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How ACC is Helping to Advance the Progress in Plastics Recycling

Plastics manufacturers have a long history of increasing our ability to recycle plastics. Since the early 1990s, America’s plastics industry has invested over $2 billion in developing technologies and the infrastructure to recycle plastics in communities across the nation. From providing greater access to away-from-home recycling opportunities to boosting consumer education, today, much of our effort focuses on increasing collection of recyclable plastics. Below is a summary of our key activities:

  • Recycling and Reusing Plastics—Plastics Make It Possible®: Recycling plastics has never been easier. Today, 80 percent of Americans have easy access to plastics recycling opportunities, whether you participate in a municipal curbside program or live near a drop-off site. Visit www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com to learn more.

  • All Plastic Bottles: ACC helped develop this program to encourage communities to recycle “all bottles” instead of just certain numbers. By simplifying the message, we’ve been able to get more bottles in the bin. Visit www.allplasticbottles.org/ to find educational materials and much more.

  • Plastic Bags and Product Wraps: We work with municipalities, retailers and businesses nationwide to help increase the amounts of plastic bags and product wraps that get recycled. ACC has created the website www.plasticbagrecycling.org/, which is currently the most comprehensive online resource for the recovery of plastic bags and product wraps. This multi-purpose resource helps consumers, recycling coordinators and businesses find out where to bring back plastic bags for recycling, how to locate a hauler or an end market, or how to set up a plastic bag recycling program.

  • Recycle Your Plastics: Interested in recycling more plastics? RecycleYourPlastics.org is an easy to use resource on plastics recycling for recycling professionals, including user-friendly tips and tools, best practices, ready access to experts and peers in the recycling world and more.

  • Marine Debris Solutions: Plastic makers and recyclers have invested billions of dollars to help support a nationwide infrastructure to recycle plastic packaging, and we continue to develop new, innovative programs to collect additional plastic products. More and more communities across the nation are turning to recycling as an effective way to help the environment and to prevent litter.

  • Household Containers: ACC provides technical assistance to help communities increase recycling of household plastic containers (in addition to bottles). These include butter and ice cream tubs, yogurt cups, sour cream and cottage cheese containers, garden pots, etc.

  • Measuring Recycled Plastics: ACC sponsors surveys that measure the amounts of plastics that are recycled annually. This allows us to track our progress and to identify areas in need of assistance. Our National Post-Consumer Plastic Bottle Recycling Report has continued since 1990, and in 2005, we began a separate annual survey to track the recycling of plastic bags, films, and product wraps. In 2009, we issued a third annual report on U.S. pounds of postconsumer non-bottle rigid plastics—packaging and non-packaging—recovered for recycling.

  • CA communities and MRFs survey to determine what plastics CA communities collect.

  • Recycled Plastics Markets Database: To help encourage healthy markets and continued growth in the plastics recycling industry, view this online database to help buyers and sellers of recycled plastics connect with each other. This resource is searchable by zip code or by state.

  • Recycled Plastic Product Directory: This online directory for the U.S. and Canadian industry lists approximately 1500+ products made from or packaged in recycled plastic. From apparel and accessories to farming, office supplies and signage, users can search products in 23 categories.

  • Bins on California Beaches: In partnership with the California Department of Parks and Recreation and the nonprofit Keep California Beautiful, ACC is placing recycle bins on beaches in an effort to reduce litter and promote away-from-home recycling along the Pacific coast. Since the program launched in early 2008, more than 500 bins and educational signage have been placed on 19 locations in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Louis Obispo, Monterey and Santa Cruz. Through the campaign, ACC and its partners are reminding consumers: Plastics. Too Valuable to Waste. Recycle.™

  • Go Recycle Campaign: ACC partners with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to sponsor the Go Recycle Campaign, which encourages area employees to start office recycling programs. The program provides tips and tools to help motivated employees get started.

  • Away-from-Home Recycling in Brentwood: In December of 2008, ACC teamed up with the City of Los Angeles and the Brentwood Village Chamber of Commerce to place recycle bins in the Brentwood Village district, helping to keep valuable post-consumer plastics out of the waste stream and into recycle bins.

For a complete list of ACC’s recycling projects, see our fact sheet.

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