Amcor Furthers Commitment to Sustainability, in Partnership with 35 Consumer Goods Companies

ZURICH, Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amcor, in partnership with thirty-five leading companies in the consumer goods industry, has today announced measures to significantly reduce plastic waste. Amcor and its partners in this coalition – which have a collective turnover of 1 trillion euros - will be enforcing two new design rules to deliver packaging that is easier and more cost-effective to recycle.

The first design rule is expected to improve the economic viability of PET bottle recycling by removing colouring pigments and labelling that impact recycling rates. The second design rule will remove materials that are problematic for recyclers from all forms of plastic packaging. By implementing these rules, recycling will become easier, cheaper, more efficient and can scale faster - which will result in less waste leaking into the environment.

As a global packaging company that supplies innovative packaging for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal care products, Amcor has been instrumental in developing these rules. The design principles also align with the company's own objectives to develop  more sustainable packaging and to collaborate to increase recycling rates worldwide. This year, Amcor reported that $7.71bn of its revenue is now generated from products that are designed to be recyclable – landmark progress towards its industry leading pledge that all of its packaging will be recyclable or reusable by 2025.

Peter Konieczny, Amcor's Chief Commercial Officer said: "Amcor is a world-leading, packaging company. We are already applying these rules to make our packaging easier to recycle, particularly in our PET bottles and rigid packages. Our business has achieved consistent success in using our innovation capabilities to eliminate materials that hamper recycling and we continue to use more recycled content in our packaging. We are keen to use our expertise alongside CGF and the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action to help consumers make a positive contribution to protecting the environment."

Steve Alexander, President and CEO of the Association of Plastics Recyclers said: "APR is pleased these design rules comply with the APR Design for Plastics Recyclability for PET Recyclability. These guidelines help to create industry standards to provide sustainability solutions for plastic packaging, and will serve to enhance the value of PET bottle recycling. 

Recycling serves as the base for packaging to be part of the circular economy, and these guidelines help to close the loop when it comes to our waste management system."

Amcor is also endorsing the CGF's recent position paper on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) which calls on governments to work with industry to ensure that EPR schemes meet a set of guiding principles for fairness, effectiveness and sustainability.

David Clark, Amcor's Vice President of Sustainability said: "Where governments are looking to legislate in order to facilitate better waste management and recycling infrastructure, Amcor is ready to work with them to ensure that policy solutions are designed to achieve real impact and to drive down waste. Amcor believes that Extended Producer Responsibility is one tool that may have value in tackling waste leakage and we are committed to sharing our expertise in order to boost recycling rates and reduce waste leakage."

About Amcor
Amcor is a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal-care, and other products. Amcor works with leading companies around the world to protect their products and the people who rely on them, differentiate brands, and improve supply chains through a range of flexible and rigid packaging, specialty cartons, closures, and services. The company is focused on making packaging that uses less materials, is increasingly recyclable and reusable, and is made with more recycled content. Around 47,000 Amcor people generate $12.5 billion in annual sales from operations that span about 230 locations in 40-plus countries. (NYSE: AMCR) (ASX: AMC)

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SOURCE Amcor