Berry Global Group Inc. says that it is 86 percent of the way toward making all of the company's packaging for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) reusable, recyclable or compostable.
The Evansville, Ind.-based plastics company is providing this detail in the release of Berry's new 2021 Impact Report measuring progress on environmental, social and governments targets.
One of those targets is to have 100 percent of the company's FMCGs packaging be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 and made from 30 percent circular plastics by 2020, Sustainability Vice President Robert Flores says in the report. Circular plastics, for Berry, are those coming come from recycled or renewable resources.
The new report, released March 1, puts some specific, up-to-date numbers on the company's sustainability efforts and progress.
Berry indicates the company increased the use of circular plastics to 6.4 percent in 2021, including 2.5 percent post-consumer plastic, 3.6 percent post-industrial plastic and 0.3 percent renewable plastics.
"We have committed to achieve an average of 10 percent post-consumer recycled content across our FMCG packaging by 2025 and 30 percent circular plastics by 2030. This is reflective of our near-term focus to drive demand for post-consumer plastics while working in parallel to increase the use of responsibly-sourced, bio-based content," Flores said in the report.
CEO Tom Salmon called "2021 a year of action for Berry," in a statement. "From unmatched access to recycled material and strategic partnerships to innovative products, Berry is taking action on its ambitious sustainability goals to best serve customers."
Berry also indicated the company has reduced scope 1 and scope 2 absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 11 percent since 2020. Scope 1 emissions come directly from company sources and scope 2 emissions come during the creation of electricity, steam, heating and cooling used by the company.
Berry has grown significantly over the years to its status now as a $13.9 billion company with operations around the world. The company now has more than 300 plants, 65 conversion processes and 35 production lines, the company said in the report.
The company processed 4.2 million metric tons of plastics last year, up from 4 million in both 2020 and 2019.
A total of 55 percent of the company's resin purchases were in North America last year and another 35 percent were Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA). South America resin purchases totaled 6 percent, and Asia purchases were 4 percent, the company reported.
Half of the company's sales came from the United States and Canada during the company's fiscal year 2021, 35 percent from Western Europe and 15 percent from emerging markets, Berry said.
Of the 86 percent of packaging for FMCGs, the overwhelming majority of the products are recyclable with less than 1 percent accounting for both reusable and compostable, the company said. The 86-percent mark is 2 percentage points higher than 2020.
The report is available at www.berryglobal.com/en/sustainability/sustainability-strategy/how-we-perform.