Amcor, in partnership with 35 companies in the consumer goods industry, announced measures to significantly reduce plastic waste. Amcor and its partners in this coalition say they will be enforcing two new design rules to deliver packaging that is easier and more cost-effective to recycle.

The first design rule aims to improve the economic viability of PET bottle recycling by removing coloring pigments and labeling that impact recycling rates. The second design rule will remove materials that are problematic for recyclers from all forms of plastic packaging.

Peter Konieczny, Amcor's chief commercial officer, says, "Amcor is a world-leading, packaging company. We are already applying these rules to make our packaging easier to recycle, particularly in our PET bottles and rigid packages. Our business has achieved consistent success in using our innovation capabilities to eliminate materials that hamper recycling and we continue to use more recycled content in our packaging. We are keen to use our expertise alongside CGF [Consumer Goods Forum] and the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action to help consumers make a positive contribution to protecting the environment."

Steve Alexander, president and CEO of the Association of Plastics Recyclers [APR], says, "APR is pleased these design rules comply with the APR Design for Plastics Recyclability for PET Recyclability. These guidelines help to create industry standards to provide sustainability solutions for plastic packaging, and will serve to enhance the value of PET bottle recycling. Recycling serves as the base for packaging to be part of the circular economy, and these guidelines help to close the loop when it comes to our waste management system."

Amcor is also endorsing the CGF's recent position paper on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) which calls on governments to work with industry to ensure that EPR schemes meet a set of guiding principles for fairness, effectiveness and sustainability.

Visit www.amcor.com for more information.