2022 Year In Review: Reflections on Progress, Development, and Meeting the Challenges Facing the Plastics Recycling Industry

Published on February 10, 2023

As in years past, 2022 saw significant developments, progress, and challenges for plastic packaging and the plastics recycling industry. Supply issues, legislative and regulatory proposals, negative media, as well as other areas of concern all combined to require greater levels of APR engagement and expertise.

Policy, APR Design® for Recyclability, PCR Certification, and communications efforts were key priorities for APR in 2022. With a focus on counteracting a rising tide of misinformation and fostering rational, fact-based dialogue around plastics recycling, we continued to develop the tools needed to scale recycling effectively as a key solution to reduce plastic waste and move toward a more sustainable, circular economy.

APR’s membership continues to grow each year, and we were pleased to welcome 42 new member companies in 2022. The commitment, leadership and support from APR members allowed us to direct additional technical, media, and advocacy resources to focus on these priorities. We introduced new technical programs, updated the APR Design® Guide for Plastics Recyclability, conducted a record number of APR Design® Guide Training programs, significantly expanded the number of innovations recognized for recyclability, enhanced communications and media engagement, and greatly expanded our advocacy and policy portfolio.

As we look forward into 2023 and beyond, read below and listen to the latest episode of APR’s Recycled Content podcast, as we highlight some of the accomplishments that APR and our members achieved in the past year, as well as what APR will be focusing on in 2023.

Focus on Policy

APR works to ensure the needs of the plastics recycling industry are addressed on Capitol Hill, in state houses across the country, as well as internationally. We accomplish this by providing technical expertise and counsel to members of Congress, Congressional staff, state and local legislators, and others.

In 2022, APR greatly amplified its engagement in state and federal legislation and rulemaking and invested in further expanding its voice and impact by hiring a new Chief Policy Officer, Kate Bailey. 2022 was a banner year, with the amount of recycling legislative activity and the substantial progress made on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, recycled content mandates, and federal grants to invest in recycling. There is tremendous momentum heading into 2023 for greater progress toward improving plastics recycling. APR will continue to be at the forefront of ensuring smart policy solutions focused on increasing supply, improving material quality, and strengthening market demand.

On the federal level, APR is engaged in supporting and monitoring federal legislation, advising federal agencies, and providing technical expertise and building relationships with federal legislators and staff. 2022 saw a record level of bills introduced to address recycling. APR staff met with legislators and monitored over a dozen bills, many of which are expected for reintroduction in 2023. The biggest traction came with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided substantial federal funding at $275 million over five years, to support recycling infrastructure and education.

APR continues to work with federal agencies on key initiatives including the EPA’s National Recycling Strategy, the FTC’s update to the federal Green Guides planned in 2023, and the GSA and National Parks Services’ work to implement the Executive Order to reduce single-use plastics and increase recycling. APR is also regularly engaged with the Senate Environment and Public Works committee. and submitted comments on real solutions to reduce plastic waste and scale up recycling for the December federal committee hearing.

APR staff met with several representatives from the US State Dept to help inform their negotiations for the UNEP Global Plastics Treaty. We shared resources on the global reach of APR tools, resource, technical expertise, with a focus on how tools like the APR Design® Guide and recognition programs could be further scaled as global models.

At the state level, APR is supporting, monitoring, and engaging on several types of legislation across dozens of states. The most impactful areas in 2022 include:


The APR Design® Guide for Plastics Recyclability

Throughout 2022, the development of the Meets Preferred Guidance (MPG) Recognition Program led to a substantial number of updates and improvements to the APR Design® Guide impacting PET and HDPE containers. Significant progress towards a new platform to provide an enhanced user experience for the APR Design® Guide has also been underway, with plans for launch in the first quarter of 2023.

These updates and improvements not only ensure that the APR Design® Guide remains the most comprehensive and current resource outlining the plastics recycling industry’s recommendations, but reflect the groundbreaking work of the APR Technical Committees and Working Groups:

APR launched the Global Design Guidance Catalog in 2022 outlining the most current plastic packaging recyclability guidelines for different countries and regions around the world. The catalog includes information from Denmark, EU, France, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, and UK. It covers recyclability evaluations for rigid PET, HDPE, PP, and flexible PE film packaging. Chile and Italy will be added in 2023.

APR Design® Recognition and Training

Once again, a record number of significant new technologies, or package components that solve long-standing problems in sustainable package design, received APR Critical Guidance Recognition. Up from 34 in 2021, APR was pleased to recognize 50 innovations in 2022. Specific areas of impact include:

Originally launched in December 2021, APR’s MPG program gives packaging suppliers and procurement teams the confidence that design components are categorized as Preferred according to the APR Design® Guide. Continued expansion in 2022 included recognitions for dispensers, pumps, sprayers, and NIR sortable dark color concentrate. The program is set to add the following items in 2023:

The APR more than tripled the number of APR Design® Guide training sessions conducted in 2022 compared to 2021, with 15 full day training sessions and 4 lunch and learns. Several companies participated for a second time, with Kraft Heinz being the first company to hold a third session.

APR PCR Certification

The APR Design® Guide and the APR PCR Certification Program work hand in hand to ensure products are Circular by Design™. APR Certified PCR ensures that recycled plastics from postconsumer sources giving new life to plastic that has met it’s intended use. The APR Design® Guide provides the tools to ensure plastic products can be recycled.

In 2022 APR worked to improve and expand the program:

Plans to expand APR PCR Certification to certify chain of custody from source to end-product are currently underway with plans to launch in early 2023.

APR Recycling Demand Champions Campaign

The APR Recycling Demand Champions Program, which supports a circular economy & strengthens demand for recyclable plastics, continues to grow and evolve.26 companies increased demand for PCR by an impressive 138.7 million pounds in 2022, bringing the total increase since the program’s inception to 384.1 million pounds.

Communications, Media, and Messaging

In person events were back in full swing in 2022, and we welcomed over 300 attendees at each of the March, June, and November APR Meetings. APR reached new audiences through numerous conferences, speaking opportunities, and digital communications.

APR’s social media channels continued to grow with +6000 leap in followers on LinkedIn in 2022, which brought APR to 18,000 followers on the platform. APR continues to rank on LinkedIn as not only the #1 most followed organization in our field, but also the fastest growing and most engaged with recycling organization in North America.

APR created reports and educational resources to counteract a rising tide of misinformation and foster rational, fact-based dialogue around plastics recycling across the value chain including:

The Chemical Recycling Research Working Group

The working group defined its focus and initial project scope while building its collective data and knowledge base. The scope of group’s initial project includes film and flexible packaging volumes, collection logistics, and material specifications to U.S. pyrolysis markets; the project is underway for Q1 2023 completion.

US Plastics Pact Engagement

APR supported the US Plastics Pact’s List of Problematic and Unnecessary Packaging, building alignment around the future of plastics packaging design and what it will take to meet circular economy commitments. APR provides ongoing counsel to the U.S. Pact as a founding Activator and Advisory Council member. APR also co-chairs the U.S. Pact’s Design for Recyclability workstream, provided data and technical input on the development of strategy to increase recycling rates, and represents plastic recyclers in On-Pack Labeling and PCR discussions.