NOVEMBER 2023CONSTRUCTIONBUSINESSREVIEW.COM9The answer is YES, pizza boxes can be recycled, the research has been done and the contamination is low. The issue is that not all MRF's (Material Recovery Facilities) accept used pizza boxes. Even they don't know whether or not they should be accepted.These were people who had committed multiple days, including travel time, to attend a conference on sustainability in business. They are committed to recycling. And yet, they were not doing it or they are confused.Why?I believe it is a combination of access to recycling and education. But I think there is a third piece, too, one discussed extensively at GreenBiz and one that I would like to see more companies embracing. That is the policy concept of extended producer responsibility, or EPR.EPR is a policy tool that governments use to build the total cost of a product into its price. The idea is that doing so creates incentives for companies that make products out of virgin materials -- say, plastics -- and influence how those products are initially designed and made and what happens to them at the end of their life. That means that manufacturers need to proactively consider how their products can be reused or recycled after their first life. Full disclosure: Here at ADS, we are fans of sensible EPR. We think it will boost both access to and education about recycling, which is a win for us. And of course, more recycled products are good for our business goals. We have set a target to recycle a billion pounds of plastic a year by 2032. Last year, we recycled more than 600 million pounds, but we could have recycled more had we been able to purchase the old shampoo bottles, detergent jugs and other high-density polyurethane (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) cups, tubs and lids we needed from recycling centers around the U.S. But more than our business objectives, there is a case to be made for internalizing costs that have, for too long, been borne externally by the environment and the consumer. EPR is one attempt to address that. Four states -- California, Colorado, Maine and Oregon -- have enacted EPR policies around packaging, and while it is still too early to know how successful those policies have been in removing recyclables from the waste stream, early projec-tions are promising.One thing I know: The more people who can access recy-cling programs around the world, the better off our planet will be. That is a win not just for sustainably minded businesses, but for everyone. One thing I know: The more people who can access recycling programs around the world, the better off our planet will be. That is a win not just for sustainably minded businesses, but for everyone.
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