No virgin materials are available on any commercially viable scale whose raw inputs don’t damage our environment, biodiversity, and communities.

Recognizing this, it becomes evident that producing goods, including packaging, out of waste rather than virgin raw materials is a much better option for our planet.

We should work as hard as possible, ensuring that, once extracted or harvested, the raw materials used to produce virgin products are used via recycling as often as possible.

is made from bauxite, whose mining causes significant environmental damage, including deforestation, water pollution, and air pollution.

is made from fossil fuels, whose extraction is well recognized as the leading cause of climate change.

Virgin bioplastic is made from various sources - corn, potatoes, sugarcane, and trees - whose production and harvesting lead to deforestation, biodiversity loss, chemical runoff, and ocean acidification.

is made from silica sand (also known as white sand or quartz sand), soda ash, and limestone - raw materials whose mining also causes immense environmental destruction.

It’s hard to believe, but the world is running out of sand, which has made sand mining almost as valuable as gold mining in countries such as India. The shortage of sand has resulted in the emergence of India’s sand mafia, organized illegal trade in India responsible for the murder of hundreds of journalists and activists.

is largely made from trees.

Many people incorrectly believe trees are a purely renewable and sustainable material source. However, logging for paper contributes heavily to the destruction of our world’s primary and secondary forests. These forests are essential to mitigating climate change, protecting lands from floods, managing fresh water supply, and rain cycles, protecting species, and subverting biodiversity loss.

This statement is true for every single material - not just paper!

The Environmental Paper Calculator is a free, extremely easy-to-use LCA tool for paper. Unlike other LCA software options, its assumptions are extremely transparent and clear. It also shows that transitioning from virgin to 100% recycled linerboard paper results in:

• 52% less energy used
• 74% less greenhouse gas emissions released
• 33% less water used

→  Read more about LCAs on our blog: What Packaging Life Cycle Analysis Tells Us, and What It Doesn’t

These trends apply to other materials as well. Recycled aluminum is 94% less carbon-intensive than making primary aluminum. Recycled glass uses a 20-30% less energy than virgin glass.

Brands focused on reducing their corporate carbon footprint should use recycled input materials. These materials are the easiest way to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of products in scopes 1 and 3 - the products made and sold and the packaging used to market and protect them.

Using recycled content isn’t just a sustainability checkbox — it’s the engine that makes recycling actually work. When brands intentionally build their packaging from recycled materials, they aren’t just reducing their footprint. They’re fueling the entire system that allows recycling to thrive and evolve.

Most consumers and companies understand why recycling matters. They separate their waste, check for the chasing arrows, and want their packaging to be “recyclable.” But here’s the part that’s often overlooked:

If we don’t buy and use recycled materials, the whole recycling system falls apart.

Recycling only works when there’s demand for what comes out of it. Without brands eager to buy recycled feedstock, those carefully sorted bales of bottles, paper, and cardboard can’t find a second life — and too often end up right back in the landfill.

That’s why maximizing recycled content is the most important thing a brand can do to build circular packaging systems that actually function.

How Recycling Really Works

Every blue bin plays a small but vital role in this process. When households, offices, and restaurants toss packaging into their recycling, that post-consumer waste is collected by local haulers and delivered to a materials recovery facility (MRF) — pronounced “murf.”

At the MRF, a combination of cutting-edge machines and incredible human expertise sorts recyclables into clean material streams — aluminum, cardboard, mixed paper, plastics, and glass. These sorted bales are then sold by MRF traders to reclaimers, who turn that “waste” back into usable raw material.

But here’s the catch: this system only functions when there’s an active market.

MRFs make money when there’s strong demand for their sorted materials. Reclaimers only buy when they can sell recycled goods to brands that choose to use them.

That means brands and consumers hold the key to keeping the recycling loop alive. When we choose recycled content, we create the demand that keeps the system profitable, resilient, and growing.

The Ripple Effects of Brand Commitment to Recycled Content

When brands invest in recycled content, they strengthen the entire recycling ecosystem — from local MRFs to global innovation.

1. More Recyclables Collected and Processed

When demand for recycled materials increases, MRFs can command higher prices for their bales. This creates an incentive to improve sorting processes, reduce contamination, and maximize recovery rates.

That’s why aluminum can recycling rates are so much higher than plastic — aluminum has a thriving market.

2. Greater Manufacturing Capacity

High demand pushes reclaimers and remanufacturers to invest in better infrastructure — cleaner washing systems, smarter sorters, and new machinery designed for recycled inputs. This means more materials can be recovered and reused rather than discarded.

3. Breakthrough Innovation Across the Supply Chain

When brands collectively commit to recycled content, they drive technological progress. Each purchasing decision signals to reclaimers and manufacturers that innovation will be rewarded.

• Ten years ago, no one could make thin-film packaging with post-consumer waste. Today, our EcoEnclose Poly Mailers contain 50% PCW.

• Turning a clear plastic bag back into another clear plastic bag was once impossible. Today, it’s a growing standard.

• Paper fibers used to be recyclable only 3–5 times. Now, it’s 5–7 cycles — thanks to collective industry investment.

When brands demand recycled content, they give recyclers a reason to innovate — and keep the system profitable for everyone involved.