This is an article I wrote for the CRN Daily Supplement member newsletter, covering a topic that is of great personal interest to me—protecting the environment by making sustainability a priority.
Post-consumer recycled (PCR) content requirements are going into effect for a market that isn’t ready.
Why it matters: Three states are quickly moving forward with PCR requirements. California’s Plastic Minimum Content Standards law (AB 793) went into effect this year, and new PCR standards are coming in 2023 for Washington state—with New Jersey following closely behind.
What they’re saying: “The difficulty has to do with logistics and the market—these laws are essentially trying to create a market for post-consumer recycled material that does not currently exist,” observed Samuel Butler of CRN associate member Lathrop GMP LLP in a recent NutraIngredients-USA article.
Mike Meirovitz, director of government relations at CRN, told NutraIngredients-USA that CRN is working with “federal and state policymakers to find solutions that incentivize progress in these areas” but is staying “mindful that any new compliance requirements should not be unduly burdensome, impractical, or unachievable for this industry.”
CRN associate member IRI Worldwide noted in a newly published report:
- 77% of consumers believe sustainability is important when selecting products to buy, up from 69% in 2021.
- The top reason consumers say they buy sustainable products is for their environmental impact (44% of those surveyed), followed by the availability of more sustainable options (40%).
- Marketing sustainable products can command premiums over their conventional counterparts that can range from 8% to 130%.
Go deeper: See the full “Sustainability and the Consumer” report for research by IRI and the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business examining how sustainability drives consumer product choices.