle labelling system that signal to consumers that to-go cups can be recycled more frequently and used as a raw material for new products.
Polypropylene cups close to „Widely Recyclable“ status
According to the company, polypropylene cups are about to fulfil the criteria for the „Widely Recyclable“ label from How2Recycle. To achieve this, more than 60 per cent of the US population must be able to dispose of this packaging via the household-based system. According to WM, studies by the Recycling Partnership show that households generate about as much polypropylene waste as high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which is used for detergent or milk bottles, for example. However, the recycling rate for polypropylene is currently only around a third of the HDPE level.
Paper to-go cups are therefore moving towards the „Check Locally“ label. This is awarded when at least 20 per cent of local authorities accept paper cups in their household collection systems.
The cups are collected at the WM facilities together with other recyclable materials, pressed into bales and sold to recyclers who use them to make new products and packaging. WM sees this as a contribution to strengthening regional recycling chains in North America.
The company is working with Starbucks, the Recycling Partnership, How2Recycle, the NextGen Consortium of Closed Loop Partners, local authorities and the National League of Cities, among others. The aim of these collaborations is to adapt the municipal guidelines and update the acceptance lists for recyclables in the collection systems.
Source: WM
