Another record: Two billion post-consumer recycled bottles in one year

Direct Pack had another record year in using post-consumer recycled  PET:

In 2020 we used the equivalent of 2 billion recycled   PET bottles. That is twice as much as we used in the prior year, 2019, and corresponds to diverting 46 million pounds of plastic from landfills and the ocean last year.

This doubling of our post-consumer recycled PET material was driven by a few factors. We face increasing interest from our customers and partners to include recycled material in their products. We continue to increase our efforts in sustainability, and we invested in our own recycling and reclaiming facility, Direct Pack Recycling. On top of that, we have worked very closely with a number of MRFs (Material Recovery Facilities) on the west coast, in order to secure more post-consumer recycled  PET thermoforms like clamshells, berry containers and egg and produce packaging.

Since 2011, when we started measuring our  rPET use, we have used 7.7 billion bottles, saving 179 million pounds of plastic from ending up in landfills and waterways. That is equivalent to a greenhouse gas saving of 242 million pounds of CO₂, or taking over 23,000 cars off the road for one year. Pretty impressive numbers, but our work does not stop there. We are increasing our efforts to collect and recycle our own and others’ thermoformed  PET containers, and invest heavily in new equipment in our factories to facilitate the reclaiming process.

Watch our new video to learn more.