Mascaro adds municipality to flexible packaging recycling pilot program

J.P. Mascaro & Sons, Audubon, Pennsylvania, announced that as part of its contract for the curbside collection of recyclables, Lower Providence Township, Pennsylvania, residents will now join nearby Pottstown Borough residents in including flexible plastic packaging (FPP) as a recyclable instead of landfilling that material. The initiative is in connection with an industry-sponsored recycling pilot program targeting FPP.

The materials are being sent to Mascaro’s TotalRecycle facility in Exeter Township, Pennsylvania, which is a fully automated single stream recycling facility. The pilot program is aimed at demonstrating the viability of processing FPP at automated material recovery facilities and the ability to market the recycled byproduct, known as rFlex, to end users.

Historically, FPP (i.e., plastic bags, wraps, pouches, product packaging, etc.) has been difficult to successfully recycle. However, this material is increasingly finding its way into the material stream.

With the intent to make FPP more recyclable, the American Chemistry Council’s Foundation for Chemistry Research and Initiatives created the Materials Recovery for the Future (MRFF) program, which includes association members such as Dow Chemical, Nestlé Purina, Pepsico, Procter & Gamble, Target, the Association of Plastic Recyclables, the Flexible Packaging Association and the Plastics Industry Association. Through this program, Mascaro was awarded a $2.6 million grant to install sophisticated optical sorting equipment at its TotalRecycle facility to make the recycling of FPP possible.

"Pottstown Borough was the first community to roll out flexible plastic packaging collection curbside, and I'm proud that our community is a part of the recycling pilot,” Pottstown Borough Manager Justin Keller says. “Pottstown residents are thrilled with the program's convenience, with the added benefit of advancing environmental sustainability goals of both residents and the municipality. We applaud efforts to extend this innovative and valuable program to additional communities."

"Lower Providence is pleased to be part of this recycling initiative," Lower Providence Township Manager Donald Delamater says. "It's an added benefit for our residents and, just as importantly, moves our environmental efforts in the right direction."

Collection of FPP as a recyclable will begin in Lower Providence Township in December after Mascaro notifies all Township households of the types of FPP that will now be collected as recyclables. It is expected that the FPP pilot program will generate data to show interested municipalities that FPP recycling is possible and economical, and that there is a market for the rFlex end product, according to Mascaro.

"Our sustainable mission is to remove these types of flexible plastics from the waste stream and to give these materials an end market purpose,” Mascaro Director of Sustainability Joseph P. Mascaro Sr. says.  “The plan is to expand this program into every qualifying municipality that J.P. Mascaro & Sons services."