Berry signs large contract for advanced recycled material

Berry Global Group Inc., based in Evansville, Indiana, has announced an agreement with PureCycle Technologies Inc. of Orlando, Florida, that will provide Berry with PureCycle’s Ultra-Pure Recycled (UPR) advanced recycled resin. The agreement is the latest in a growing list of advanced recycling material sourcing announcements from Berry and is the company’s second based in North America.

Berry is a member of The Recycling Partnership's Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, which is working to increase recycling access for that material. 

According to market research firm Ipsos, 47 percent of Americans opt for recyclable products as their first choice if given the option, and 20 percent prefer compostable products.

As demand for sustainable products grows, the company says customers look to Berry for access to recycled material and packaging design expertise to maintain their brand image and package performance, and as a result, Berry says it expects its access to recycled plastic material to grow to more than 600 million pounds by 2025.

“Customers look to Berry for unique ways to meet their ambitious sustainability goals. Through our access to advanced recycled resin and technical expertise, Berry is a dependable partner for customers in the implementation of sustainable solutions,” says Tom Salmon, Berry’s chairman and CEO. “By using our relationships with top suppliers and the latest technologies, we bring our customers premier access to in-demand circular resins.”

Berry harnesses advanced recycling to provide an outlet for difficult-to-recycle materials to be given a second life in the form of food-grade packaging, and while postconsumer resin often lacks the high clarity customers desire, circular resins from advanced recycling boast exceptional clarity, addressing customer demand, the company states in a news release on the agreement.

PureCycle’s patented recycling process separates color, odor and contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to transform it into UPR polypropylene (PP). The company converts plastic scrap into virgin-like plastic, fully closing the loop on the reuse of recycled plastics while making recycled PP more accessible at scale to companies desiring to use a sustainable, recycled resin.

The material will be supplied to Berry in summer 2023 for manufacturing at one of Berry’s ISCC PLUS certified facilities, providing customers with maximum traceability for the materials. Berry previously announced its first three facilities in North America to achieve ISCC PLUS certification.