ASTRX releases review of material flow at MRFs, reprocessors

Applying Systems Thinking to Recycling (ASTRX), Charlottesville, Virginia, the joint project of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) and The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, has released a report titled “The ASTRX review of material flow at MRFs and reprocessors." The report investigates how plastic, paper, glass, aluminum and steel packaging move through two critical pieces of the circular economy: material recovery facilities (MRFs) and reprocessors.

The objective of the study was to learn whether packaging types, materials or contaminants present significant challenges for MRFs and reprocessors, where specifically within the system they cause problems and why. The ASTRX team conducted interviews with MRFs across the U.S., plastics reclaimers, glass beneficiators, paper mills, aluminum mills and a steel broker, according to a news release.

“We hear a lot that certain types of packaging create problems for MRFs or reprocessors, but sometimes issues only occur sporadically or only in certain regions,” says Trina Matta, senior manager at SPC. “We wanted to know what was just a problem for a few facilities and what was truly creating a burden on the recycling system. Our research identifies areas that are persistent, challenging problems in need of an intervention that could help the recycling system be more successful.”

Some of the key takeaways for brand owners are:

• helping MRFs fund investments to assist in managing flexible films;
• consider adding a How2Recycle label on packaging to discourage contamination;
• create packaging that can successfully navigate the recycling system;
• purchase recycled content for packaging materials and durable goods to the extent possible; 
• be careful with shrink sleeves; and
• paper and aluminum design guides are needed.

“Recycling is not just putting a bottle, can, carton or box in a curbside cart. It’s a system that provides raw materials to a complex manufacturing process,” says Dylan de Thomas, vice president of industry collaboration at The Recycling Partnership. “We wanted to provide a critical feedback loop from the facilities that are sorting and reprocessing the goods we put in recycling carts and bins across the country to the companies that are producing an increasingly complex packaging stream.” 

Each section of the report discusses findings from each material group, market characteristics of each material, information about how that material fares at MRFs and reprocessors and recommendations for how to improve the recyclability of each material type. Download the report, worksheets and a recording of a webinar on report findings here.