The Importance of Industry Collaboration in Lubricant Container Recycling
Often plastics are used as single-use products and then discarded, and most end up in landfills. With rising social awareness around plastic waste, the current linear models of production and consumption of plastics require immediate intervention.
The implementation of effective and sustainable waste management strategies is of critical importance for the US. The challenges with recycling HDPE from lubricant containers, given the costs of virgin plastics, have led to minimal solutions, causing the waste to end up in landfills. It is important to search for technology-based solutions to improve recycling methods and rates.
There is no company alone that can shift the existing industry and community standards. Building trust and collaboration among many is essential to organizing recycling and recovery initiatives.
The National Lubricant Recycling Coalition (NLCRC), an industry-led technical coalition, is working towards building solutions for post-consumer recovery and recycling of plastic (HDPE) lubricant containers in the US by bringing brands and value chain participants together in an equal partnership.
This partnership is creating a well-defined path forward in driving the recycling of plastic oil bottles within the US to a sustainable, economically driven end-of-life solution through the launch of a pilot project in a market in the US that will incorporate chemical recycling as a strategy for the recycling lubricant containers into post-consumer recycled content.
From industries to households, everyone has an essential role in reducing the lubricant container waste problem in the US. The NLCRC founding leaders include Castrol, Valvoline, Pennzoil - Quaker State Company, Graham Packaging, Plastipak Packaging, Berry Global, the Petroleum Packaging Council, and Chevron.
Learn how the NLCRC is addressing the waste problem by becoming a member. Connect with us through LinkedIn and Twitter. If you have any questions or inquiries, send us an email at hello@nationallcrc.com.
