Many food companies, including Coca-Cola, Danone, Unilever, PepsiCo, and Nestlé, have made commitments to increase the use of recycled plastics in their packaging within the next 10 years. These commitments, along with recently passed minimum-recycled-content laws, are contributing to a growing demand for recyclates. However, food companies and their plastic packaging suppliers face a major challenge in meeting these targets due to the limited supply available for recycled resins.
According to the 2019 Closed Loop Partners report, Accelerating Circular Supply Chain for Plastics,1 the current supply of recycled plastics can meet only 6 percent of the demand. The report also notes that current projections indicate new demand for recycled plastics will increase to 5 to 7.5 million metric tons by 2030.