Ring Container Technologies earns award from US Plastics Pact

Ring Container Technologies, an Oakland, Tennessee-based plastic container manufacturer, has announced that its BarrierGuard OxygenSmart technology has won a 2023 U.S. Plastics Pact Sustainable Packaging Innovation Award for recyclability. This is the second straight year the company has been recognized by the organization after receiving an honorable mention nod in the same category in 2022.

Ring says its BarrierGuard OxygenSmart is designed to protect both product freshness and the environment. The U.S. Plastics Pact chose award winners based on the improved environmental impact of the product, the likelihood of commercial viability and the level of potential impact in moving the industry toward circularity.

“We’re proud to share that 100 percent of Ring’s product portfolio is recyclable,” Ring Vice President of Business Development Tim Ferrell says. “This award reinforces our commitment to creating cost-effective sustainable packaging solutions that are good for business and good for the environment.”

The Sustainable Packaging Innovation Awards was created to showcase innovations that help keep plastic packaging in the economy and out of the environment and enable progress toward the U.S. Plastic Pact’s four targets, all culminating in 2025.

The organization says prerequisites for entering the awards’ Recyclability category include meeting design for recyclability in U.S. systems, having no problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging and support for the transition from nonrecyclable to recyclable. BarrierGuard OxygenSmart has been designed by How2Recycle as Widely Recyclable with broad acceptance in curbside programs. It also has been recognized by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR).

“Making products recyclable and using postconsumer recycled content in new products are critical elements in a circular economy,” U.S. Plastics Pact Executive Director Emily Tipaldo says. “Unfortunately, traditional PET oxygen barriers have degraded in the recycling process, leading to lower-quality recycled content that can be challenging for brands to use. BarrierGuard OxygenSmart does not discolor in the recycling process and received critical guidance recognition from the Association of Plastic Recyclers. The U.S. Plastics Pact is pleased to award this innovative solution that will lead to higher-quality recycled PET, closing the loop on the circular economy.”

The organization says it aims to ensure that plastics never become waste by eliminating unneeded plastics; innovating to ensure that needed plastics are reusable, recyclable or compostable; and circulating all used plastic items to keep them in the economy and out of the environment.