CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, December 3, 2019 — For the last seven years How2Recycle has been providing clear, consistent, and accurate messaging on packaging to consumers to empower them to recycle more, and recycle better. The labeling system launched as a pilot in 2012 with 12 companies, and now has grown to announce its 200th member this month. These 200 brandowner and retailer members collectively own over 2,600 individual brands and $680 billion annual sales revenue in North America (not including retailers). Product categories featuring the How2Recycle label include food, beverage, toys, personal care, electronics, and more.
Throughout 2018, the number of How2Recycle members grew by 45%, and since the beginning of 2019, How2Recycle has welcomed a higher number of members to the program than over all of last year. Growth of How2Recycle is forecasted to continue as the demand for transparent labeling and packaging sustainability becomes an increasingly prominent consumer concern.
Recycling still has big problems that need solving, like increasing the quantity of valuable materials getting into the recycling cart, and reducing contamination from nonrecyclable packaging that does not belong there. How2Recycle continues to advance progress against these challenges by bringing more clarity to end-of-life packaging instructions than any other system in North America. The How2Recycle label is on over 70,000 products in the marketplace and accelerating—more than 175 new How2Recycle labels are issued to brands every day.
How2Recycle is important because it is critical that consumers are told what to do with every main component of a package, not just part of it—and that those recycling instructions are standardized, but also custom to each package. In a perfect world, packaging design would be standardized across brands and product categories so that consumers could intuitively or easily know how to recycle everything based on a couple basic rules; unfortunately, this is not the case. Two packages that look the same to the average person can differ in terms of recyclability. Packaging design is extremely diverse and complex: there are over 3,200 unique How2Recycle labels in the program’s library. The How2Recycle label cuts through confusion to help people know exactly what to recycle, and how.
The How2Recycle label reduces confusion in recycling by distinguishing between lookalike packages.
“How2Recycle is an exciting success story with significant impact,” says Nina Goodrich, Executive Director of GreenBlue. “Not only does it help consumers but it helps brands and converters understand how to improve their packaging. On the How2Recycle Member Platform, How2Recycle has issued over 85,000 specific recommendations for packaging design improvement to its members since late 2017. The platform also allows brands to test new package designs to ensure recyclability before they are launched. This helps close the loop between package design and recovery. The ability to track, measure, and improve recyclability will be critical in helping brands reach their new recyclability targets.”
“Every new sustainability initiative has naysayers—change is hard,” says Kelly Cramer, lead of How2Recycle at Sustainable Packaging Coalition and Director, Program Management at GreenBlue. “When How2Recycle launched in 2012, many in the recycling and packaging industries were skeptical that brands would voluntarily label their packaging in a standardized way along with their competitors, including ‘giving up precious on-pack real estate’ and admitting when their packaging wasn’t recyclable,” she continues. “Many also believed that managing and operating a program of such scale and complexity within the retail and consumer packaged goods space was beyond the capabilities of a small environmental nonprofit, and that the persuasive abilities of a handful of passionate packaging professionals inside a few companies couldn’t turn the tide. Years later the How2Recycle movement proves those status quo adherents wrong. While labeling packaging for recyclability certainly won’t solve all our problems in how we use, value and manage materials in society, telling people how to actually recycle is frankly the least we can do. We are thrilled that so many companies share this belief and together we can empower people to recycle more accurately.”
How2Recycle’s recent Consumer Survey Report shows that 61% of people may be changing their recycling behavior as a direct result of How2Recycle, and also feel overwhelming positivity for the label on a package. Specifically, 77% of respondents claim that they like a company more for having the How2Recycle label on pack, and 85% claim they might be more likely to purchase a product because of the label. Companies who are not yet members of How2Recycle should consider joining this movement to build brand equity with an evolving and increasingly sophisticated consumer base.
“We could change the world if recycling was always this easy.”—Consumer (identity withheld), 2018 How2Recycle Consumer Survey Report
How2Recycle would like to congratulate its 200 members for leading this movement of consistent and accurate on-pack recyclability labeling:
1908 Brands
3M
Albertsons Companies
ALDI
AlEn USA
Allen Family Foods
Amazon
American Sugar Refining
Amy's Kitchen
Barilla America
Bayer Consumer Care
Beautycounter
Beiersdorf AG
Bel Brands
Belcam Inc.
BIC Consumer Products
Blue Apron
Bonnie Plants
Boulder Brands
Brandless
Campbell Soup Company
Cargill
CCF Brands
Chobani
Church & Dwight Co.
Clasen Quality Chocolate
Clif Bar & Co.
The Clorox Company
Club Coffee
The Coca-Cola Company
Coldkeepers
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Combe
Conagra Brands
Costco Wholesale
Cult Crackers
Danone North America
Delhaize America
Del Monte Foods
Dillman Farm
Domex Superfresh Growers
Dr. Bronner's
Drinkworks
DrVita
E. & J. Gallo Winery
Earth Friendly Products
Ecobee
Edgewell Personal Care
Enjoy Life Foods
Fabri-Kal Corporation
Fairlife
Ferrara Candy Co
The Flavor of California
FoodStory Brands
Fossil Group
Foster Farms
FRAM
Frontier Co-Op
Fruit of the Loom
General Mills
Georgia-Pacific Packaging
Good Foods Group
Gerber Products Company
Graphic Packaging International
Great Lakes Cheese Company
Grove Collaborative
Hallmark Cards
HanesBrands
Happy Family Organics
Hasbro
HatchBeauty Products
Hello Products
Henkel Corporation
Hormel Foods Corporation
Huhtamaki
Humble Tea
Hydro Flask
iFixit
Implus
Inno Foods
Inno-Pak
Instant Brands
Intertape Polymer Group
Intradeco
Iovate Health Sciences International
Italian Rose Garlic Products
The J.M. Smucker Company
Johnson & Johnson
K+S Group
Kao USA
Keeco
Kellogg Company
Keurig Dr Pepper
KIK International
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Kohl's Corporation
Kraft Heinz Food Company
Lancaster Colony
The LEGO Group
Lidl
Lifoam
Little Dish US
Lonza
Mamma Chia
Manna Pro
Maple Leaf Foods
Mastronardi Holdings
Mattel
Mav Beauty Brands
McDonald's
Meijer
Melissa’s World Variety Produce
Micro-Pak USA
Mondelez International
Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee
Nakoma Products
The Nature's Bounty Co.
Nature's Path
Nestlé Nutrition
Nestlé Purina
Nestlé USA
Nestlé Waters
Newell Brands
The New Primal
New York Apple Sales
Niagara Bottling
Novolex
Ocean Spray Cooperative
Orca Bay Seafoods
The Oppenheimer Group
Organic Valley
Oxygenics
PAC Worldwide Corporation
Panera Bread
People Against Dirty
PepsiCo
Perrigo
Polyair
Pregis
Preserve
Procter & Gamble
PVH
Quorn Foods
RB
Recreational Equipment Inc (REI)
Revolution Plastics
Reynolds Consumer Products
Riceland
Riley's Organics
Ring Container Technologies
Riviana Foods
S. Lichtenberg & Co.
Santa Cruz Nutritionals
Sazerac
Scholl’s Wellness Company
SC Johnson
Scotts Miracle-Gro
Scotwood Industries
Sealed Air Corporation
Sephora
Seventh Generation
ShurTech Brands
Sigma Plastics
SoapBox Soaps
Sonos
Stanley Black & Decker
StalkMarket Brands
Starbucks Coffee Company
Stemilt Growers
Storopack
Strategic Materials
Suja Juice
Tanimura & Antle
Target
Tasti Products Limited
Taylor Fresh Foods
TemperPack Technologies
Thermo Fisher Scientific
ThredUp
ThriftBooks
TreeHouse Foods
Trinity Fruit Company
Tyson Foods
U.S. Postal Service
Unilever
Upfield
Ursa Major
US Foods
Van's Kitchen
Ventura Foods
Verizon Wireless
Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets
Wakefern Food Corporation
Walgreens
Walmart
Wegmans Food Markets
Weis Markets
Whirlpool
Wholesome Sweeteners
World Waters
Young Living
ZENB US
How2Recycle also engages deeper within the packaging supply chain to further better design for recyclability.
Because How2Recycle is issuing recyclability feedback at scale to its brand members, there is a need for packaging producers to be brought into the collective conversation to ensure that packaging innovations are designed with recycling in mind. For this reason, How2Recycle works with material manufacturer and packaging converters to pre-qualify certain packaging innovations for How2Recycle labels. These additional 65 material manufacturers and packaging converters are How2Recycle members, bringing the total How2Recycle member count to 265:
Accredo Packaging
Advanced Barrier Extrusion LLC.
Amcor
American Packaging Corporation
AR Packaging Group AB
Avery Dennison
Bedford Industries
Belmark
Berry Global Group
BillerudKorsnäs
BMSI
Braskem America
Charming Trim & Packaging
Charter NEX Films
Clear View Bag
Clysar
Constantia Flexibles International GmbH
Coveris Americas
D6 Inc.
Dow
Dymapak
Eastman
Emerald Packaging
Excel Packaging
ExxonMobil Chemical Co.
Flair Flexible Packaging Corporation
Folmex
Footprint
Freezer Fresh
Glenroy
Greiner Packaging Corporation
Hood Packaging
Huangshan Novel Co., Ltd.
InterFlex Group
Klöckner Pentaplast
Lumi
Metsa Board Americas
Mondi Jackson LLC
Morris Packaging
MP Global Products
Next Generation Films
No Waste Technologies, LLC
NOVA Chemicals
Peel Plastic Products Ltd.
Plastic Packaging Technologies
Plastilene
Polyplastics USA, Inc
Polytainers
Printpack
ProAmpac (AMPAC)
S-One Labels & Packaging
SmartSolve Industries
Sonoco Products Company
StePac
StopWaste
Sunshine FPC
Sustainable Fiber Solutions
TC Transcontinental
Tempo Plastics Limited
Toray Plastics (America)
Totai America
UPM Raflatac
Weifang Jiahe Evergreen Packaging Technology Co., Ltd.
WestRock
Winpak
Given this breadth of membership, the How2Recycle team has touchpoints with more than 3,000 packaging or sustainability professionals per month. How2Recycle is a movement of many people working together towards a common goal of helping drawing attention to and capturing the value of materials in our world. There is still plenty more hard work ahead for How2Recycle members, present and future, to get the How2Recycle label on the majority of all packaging in the marketplace.
If you are a member of the public and you do not see the How2Recycle label on your favorite brands, reach out to them and ask them to join this movement of transparent and standardized recycling labeling.
If you are a brand or retailer and interested in joining the How2Recycle program, reach out to [email protected] today.
About How2Recycle
The How2Recycle® label is a U.S. and Canada-based standardized labeling system that clearly communicates recycling instructions to the public. Over 200 brandowners and retailers are members of How2Recycle, and tens of thousands of products carry the How2Recycle label in the marketplace. How2Recycle is a project of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition®, a membership-based group that brings together business, educational institutions, and government agencies to collectively broaden the understanding of packaging sustainability and develop meaningful improvements for packaging solutions. How2Recycle and Sustainable Packaging Coalition are a part of GreenBlue, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. For more information, follow us on Twitter @How2Recycle or go to our website at www.How2Recycle.info. Companies interested in joining How2Recycle can visit http://www.how2recycle.info/jo... for more information or contact [email protected].
Note that at the time of publishing, How2Recycle member count has reached 202 members.
