P&G to ramp up recycled plastic in its packaging with five-year Viridor deal.

Agreement will see recycling firm Viridor supply consumer goods giant with recycled plastic for use in its packaging

Proctor & Gamble has signed a five-year plastic supply contract with UK recycling firm Viridor as part of the consumer goods giant's drive to increase the proportion of recycled plastic in its packaging.

P&G will use high-density polyethylene (HDPE) supplied by Viridor to lift the recycled content of its Ariel laundry product range to 50 per cent, saving the equivalent of around 200 million bottles of virgin plastic over the course of the five year contract, it announced yesterday.

The deal builds on an existing circular economy collaboration between the two firms, with Viridor having supplied P&G with post-consumer recycled material for the past three years to help to meet P&G's sustainability targets, Viridor said.

"This collaboration accelerates P&G's 2030 goal to reduce our use of virgin petroleum plastic in packaging by 50 per cent," said P&G purchases group Manager Adam Selby. "As a founding member of The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, we are committed to helping to minimise and manage plastic waste and promote solutions like this for used plastics."

Viridor's managing director for recycling, Simon Hicks, said the company was investing in innovative recycling infrastructure to match the steadily increasing demand for recycled material.

"In addition to our specialist polymer facilities at Rochester and Skelmersdale, we have invested £65m in the new recycling and reprocessing centre at Avonmouth, near Bristol, the UK's largest multi-polymer plant," Hicks explained. "Our investment in sophisticated recycling infrastructure will not end here. We have been very clear about our commitment to investment, innovation and collaboration to drive the circular economy in the UK, with this programme reflecting the clear preference for recycled material."

Both firms are founding partners of the UK Plastics Pact, which sees the UK's biggest supermarkets, food manufacturers, and processors promise to eliminate unnecessary single-use plastic by 2025, and ensure all remaining plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable by the same date.

The UK government is also taking action to deal with plastic waste, announcing in 2018 a broad commitment to eliminate all "avoidable" plastic waste in the UK by the end of 2042.

*Title photo : Plastic pellets recovered from waste | Credit: Viridor

18 February 2020

Business Green