PureCycle Technologies’ PureFive resin has been accepted as “post-consumer recycled (PCR) content” under New Jersey’s Recycled Content Law in the US.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) granted the designation after reviewing the company’s recycling method.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The decision is a conditional approval valid for one year.
It enables PureCycle to supply material to brands and manufacturers that need to meet the state’s recycled content rules.
Over the next 12 months, the company plans to seek permanent approval from the NJDEP. As part of the process, it will provide details on feedstock sources, the kinds of feedstock processed, PureFive’s end uses, and other compliance-related information requested by the department.
Under New Jersey’s Recycled Content Law, producers of rigid plastic containers, beverage containers and other covered packaging must meet minimum levels of PCR content.
For rigid plastics, the requirement began at 10% in 2024 and is due to increase by 10% every three years until it reaches 50%. Food-contact packaging is excluded until 2027.
However, approval for recycled content in those applications can take several months, and PureCycle said this has prompted enquiries about PureFive resin during the past year.
PureFive resin is made through PureCycle’s physical dissolution recycling process.
According to the company, this process removes colour, odour, additives and other materials from post-consumer polypropylene, producing recycled resin with properties comparable to virgin plastic.
PureCycle said those properties, along with its status as suitable for food-contact from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), support its use in a range of applications, including rigid plastic containers covered by New Jersey’s mandate.
The company said it sourced more than 10.5 million pounds of post-consumer recycled plastic from the state last year, a higher volume than from any other US state.
It expects that amount to rise this year as production increases at its facility in Ironton, Ohio.
PureCycle CEO Dustin Olson said: “This is a landmark moment for PureCycle and for every brand owner working to meet the mandates set by this law. We’ve had significant customer interest due to this mandate, but many were simply waiting for this regulatory clarity from the NJDEP before moving forward.
“Generating demand for recycled content is exactly the kind of policy action the world needs if we’re serious about creating circular economies.”
Last month, Plastic Ingenuity worked with PureCycle on coffee lid production. Under that arrangement, Plastic Ingenuity is using PureCycle’s PureFive recycled polypropylene to develop lids with 25% to 100% recycled content.
