Brands, packaging companies and recyclers talk collaboration to improve recycling

Speakers from across the packaging recycling value chain connected at the Packaging Recycling Summit to hash out ways to improve recycling and product recyclability.

“Teamwork makes the dream work” was the dominant theme at the Packaging Recycling Summit in Atlanta last week. Speakers dove into the importance of partnerships to improve domestic packaging recycling efforts and overcome leading barriers, such as consumer confusion.

“Partnerships are going to be really important, because … these issues are huge,” said Rebecca Marquez, director of custom research at PMMI (The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies). “There’s a lot of people that play a part in these issues, and it’s going to be impossible for one set of people — CPGs, OEMs, recyclers — to do everything on their own.”