05/15/2025

New Task Force to Tackle Tube, Thermoform Recycling

Plastics News | Jim Johnson | May 13, 2025

New Task Force to Tackle Tube, Thermoform Recycling

A new group is forming to try to help improve the recycling of two distinct but high-profile plastic packaging products.

The targets: polyethylene squeeze tubes, commonly used for toothpaste, and PET thermoform containers for food such as berries and baked goods.

Creation of The Packaging Recyclability Advancement Task Force brings together efforts from environmental group GreenBlue, the U.S. Plastics Pact, The Recycling Partnership, the Association of Plastic Recyclers and the Solid Waste Association of North America. The Recycled Materials Association, formerly known as the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries also is a member.

"While many plastic packaging formats are technically recyclable, they often face real-world barriers like inconsistent collection, limited sortation or weak end-market demand that prevent them from being recycled at scale," the groups said in announcing the new initiative.

"Improving recyclability requires more than just good design — it takes collaboration across the entire packaging ecosystem," said Jonathan Quinn, CEO of the U.S. Plastics Pact. "This task force brings together the right expertise to create practical solutions that work at scale."

The plan is to develop what the task force calls "clear, actionable guidance focused on improving recyclability beyond design alone."

An initial focus will be on high density PE squeeze tubes, currently labeled "not yet recyclable" and PET thermoforms that are labeled as "check locally" by the How2Recycle package labeling system developed by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, part of GreenBlue.

Ultimately, the new group wants to create guidance for companies to help improve recycling of the two packaging types. The expectation is that this will include steps that can be taken to improve recycling beyond package design and ways to verify "necessary recyclability thresholds have been met."

The guidance also aims to include "minimum threshold required across key recyclability criteria" and direction for organizations to engage in the process of working on the issue.

"The resulting guidance will serve as a road map not only for PET thermoforms and PE squeeze tubes, but as a scalable model for improving recyclability across more packaging formats in the future," the announcement states.