Champions for Change, a program of the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR), Arlington, Va., invites manufacturers and converters to test the composition of new bottles directly with commercial plastics recyclers. 

APR director Robin Cotchan says the idea for the Champions for Change program began with APR Technical Director David Cornell as a cooperative testing program between manufacturers and reclaimers.

According to the APR’s Web site, www.plasticsrecycling.org, Champions for Change initiatives include assistance:

Ensuring that the existing plastics recycling infrastructure can accommodate new materials and designs;

Promoting technology transfer so that recovery is in stride with new packaging design; and

Sustaining the economics of the post-consumer recovered material industry worldwide.

The APR invites companies to submit letters stating their intent to participate in cooperative testing with the recycling members of the APR. In turn, the APR provides a list of volunteer companies with contacts. The program allows joint confidentiality agreements, and companies may restrict the dissemination of proprietary information, though APR companies can make generalized comments to the membership regarding the challenges new packaging may create for the existing recycling infrastructure.

Cotchan stresses that the Champions for Change program is not a certification or endorsement program. However, participants are rewarded for their cooperation through either the Partners for Change Award or the Design for Recyclability Award, which is presented when a program participant produces or converts a bottle or package to maximize its recycling potential as based on data from cooperative testing programs.

She adds that the program has established a comfortable ground where the plastics industry feels comfortable approaching the APR and working on recyclability.

Companies that have participated in the program include Continental PET Technologies, Amcore PET Packaging, BP, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Evalca and Tetra Pak.

More information on Champions for Change can be obtained at the APR Web site at www.plasticsrecycling.org.