All In On Increasing Residential Box Recovery BY RACHEL KENYON
This year instead of simply sharing, there was a panel discussion on forestry, waste and recycling with an intro- duction on over-arching industry priorities based on AF&- PA’s new Better Practices, Better Planet 2030 initiative. I enjoyed the discussion as messages about both for- estry and waste and recycling have been at the center of FBA’s “Boxes. The Most Extraordinary Ordinary Thing in the World.” promotions program since it began nearly five years ago. The corrugated industry has long known the need for both new and recycled fibers in our raw ma- terial stream. This balanced system requires a deep com- mitment to sustainable forestry management and to recy- cling. The corrugated industry first showed its commitment to recycling in 1970, when in conjunction with the first Earth Day, a corrugated company introduced the world to the now universal chasing arrows. The industry innovated again in 1993 when it introduced the Corrugated Recycles symbol that today still appears on the bottom of most corrugated boxes.
I recently participated in the Paper + Packaging Board’s (P+PB) Industry Communicators Event. Held annually, the event brought together communi- cators from a range of packaging associations like the Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC), Amer- ican Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) and of course, Fibre Box Association (FBA). It was an op- portunity for communicators to get an update on what’s happen- ing at P+PB, and a chance to share what’s happening at their respective associations. Rachel Kenyon
DESIGNS THAT INCREASE PRODUCTION
Now the industry is poised to act again to help boost residential recovery. Since China enacted the National Sword program lim- iting imported recyclables in late 2017 and National Geographic raised the question, “Planet or Plastics?” in June 2018, there has been both growing skepticism of recycling and an outpouring of consumers’ desire to better understand what today can and can’t be recycled. The good news is there is no shortage of industry initiatives to help consumers choose the recycling bin over the trash bin, espe- cially during a time when pandemic-driven e-commerce buying has generated such a large increase in doorstep deliveries. Efforts exist to make recycling more accessible, to increase frequency of collection, to provide carts instead of bins for greater capture, and most importantly educate consumers with on box labeling. Together all these efforts will make a dif- ference. The challenge for our associations will be the alignment of messages to create a louder and unified voice to consumers. I continue to be hopeful the participants’ experiences in communicating the extraordi- nary recycling success story of paper-based packaging – led by corrugated packaging’s unparalleled recycling rate which has hov- ered near 90 percent for the last decade – will allow us to generate just the right out- reach consumers need to find confidence in recycling at home. Rachel Kenyon is Vice President of the Fi- bre Box Association.Reach her at rkenyon @ paperbox.org.
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July 5, 2021
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