Year by year and package by package, Berry Global is constantly innovating their product lines to create more sustainable packaging for their customers and end consumers. As the world continues to present unknowns, consumers are relying on the transparency and guidance from brands now more than ever. 

With the ongoing sustainability conversation at the forefront amongst consumers, alongside Berry Global's commitment to a healthier environment, they have created a more recyclable, single substrate packaging solution.

Understanding Tube Recyclability

In 2016, Berry Global worked with the American Chemistry council to study tubes within the recycling stream. They discovered that only 1% of consumers have tube-recycling access. Considering tubes are in almost every household throughout the US and Canada, this number is alarmingly low.

In addition to the lack of accessibility, they learned about the absence of education surrounding the initiative to recycle tubes. When Berry Global found tube recyclability to be almost non-existent, they challenged themselves to be a leader in sustainability improvement and a catalyst to turn tubes from “recyclable” to “recycled.”

Driving to Make it Better

Last year, Berry Global teamed up with More Recycling to create a coalition of industry stakeholders aiding in the Roadmap to Recyclability–collaborative partners responsible for fostering tube recycling. The research and consulting company has over twenty years of proficiency within the recycling of post-consumer materials with expertise in plastics.

The insights provided by More Recycling helped Berry Global identify the barriers within tube recycling and outline a path to achieve a recyclable plastic squeeze tube. Research influenced the Association of Plastic Recyclers to recognize tubes as recyclable in the HDPE bottle stream–a key driver towards tube acceptance in curbside recycling streams.

Berry Global is the only tube manufacturer involved with this coalition; other members include leading brands such as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and Colgate-Palmolive. This group effort, and the completion of step one in August, is helping to build momentum to help ensure collected tubes can be recycled:

1. Clear tubes design guidance through the Association of Plastics Recyclers
2. Engagement across the value chain on handling the transition from non-recyclable to recyclable tubes and inclusion of tubes in bale specifications
3. Utilization of MRF communication tools and partners to inform MRFs on tube acceptance once confirmed 

Product Innovation

To help accelerate the acceptance of tubes in the recycling stream, Berry Global have recently launched a new Divinity high-density polyethylene (HDPE) flip-top closure. Pairing this with their squeezable polyethylene (PE) tube creates a sustainable, fully recyclable package.

In addition, their polyethylene tube has just been recognized by the Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR) as meeting technically recyclable with the HDPE bottle stream.

They understand that sustainability plays a critical role in the consumer-purchasing journey.

“It’s important that we ensure that tubes, whether laminate or extruded, are part of the sustainable packaging story,” says Sarah Groves, our Vice President of product line management. “By adding this Divinity HDPE flip-top closure to create a single-substrate package, brand owners can feel confident that our tubes support their sustainability goals for recyclability,” Groves continued.

Through these efforts and others, Berry Global will continue to work to improve tube recyclability.