Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/641418
36 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 1, 2016 (February/March) Small packaging is not a priority for recycling facilities. couraged to accept these materials. The industry will need to work with a variety of organizations to expand access. The third step is sorting and recov- ery. Today's municipal recycling facilities (MRFs) are not focused on small package recycling. They are optimized to get the high value materials and larger containers off the sorting line. Many MRFs have to hand sort materials along the line. Small packages are difficult and time consum- ing to pick off the line. In recent years MRFs have added optical sorters. There is an opportunity to refine the use of op- tical sorters to identify and sort smaller packages. Until this is accomplished, the number of small packages reaching their final destination will not be optimized. When materials end up in the wrong des- tination they can become contaminants. Small packages can also be lost in the sorting process and end up with the ma- terials that go to the landfill. The fourth step is re-use. For polymer materials to be recycled, there needs to be markets and applications for the next use. The United States has robust material mar- kets for PET, HDPE, and PP. The fifth step is understanding the FTC green guides and making accurate claims. The SPC has developed a How2Recycle label that helps brands understand all of the steps required and has created iconic labels to help consumers understand how to recycle all of the components of a package. The label provides clear and concise in- formation that is compliant by leveraging access to recycling data and SPC's expertise on recycling. The SPC is currently conducting an access study to update the consumer access to recycling information on over 40 material types. To make a widely recycled claim over 60% of consumers need to have access to recycling the package and the package needs to demonstrate significant recoverability. If access is available but sortation and recovery is not ideal a lesser claim of check locally can be used. Compostability Composting is an alternate to recycling. The EPA has set a goal to reduce food waste by 50% by the year 2030. One of the goals of this initiative is to divert food waste from landfills to industrial uses and composting. As the infrastructure to capture food waste for composting develops it is critical that compostable packaging is part of the solution. Compostable packaging includes paper and some bioplastics. The Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) provides a certification for packaging that is acceptable in industrial composting facilities. The SPC has been working with the supply chain to develop a How2Compost label to help consumers determine when a package is com- postable. It's important that compostable packages do not end up in landfills or in the recycling stream. Composting infrastructure that accepts packaging is not common today. The hope is that as it develops we will be able to recover both the package and the coffee. Any compostable packaging claims made today will have to include qualifiers to insure consumers understand that industrial facilities may not exist in their area and that they shouldn't recycle compostable packaging. Recycling and composting are pathways to more sustainable single serve coffee packaging. Neither is perfect but both provide future promise of sustainability. It will take the complete supply chai working together to make these solutions a reality. Nina Goodrich is executive director of GreenBlue and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.