Produce Stickers: A Small but Mighty Problem
The first in a series of posts exploring plastic produce stickers and more sustainable alternatives. Plastic produce stickers are ubiquitous. Used on a variety of produce, the stickers are helpful at...
View ArticleProduce Stickers: Are They the Next Straw?
This second post in our produce sticker series explores innovative alternatives. Why did straws become the poster child for single-use plastic pollution? Perhaps it was because they are unnecessary...
View ArticleSPC Releases Comprehensive Update of its Centralized Availability of...
When Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) initially published its Centralized Availability of Recycling Study in 2016, no comprehensive study of its kind had ever been completed. The research...
View ArticleMethodology Matters
Methodology Matters – Resource Recycling Recycling research is vital to making data-informed packaging and sustainability decisions. Different approaches to methodology and measurement in recycling...
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Going beyond SMART – Why you might want to set FASTER sustainable packaging...
Common concerns in sustainability goal setting include: Are we aiming high enough? Are we targeting the right problems? Are we successfully communicating our efforts to our customers and stakeholders?...
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2022 SPC Innovator Award Winners Announced
This annual award celebrates the people and organizations behind the biggest achievements in sustainably innovative packaging. CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — For over five years, the SPC Innovator Awards have...
View ArticleOvercoming the Challenges of Qualifying Innovations in the Recycling Stream
Reaching the launch date of a new innovation through a collaborative process is exciting, but it takes many internal and external stakeholders working together to achieve that goal. Day 2 of SPC...
View ArticleWhat Prompts Investment in PHA: Insights from a Value Chain Collaboration
Reaching the launch date of a new innovation through a collaborative process is exciting, but it takes many internal and external stakeholders working together to achieve that goal. Day 2 of SPC...
View ArticleGetting Clear on Compostable Packaging with a Practitioner’s Roadmap
As more and more converters and brands explore compostable packaging, industry guidance on how to get started – and create a successful package – is more important than ever. An effective compostable...
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GreenBlue/SPC California Regional Film & Bag Study Results
Contributors: Lucy Pierce, Project Manager, SPC Nina Goodrich, Consultant, GreenBlue Laura Thompson, Director, Recycled Material Standards (RMS) How2Recycle is a standardized labeling system in the...
View ArticleCollaborating to create the future of flexible packaging at SPC Advance 2022
On the second day of SPC Advance in Atlanta, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s Flexible Packaging Recovery Collaborative convened to workshop the future of flexible packaging recovery. Led by Ruth...
View ArticleICYMI: “Beyond PFAS-free Packaging” Webinar Recap
Our own Director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), Karen Hagerman, and folks from ChemFORWARD recently shared the initial results from the Safe + Circular Materials Collaborative via a...
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It Will Take a Village to Recycle All Plastics
When the topic of chemical recycling comes up at SPC events, it’s no surprise that the conversation typically focuses on how these technologies apply to plastic packaging. Part of the promise of...
View ArticleFood Waste In America: One Big Issue, Many Possible Solutions
35% of all food goes unsold or uneaten in the United States. If this fact doesn’t shock you, it’s probably because you’ve heard it before. America’s food waste problem is common knowledge among...
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Can the Latest Paper Packaging Innovations Actually Be Recycled? New Paper...
Paper packaging and paper products are currently more likely to be recycled than plastics. This is due to a more established paper recycling infrastructure and a more uniform material stream. However,...
View Article“Biorecycling” is Chemical Recycling, and Biorecyclable Packaging Already Exists
In the conversation around what technologies can be considered recycling, yet another term has entered the mix: biorecycling. What is biorecycling? A quick google search may tell you that biorecycling...
View Article“Biodegradable” Packaging
The SPC recommends that packaging companies do not use the term “biodegradable” to market their products to suppliers, retailers, or consumers. The SPC further recommends that companies do not design...
View ArticleHow Can the Chemical Recycling Industry Optimize its Role in the Circular...
Chemical recycling – the technologies as well as the terminology – is controversial. Seeking answers, I immersed myself in chemical recycling conversations with leaders in the space by attending the...
View ArticleMuch ado about Earth Day
Jon Smieja, PhD | VP of Circularity at GreenBiz Group. For many of us working in sustainability, Earth Day can be frustrating. First off, Earth Day is every day for us. I know that’s cliché, but...
View ArticleThe next frontier in California organics recycling: edible food recovery
Even Bay Area cities with organics programs are new to working with food donation organizations. Now, local governments are learning skills to help meet a 20% edible waste reduction goal by 2030. Read...
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Collaboration and Coordinated Innovation: The Essentials to Tackling...
A glimpse into the Balcones Resources tour that took place at SPC Impact 2023; what it showed us, and how, to succeed, we must collaborate to tackle packaging waste at scale. Since 1994, Balcones...
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How to Leverage LCA to Push Sustainability Goals Forward
SPC Impact 2023 opened with an afternoon series of sessions dedicated to life cycle assessment (LCA) and its use in sustainable packaging design and evaluation. Drs. Milena Rangelov from Watershed and...
View ArticleClimate tech needs a lesson in circularity
An equitable path to the clean economy will require far more attention to where we “dig up” lithium, cobalt and other critically important minerals. Read Article
View ArticlePerspectives from Early Adopters of the RMS
The Recycled Material Standard (RMS) has seen a rapid increase in certified participants and activity over the last few months. At the recent SPC Impact conference in Austin, TX, the RMS team...
View ArticleGreenBlue’s Commentary on the FTC Green Guides
“We cannot create meaningful, impactful change at scale and at the speed we require without everyone.” In an ongoing attempt to inspire an inclusive environment, we are proud to have given a seat...
View ArticleFlexible film recycling project debuts in Canada
A number of circularity organizations have collaborated to launch PRFLEX, an effort to improve flexible plastic recycling in Canada. Read Article
View ArticleDigital print: How far do we still have to go?
When it comes to digital printing, how far have we come and what can the industry do to take advantage of the many benefits these technologies offer? Victoria Hattersley reports. Read Article
View ArticleThe Road to Decarbonization Will Likely Be Lined By Trees
At SPC Impact 2023, Jason Bell with Sustainability Solutions and David Brabham from Georgia-Pacific took to the stage to talk about Decarbonizing Paper Production. As the title suggests, there is a...
View ArticleCleanPackage: Supporting Safe + Circular Materials for Packaging
As companies work towards goals to make their packaging recyclable or compostable, and use more recycled materials as feedstock, hazardous chemicals are emerging as an increasingly relevant challenge....
View ArticleSPC’s 2024 Innovator Awards to Highlight Recovery & Systems Change Innovation
Since 2017, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition has been recognizing meaningful contributions and advancements towards more sustainable packaging through its annual SPC Innovator Awards. As a...
View ArticleOur Position on Problematic Materials
SPC’s mission is to bring together sustainable packaging stakeholders to catalyze actionable improvements to packaging systems and lend an authoritative voice on issues related to packaging...
View ArticleFlexible Film Recycling: Collection Methods of Today and the Future
Flexible film packages are ubiquitous in consumer’s lives today. From buying food at the grocery store to ordering furniture online, there is a good chance at least some part of the package is a...
View ArticleIn Search of the Cleanest Compost: Highlights from BPI’s Inaugural Summit
Last month the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) held its first-ever event in Minneapolis, Minnesota to spur action within the compostable packaging sphere. Various stakeholders from material...
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International Negotiating Committee (INC) Develops Guidance, Criteria to...
As delegates prepare to head to Nairobi for the third session of the International Negotiating Committee (INC), which is tasked with creating an International Legally Binding Instrument to address...
View ArticleGrowth in New or Expanded Food Waste Recycling Programs Continued in 2023
Now in its third year, SPC’s analysis of food waste recycling programs and processing facilities shows strong 2023 growth similar to past years According to research from PMMI Business Intelligence,...
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