If retailers want to attract and keep more environmentally conscious consumers in today’s demanding marketplace, their products should have clearer directions on recycling, according to a national survey by sustainable packaging leader DS Smith.
The poll was conducted March 8-9 with 1,007 respondents and was conducted using an online data collection methodology with the research firm Dynata.
Sixty-three percent of those polled say they’re more likely to purchase those well-marked products, yet another sign of environmental concerns driving shopper preferences. Overall, 59 percent say disposal instructions on items are hard to find and 62 percent say there’s a lot of conflicting advice on recycling.
DS Smith regularly tests public sentiment as part of its focus on creating innovative and sustainable packaging solutions, designing out waste and supporting the reuse of materials to support the circular economy.
“We’re committed to helping our customers be more circular and educating their customers as well, and this requires collaboration across business, municipalities and consumers,” said Toby Earnest, head of recycling for DS Smith in North America. “We all need to be aware of plastic and other unrecyclable items that can cause significant challenges at paper mills, adding additional costs and waste into paper making. There is also a significant environmental impact when large volumes of any of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ end up in paper recycling streams.”
The survey revealed awareness by consumers of the important role they play – with 78 percent saying their recycling efforts are helping the environment and 72 percent having access to at-home or curbside recycling.
The poll indicated that while a majority of consumers embrace recycling, many are unsure what items can be – and that means too many throwaways being put into mixed or paper recycling streams that shouldn’t be.
To help consumers, the company identified the “Dirty Dozen” – the top 12 consumer items tripping up recycling:
- Food trays: Cardboard food trays used in the oven often contain lamination that makes them difficult to break down in the paper-making process. They are also often contaminated with food, which is not permitted for recycling.
- Pulp fruit trays: These trays often contain low-quality weak fibers, meaning they are not strong enough to be made into other paper packaging products.
- Food cartons: The plastic layer coating some cardboard cartons is difficult to break down and clings to the cardboard, reducing its recyclability.
- Potato chip tubes: Known as composite packaging, these tubes contain over 50 percent of non-paper materials that cannot be recycled at paper mills.
- Glittery gift wrap and greetings cards: Gift wrap and cards wrapped in plastic or containing glitter or metal can cause damage to recycling machinery.
- Padded envelopes: The high volume of plastic in padded envelopes makes it difficult to separate the cardboard and plastic elements.
- Sandwich wrappers: Plastic lamination on sandwich packaging (up to 20 percent of the wrapper) makes it difficult to separate the cardboard and plastic elements. Food contamination also hurts the quality of the recyclable materials.
- Insulated food delivery packaging: Waterproof fiber packaging takes longer to break down and contains plastic thermal layers that causes contamination issues at the mills.
- Coffee bags and pouches: Metal coatings on coffee bags can break into glitter-like parts, contaminating the finished paper.
- Wax and silicone papers: Like those on sticks of butter, wax and silicone coatings make it difficult for paper machines to access the recyclable fibers, and those that are retrieved often are poor quality.
- Fast food soft drink cups: These often can be double laminated, making it even more difficult to be broken down and the recyclable fibers retrieved.
DS Smith also is working with the packaging supply chain to tackle the issue of hard-to-recycle packaging products. Its research and development team also is exploring ways to replace packaging solutions and applications that contain hard-to-recycle plastics.
DS Smith is a provider of sustainable, fiber-based packaging worldwide, supported by recycling and papermaking operations. A Strategic Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, North American operations are headquartered in Atlanta, with 15 manufacturing, paper and recycling facilities, totaling more than 2,000 employees. DS Smith operates in 34 countries employing around 30,000 people.
For more information, visit dssmith.com.
