Amcor Rigid Plastics joins The Recycling Partnership aiming to boost US residential recycling

Amcor Rigid Plastics announced that it has joined The Recycling Partnership, an industry-funded initiative aimed at boosting residential recycling in the US.

Other members of the collaboration include the Alcoa Foundation, American Chemistry Council, American Forest & Paper Association, the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, Ball Corp, Carton Council, Coca-Cola, Society of the Plastics Industry, and Sonoco Products.

Curbside Value Partnership Director Keefe Harrison comments, "After the official launch of The Recycling Partnership, we continue to gain steam with the addition of Amcor. We are very pleased to gain their experienced voice to the growing group of recycling partners."

The Recycling Partnership has already selected initial partner cities for the first round of funding. These municipalities will receive technical and financial assistance which will target four key areas:

Recycling Access – ensuring municipal households are served by large roll carts;

Champion Building – bolstering support from local and state-elected officials;

Regional Coordination – creating strategies across the entire recycling value chain to ensure best management practices for municipal recycling;

Education and Outreach – Increasing recycling participation and reducing contamination in the recycling stream.

"Product stewardship is a key focus area within Amcor's sustainability strategy and we see investment in the Recycling Partnership as one way for us to enable higher recycling rates in the US," says Mike Schmitt, President, Amcor Rigid Plastics. "This program brings together all parts of the packaging value chain and has the ability to rapidly scale recycling efforts across the nation."

The Recycling Partnership was formed following an industry stakeholder meeting convened by the Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC) in December 2013.