In our sustainability efforts, Graham has collaborated with Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) to ensure resins in our facilities remain contained. By preventing resin spills and leaks, we stop micro plastic from entering our environments and water systems. We are conducting internal audits for OCS to keep our facilities as efficient and spill free as possible.
Ten of our plants are already complying with OCS’s standards, with more soon to be confirmed! Congratulations, New Orleans, Cartersville, Florence, Evansville, Bowling Green, Memphis, Rockwall, Tolleson, Casa Grande and Alta Vista!
Watch the video below to learn more about our OCS efforts.
Lancaster, PA—September 7, 2022—Graham Packaging has been named a Sustainability Leadership Award winner by the Business Intelligence Group in its 2022 Sustainability Awards program.
The Sustainability Awards honor those people, teams and organizations who have made sustainability an integral part of their business practice or overall mission. Graham previously won the award in 2019.
Graham is an industry leader in innovative, sustainable and creative packaging. The company is committed to finding sustainable solutions for customers today, while driving toward its long-term ESG (environmental, social, governance) goals. Graham is focused on designing innovative, sustainable and creative products; creating operational and recycling efficiencies; giving back to its community; empowering employees to be informed stewards and leading the ongoing mission to preserve the planet for future generations. Sustainability is ingrained in the company’s culture, with one of its strategic pillars being “We are Building a Sustainable Future.”
“Graham Packaging is deeply committed to sustainability,” said Bob Pyle, President and Chief Executive Officer of Graham Packaging. “Making choices that protect our people and their families, our communities and our planet continues to be an integral part of Graham Packaging. We are honored to be recognized as a company that is contributing to a more sustainable planet.”
As part of its dedication to protecting the planet, Graham has led the way in several different sustainability initiatives. These include being a founding member of the National Lubricant Container Recycling Coalition, aimed at improving the recyclability of oil containers that would otherwise go to landfills, and becoming one of the first in its industry to have four locations receive their International Sustainability and Carbon Certificate (ISCC) Plus certifications, which allows these sites to process certified PCR created through advanced recycling.
“We are proud to reward and recognize Graham Packaging for their sustainability efforts,” said Maria Jimenez, Chief Nominations Officer, Business Intelligence Group. “It was clear to our judges that their vision and strategy will continue to deliver results toward a cleaner, more sustainable world. Congratulations!”
BRADENTON, Fla., Aug. 23, 2022 — The National Lubricant Container Recycling Coalition (NLCRC) is launching an industry-first collaborative recycling pilot program that focuses on consumer plastic packaging for engine oil and other petroleum-based products.
The NLCRC, comprised of members Castrol, Valvoline, Pennzoil – Quaker State, Graham Packaging, Plastipak Packaging, Berry Global, Chevron, and the Petroleum Packaging Council, is an industry-led technical coalition focused on developing a national market-sustaining program that drives the recovery and recycling of plastic packaging used to transport lubricants and related products for commercial and consumer use.
The recycling pilot is a one-year project involving over 40 locations in Atlanta, including retail stores and auto care centers, instant oil change locations, and several commercial facilities. The pilot aims to assess and measure the economic and market drivers for post-consumer recovery and recycling, better understand consumer waste disposal behaviors, and define parameters for model development and future scalability. Project partners include retail companies, commercial entities, Safety-Kleen, and Nexus Circular.
“One of the biggest waste management challenges facing the US is our ability to collect, sort, and process plastic packaging and return it to productive use. For contaminated packaging from petroleum and related materials, this isn’t really happening. The pilot focuses on the heart of the problem – collection — to find the most efficient ways to aggregate and transport the materials to processors that want them, creating value in a waste material that doesn’t exist today.” ~ Tristan Steichen, Director of NLCRC
Addressing a challenge as complex as this is not feasible for most individual companies, particularly given the complexities of distribution, supply chains, and competition. Transforming an industry requires collaboration with all stakeholders focusing on a common goal. The NLCRC seeks to represent a single voice of the industry. We aim to make an impact on the communities where our products are disposed while delivering meaningful results to the industry, its customers, and its member companies by reducing environmental and social risk and improving sustainability performance.
Graham Packaging today announced that its Evansville, Indiana location has received its International Sustainability and Carbon Certificate (ISCC) PLUS. This certification enables the site to sell customers ISCC PLUS certified post-consumer resin (PCR) created through advanced recycling.
ISCC PLUS is an internationally recognized system of certifying products that result from advanced recycling using mass balance attribution of plastic waste. This certification provides traceability along the supply chain, and verifies that certified companies meet strict environmental and social standards. Graham was awarded the certificate from SCS Global Services, an international leader in third-party certification, validation, and verification for environmental, sustainability, and food safety.
“We are proud to be one of the few rigid packaging companies who are ISCC PLUS certified to use advanced PCR,” said Tracee Auld, chief sustainability and growth officer. “This is a great milestone for Graham Packaging, and will help us to meet our long-term goal of incorporating an average of 20% PCR across all bottles by 2025.”
With the ISCC PLUS certification, Graham adds advanced recycled material to its portfolio, in addition to its current use of mechanically recycled content. This advanced recycled material can be substituted for up to 100% of virgin resin in a container, delivering identical material performance while also helping to reduce the packaging’s overall carbon footprint.
“ISCC PLUS certification is a major milestone on our sustainability mission because it will allow Graham Packaging to provide our customers packaging solutions made from sustainable, food-grade PCR,” says Marcelo Passos, president of Graham’s food and nutrition business unit. “We are proud of this work to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainability.”
The company plans to earn ISCC certification for additional facilities across its global locations in the future.
“We see advanced recycling as a complementary process to mechanical recycling, and will use both in our dedicated mission to create sustainable packaging,” adds Richa Desai, director of sustainability.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle — the three “R’s” we all see stamped on every recycling bin and collection truck. While we all know recycling is a good thing to do, many may not know what happens after they drop the bottle in their bin. Some people may be skeptical and question if they are really making that much of a difference, while others might scoff and say that the recycling trucks just go to the landfills anyway.
Those people are wrong — recycling works! There are several key factors that make recycling effective, and one of them is YOU, the consumer! So, how does recycling work and how can you make a difference with your actions?
The Recycling Process
It all starts after you place your plastic bottle in your recycling bin and the bin is picked up by a collection truck, often called a hauler. The hauler will then take all the items to a facility, usually referred to as a material recovery facility or MRF.
After the material has been separated by resin type at the MRF, the recycled materials are then sold to recycling centers. The recycling process can then be taken one step further and plastics can be separated out by color. Once separated by resin type and color, it becomes much easier to prepare the recyclable materials to be reintroduced to the plastic blowing process. But first these materials are processed where any contaminants are removed, washed, melted down and extruded. The extruded plastic is then cut back into pellets. These plastic pellets are then shipped back to manufacturers as post-consumer resin, or PCR.
At Graham, we have our own recycling center, known as the Graham Recycling Company, which has processed HDPE material that we eventually incorporate back into our bottles for more than 30 years. In addition to HDPE, Graham Packaging has advanced technologies that allow us to make both HDPE and PET bottles with various percentages of recycled content, even up to 100% PCR! Our long-term goal is to increase our use of PCR, including ocean-bound plastic, by incorporating an average of 20% PCR across all bottles by 2025.
Taking Action
Looking at the bottom of a bottle, you may have seen the recycle symbol surrounding a number. What you may not have known, however, is that this symbol marks the specific type of resin that was used to produce the bottle. This allows for the plastic to be separated into different categories based on resin type at the MRF. At Graham, the majority of our bottles are made with PET or HDPE. These are numbered 1 and 2 on the bottom of bottles and are typically recyclable.
Additionally, Graham also uses polypropylene, which is a number 5 resin. Polypropylene (PP) containers account for roughly 7% of the products we produce. Used in a variety of food and nonfood packaging, this material may be collected by curbside recycling programs, depending on local regulations. However, despite being successfully collected and sorted in some communities, very little of this material is actually recycled because very few recycling facilities can process it. Graham is continuing to work on ways to improve the recyclability of polypropylene. Be sure to check with your local municipality to determine if PP is recyclable in your community.
As a consumer, you can help perpetuate a circular economy for plastics by selecting packaging that is made from recycled materials. If you can’t find packaging that is made from recycled material, purchase items that are in recyclable packaging. Most importantly RECYCLE IT! Due to the push for sustainability in the packaging industry, more and more plastic packaging is becoming recyclable. This is great news, however, it can only be recycled if it is placed in the recycling. Remember, there isn’t a bottle in the world that threw itself in the trash.
In one study, the United States Environmental Protection Agency estimated American households generated 94 million pounds of composted or recycled material per year. It was determined that on average a single person produced about 1.6 pounds of recyclables per day! Based on these findings, a household of three people in the U.S. produces about 4.8 pounds per day. If everyone in that family recycles they could generate an estimated 1,752 pounds of recycled material per year (EPA.gov)!
If everyone does their part, the industry can continue to reduce the use of virgin resin in production, minimizing the impact of introducing new plastics into the cycle. With everyone’s determination, we can build a world that keeps taking steps forward toward a circular economy—a world where sustainability is reality.
References
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, April). National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling. Retrieved from EPA.gov: https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials#main-content
You may have noticed recently that there seems to be a shift from glass jars and bottles to plastic ones on the shelves at the store. With environmental impact being such a hot topic these days, some people may see these plastic packages and groan. It’s very easy to make plastic packaging the scapegoat of the world’s environmental woes, but when companies innovate the industry and keep these concerns in the forefront of their production, plastic can be highly sustainable when used responsibly by consumers.
There are many different types of plastic, all stemming from different kinds of resins. It is true that not all plastics are environmentally friendly. But the ones primarily used by Graham Packaging, like HDPE and PET, can help contribute to a safer, circular economy. These resins are BPA free and both are highly recyclable. This means that they are sustainable and can be reused as long as they are returned back to the cycle, also known as a circular economy.
Additionally, Graham also uses polypropylene. Polypropylene (PP) containers account for roughly 7% of the products we produce. Used in a variety of food and nonfood packaging, this material is considered only sometimes recyclable, typically because very few recycling facilities process it. Graham is continuing to work on ways to improve the recyclability of polypropylene.
But why not just use glass? This is a great question. Often, it can be a common opinion that glass is superior to plastic because of its perceived sustainability benefits and its more premium association. However, PET can provide a glass-like appearance, thanks to its lower haze value. It also has design flexibility to create unique shapes that help a brand stand out on the shelf. Finally, PET can also protect the product inside the package, similarly to glass, providing a long shelf life.
There is another drawback to glass packaging that most do not think about: transportation. Glass is very fragile and cannot withstand bumps or falls. When glass packaging is being prepared for transportation, extra precautions are taken to ensure they arrive intact. This extra padding means less space for more bottles or jars. Plastic on the other hand is shatter-resistant by design and does not need the same amount of additional padding and protection.
From the manufacturers, to the factories, to the stores, to your home, your sauce jar has already traveled quite some distance to make it to your pantry — but it’s not done yet! When these heavy glass containers are placed in the recycling bins, they still must be picked up and transported again to material recovery facilities to be processed for recycling. Due to glass’s heavy weight, this final transportation can be costly. Once at these facilities glass must be ground down back into what is referred to as cullet. Cullet can then be used to create new glass, but only if there aren’t any contaminating residues present, otherwise it cannot be used. According to the EPA, the amount of recycled glass containers was 3.1 million tons in 2018, for a recycling rate of 31.3 percent. This is actually very close to the rate of PET bottles and jars (29.1 percent) in 2018, and the rate for HDPE natural bottles (29.3 percent). When you factor in the extra energy used to produce glass packaging combined with the extra emissions given off during transportation, glass packaging can actually leave a larger footprint than plastic.
So the next time you’re at the store and your favorite brand has switched to plastic, instead of groaning, you can purchase it in good conscious knowing that the product is helping to create a circular economy. Consumers should make sure they do their part after using the item by throwing that plastic bottle in the recycling bin, continuing the cycle.
References
Kanchwala, H. (2021, January). How Is Glass Made? Retrieved from Science ABC: https://www.scienceabc.com/innovation/how-is-glass-made.html