Berry Announces Goal for 30% Circular Plastics by 2030, With Long-Term Vision to Decouple from Fossil Fuels

EVANSVILLE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE: BERY) today announced its most ambitious sustainable packaging goal to date: 30% circular plastics use across its fast-moving consumer goods packaging by 2030. Circular plastics include recycled and renewable resins like bioplastics. Berry’s global footprint and purchasing scale offer unique access to the supply of high-quality recycled material. As the Company moves away from its reliance on virgin plastic, Berry’s new 30 by 30 goal surpasses its previous goal to use 10% post-consumer recycled (PCR) resin by 2025. The new target aims to give natural resources multiple lives and increase the use of bio-based products made from renewable resources as Berry envisions decoupling from virgin plastic and fossil fuels in the long term.

Actionable and meaningful steps

Leveraging its unmatched global capabilities, intellectual knowledge, and deep innovation expertise to serve customers of all sizes around the world, Berry plans to meet its new recycled content goal through:

• Leading and early access to innovative materials like recycled and renewable resins.
• Agility in its global manufacturing capabilities aligned with evolving recycled content legislation.
• Continuing significant sustainable packaging progress by collaborating with leading brands.

“Many of our customers around the world are moving from setting ambitious sustainability goals to taking meaningful action,” said Tom Salmon, Chairman and CEO of Berry Global. “Giving our natural resources multiple lives is critical to transitioning to a net-zero economy. Nothing is more important to us than helping our customers meet growing sustainability demand trends by accelerating the industry’s move toward a circular economy where reuse, recovery, and recycling are maximized.”

A path toward achieving sustainability goals

Coupled with its expertise in safety and regulatory compliance, Berry proposes tailored solutions to every customer goal and supports the research and development of practical and economic end-of-life scenarios for products. Berry’s Life Cycle Assessment tool helps companies estimate and quantify the environmental impact of various initiatives to prioritize actions toward achieving sustainable packaging goals.

Compared to alternative packaging materials like paper, metal, or glass, recycled plastic typically results in lower energy use, as well as less waste generated. And the increased use of bio-based products made from renewable resources like sugarcane can further reduce the carbon footprint of packaging solutions.

Collaboration is key

Lack of recycling infrastructure is one of the most significant barriers to accessing enough recycled and bio-based renewable materials to deliver on ambitious sustainable packaging goals. Berry is actively engaged in multiple global infrastructure investments, and partners with organizations critical to ending plastic waste in various ways, including:

• Signing on to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment to change how plastic is produced, used, and reused.
• Taking on a leadership role with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and The Recycling Partnership to support education and infrastructure investments needed to increase the use of recycled content and improve the collection and recyclability of plastic waste.
• Joining the World Wildlife Fund’s Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance (BFA) to support the responsible development and sourcing of plastics made from plant material.

“Biobased plastic—if sourced responsibly—can play an essential role in building circularity by decoupling from fossil fuels to address our new plastic needs,” said Erin Simon, Head of Plastic Waste and Business at WWF. “Corporate leadership is critical to advancing our knowledge and development of responsibly-sourced biobased plastic, and we welcome the valuable perspective that Berry Global will add to the BFA.”

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.