Berry Signs Largest Contract for Advanced Recycled Material as Brand Owner Sustainability Goals and Consumer Demand Grow

Berry’s access to recycled plastic grows to over 600 million pounds per year by 2025

EVANSVILLE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE: BERY) announced today an agreement with PureCycle that will provide Berry with PureCycle’s Ultra-Pure Recycled (UPR) advanced recycled resin. This agreement is the latest in a growing list of advanced recycling material sourcing announcements from Berry and is the Company’s second based in North America.

North American consumer interest in package sustainability rises

If given the option to buy products with recyclable or compostable packaging, 47% of Americans opt for recyclable products as their first choice, and 20% prefer compostable products. (Ipsos, Aug. 2021)

• 77% of Americans are concerned about the environmental impact of products they buy, and 78% are more likely to purchase a product that is clearly labeled as environmentally friendly. (Greenprint, April 2021)
• 64% of consumers say that buying sustainable products makes them feel happy about their purchases (this reaches 72% in the 25-35 age group). (Capgemini Research Institute, July 2020)

As demand for sustainable products grows, customers look to Berry for access to recycled material and packaging design expertise to maintain their brand image and package performance. As a result, Berry continues its leadership position in the converter market for access to recycled plastic material – over 600 million pounds per year by 2025. In addition to its material access, Berry understands the specific design requirements of brands’ products – combining material expertise with product specification needs creates a range of opportunities for advanced recycling technology to be used in the marketplace.

“Customers look to Berry for unique ways to meet their ambitious sustainability goals. Through our access to advanced recycled resin and technical expertise, Berry is a dependable partner for customers in the implementation of sustainable solutions,” said Tom Salmon, Berry’s Chairman and CEO. “By using our relationships with top suppliers and the latest technologies, we bring our customers premier access to in-demand circular resins.”

In support of a circular economy, Berry harnesses advanced recycling to provide an outlet for difficult-to-recycle materials to be given a second life in the form of food-grade packaging. While post-consumer resin often lacks the high-clarity customers desire, circular resins from advanced recycling boast exceptional clarity, answering customer demand.

PureCycle’s ground-breaking patented recycling process, separates color, odor, and contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to transform it into ultra-pure recycled polypropylene. The recycling service converts waste plastic into virgin-like plastic fully closing the loop on the reuse of recycled plastics while making recycled polypropylene more accessible at scale to companies desiring to use a sustainable, recycled resin.

The material will be supplied to Berry in summer 2023 for manufacturing at one of Berry’s ISCC PLUS certified facilities, providing customers with maximum traceability for the materials. Berry previously announced its first three facilities in North America to achieve ISCC PLUS certification.

About Berry

At Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE:BERY), we create innovative packaging and engineered products that we believe make life better for people and the planet. We do this every day by leveraging our unmatched global capabilities, sustainability leadership, and deep innovation expertise to serve customers of all sizes around the world. Harnessing the strength in our diversity and industry leading talent of 47,000 global employees across more than 300 locations we partner with customers to develop, design, and manufacture innovative products with an eye toward the circular economy. The challenges we solve and the innovations we pioneer benefit our customers at every stage of their journey. For more information, visit our website, or connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter.