Packaging Recycling Research Articles

Eco-friendly passive radiative cooling using recycled packaging plastics

Passive daytime radiative cooling, requiring zero external energy consumption, is a promising cooling strategy achieved by simultaneously reflecting solar irradiance and thermally radiating heat into the cold outer space (∼ 3 K) through the atmospheric transparency window. However, current materials for passive radiative cooling face huge challenges, such as complicated fabrication approaches, expensive raw materials, and environmental requirements for practical applications. In line with the urgent need for plastic recycling to curb global environmental pollution, the recycled plastics are used to fabricate a passive radiative cooling material. Herein, the foam-paper composite (FPC) with excellent self-cooling capability is fabricated by a simple crushing-and-mixing procedure using recycled polystyrene (PS) foam and printer paper. The superhydrophobic PS foam particles not only protect the FPC from water damage for field applications but also reinforce its solar reflectivity via their porous structure. The cellulose fibers in printer paper can efficiently emit infrared thermal radiation into the cold outer space and bond dispersed PS foam particles together, further increasing its mechanical strength. The combination of highly diffusely reflective PS foam particles and fiber-based printer paper results in a reflectivity of 96% in the solar spectrum, a sub-ambient cooling performance of 8.4 °C, and a maximum radiative cooling power of 90 W/m2 during a 24-h cycle. Meanwhile, the FPC with high humidity can maintain its high solar reflectivity, which promotes its application in humid subtropical areas. Furthermore, the low material cost and ease of fabrication will provide a path for effective daytime radiative cooling, especially in less developed areas.

Experimental Tests on Solvent Solutions for the Recycling of Coated Polypropylene in Food Packaging

The aim of this research is to analyze and develop technical methods that allow the recycling of food packaging coated in polypropylene films using solvents for the removal of the lacquer and/or aluminum layer without modifying their mechanical properties. Thus, this would allow the regranulation and re-extraction of the treated material for the creation of new polypropylene films. Water solutions of KOH 1M and methanol 99.9% were tested as solvents using the selective dissolution method. In order to rule out a significant effect of the mechanical stirring action on the removal of the surface layer, a deionized water solution was used as a control sample. By means of UV-VIS-NIR (ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared), LWIR (long-wave infrared), and ATR-IR spectrophotometers, spectrophotometric analyses were carried out on the samples before and after treatment. In order to investigate the efficiency of the solvents in removing the coating of polypropylene films, samples taken from the industry Jindal Films Europe Brindisi s.r.l., named BF (basic film, pp film not lacquered or metallized), AC (aluminum-coated pp film), and ACRC (acrylic-lacquer-coated pp film), were compared with samples treated with solvent solutions. The comparison was made by comparing the spectra obtained from the analyses carried out with the two different spectrophotometers. The absorbance values at the level of characteristic polypropylene spectrum peaks, detected with an ATR-IR, were also compared using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The results suggest that the optimal solvent for removing the aluminum and acrylic lacquer from pp films is the solution of KOH 1M. Future analyses will aim to investigate the maintenance of the mechanical characteristics of polypropylene treated with a selective dissolution using KOH. It is also planned to test the methodology of this study on an industrial scale.

Revolutionizing Marketing: Unleashing the Power of Recycled Product Materials

Increasing awareness of environmental issues has led to changes in the way consumers behave in their life activities. Not only pay attention in terms of health but also in terms of sustainability. This study aims to determine the determination of marketing strategies through recyclable packaging product materials. This research method used is qualitative method. The statistical tools used are Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results analysis. the total number of informants is 6 people consisting of 2 internal parties of PT. Amcor Flexibles Indonesia and 4 from the customer's side. The analysis techniques used in this study are, Data Reduction, Data Presentation and Conclusion. The results of data analysis showed, PT. Amcor Flexibles Indonesia uses a market penetration strategy by doing better marketing starting from marketing through social media, endorsements from people who have many followers and creating interesting content that can attract many customers.

Research on the evolution of express packaging recycling strategy considering virtual incentives and heterogeneous subsidies

With the growth of e-commerce business volume, a large amount of express packaging waste is generated, causing certain damage to the environment. In response to this problem, the China Post Bureau pointed out the plan to strengthen express packaging recycling, and large e-commerce platforms such as JD.com have taken actions. Starting from this background, this paper uses a tripartite evolutionary game model to study the strategies evolution of consumers, e-commerce companies and e-commerce platforms. At the same time, the model considers the influence of platform virtual incentives and heterogeneous subsidies on equilibrium evolution. The study found that with the increase of virtual incentives from the platform to consumers, consumers converge to the strategy of "participating" in express packaging recycling faster and faster. When the assumption of participation constraints for cosumers is relaxed, the virtual incentives of the platform are still effective, but it will be affected by the initial willingness of consumers; when the e-commerce platform uses a single method to subsidize, it can effectively encourage e-commerce companies to use green packaging items. Compared with direct subsidize, the policy flexibility of the discount coefficient is stronger, in addition, moderate double subsidies can also achieve the same effect, and the e-commerce platform can make decisions based on the actual situation. The cyclical fluctuations in the strategies of consumers and e-commerce companies in the case of high additional profit coefficients of e-commerce companies may be the reason why the current express packaging recycling program is not effective. In addition, this article also discusses the influence of other parameters on the equilibrium evolution, and gives targeted countermeasures.

Refill at home for fast-moving consumer goods: Uncovering compliant and divergent consumer behaviour

Context and problemConsumers of fast-moving consumer goods have become accustomed to a culture of convenience and disposability, cultivating practices that are at odds with recycling, reusing, and reducing. Through the concept of refill, the fast-moving consumer goods industry is moving beyond the disposability and recyclability of packaging and products to consider longer term, more durable reuse solutions. If practised as intended, reuse has the capacity to lower the intensity of materials used compared to disposal or recycling. However, research on actual reuse behaviour is sparse, and new work is necessary to explore how consumers handle material resources in reuse offerings. MethodIn-depth interviews with 26 consumers were conducted where the behaviour chain method was used to elicit and map resource journeys for 48 refill at home cases. ResultsConsumers of refill at home offerings were found to display both compliant behaviour and a range of divergent resource handling behaviours, which either increased or decreased the impact of reuse. The behaviours were structured in a framework consisting of six reuse resource handling behaviour types and 17 sub-types, which operate alone or in combination. Whilst consumers displayed many instances of compliant behaviour, overall divergent behaviours were more common, like using multiple reusable products for the same purpose or using single-use products in parallel. Interestingly, consumers of refill at home offerings with a service engaged in compliant behaviour in the majority of the instances. Consumers were found to employ divergent behaviours even at the end of life, often recycling non-recyclable reusable components and occasionally disposing of recyclables in residual waste. ConclusionsThe resulting framework of resource handling behaviours provides a more nuanced understanding of reuse in practice than previously offered. The behaviour chain method was found to have the structural and analytical rigour to dissect difficult-to-predict and complex journeys.

Analyzing The Intention-Behaviour Gap on the use of Recycling Delivery Packaging

Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Norm Activation Model (NAM), this study examines the gap between consumer intention and behaviour, in the context of product delivery packaging recyclability, through the factors that affect it. Using a mixed-method, sequential- explanatory approach, survey data was analyzed through Jamovi, while insights from the interviews were derived via thematic analysis. This study found that awareness of consequences is a factor that affects personal norms. Additionally, personal norms mediate the relationship between awareness of consequences and recycling intention. Furthermore, perceived behavioural control significantly affects how intention influences behaviour. This research can contribute to creating evidence-based recycling initiatives and solutions for the government and e-commerce to stimulate consumer recycling behaviour and alleviate the environmental impact of post-product delivery packaging waste.

Post-Consumer Plastic Waste Management: From Collection and Sortation to Mechanical Recycling

Challenges associated with plastic waste management range from littering to high collection costs to low recycling rates. Effective collection of plastics is obviously an important step in the management of plastic waste and has an impact on recycling rates. For this reason, several countries have transformed their collection systems in recent decades. Collecting more plastic packaging comes at a cost, as the feedstock for the sorting process becomes more complex and leads to cross-contamination within the sorted fractions. Therefore, a balance must be obtained between some elements, such as the design of packaging, collection and recycling rates, and finally, the quality of fractions that have been sorted. Further investment to improve pretreatment, sorting, and recycling technologies and simpler recyclable packaging designs are, therefore, key to further increasing plastic recycling rates. It is essential to possess more data, especially on the type of containers and plastics, and examine how often unsorted waste is collected. The automated waste collection monitoring system is a step forward in automating manual waste collection and sorting. Multi-sensory artificial intelligence (AI) for sorting plastic waste and the blockchain sorting platform for the circular economy of plastic waste are forward-looking activities that will increase the efficiency of recycling plastic waste. This review focuses on the development of collection systems and sorting processes for post-consumer plastic recycling. The focus is on best practices and the best available technology. Separate collection systems for recyclable plastics are presented and discussed along with their respective technical collection and sorting solutions, taking into consideration that progress in separation and sorting systems are implicitly linked to approaches to waste collection.

Modern biodegradable materials with accelerated degradation for dairy and food products (subject review)

Products of the polymer industry, the lion's share of which is food packaging, create a significant threat to the en­vironment, which requires a search for the most effective and functional solutions to this problem. Every year, the production of polymer packaging is growing by an average of 10-12%, and last year, due to the worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and its strains, the increase was more than 20%. A solution to the environmental problem is possible using the main basic approaches: disposal and recycling of waste, which will give the pos­sibility of the “second life” to already used polymers; development and creation of new biodegradable materials capable of degrading completely under the influence of external factors into relatively safer substances. However, it should be noted that the first method has a number of significant drawbacks associated with the difficulty in controlling the amount of recycling processes carried out, which can potentially lead to an increase in migration processes from polymeric materials. The second way to solve the environmental problem of packaging disposal and recycling is the direction associated with the creation of polymeric materials with the replacement of part of the traditional commercial synthetic bases with organic and inorganic fillers in various concentrations. However, the most promising way to handle packaging waste, in our opinion, is the development of technologies aimed at creating fully biodegradable materials with a regulated service life, which, after their life cycle, are disposed of in a short time without harming the environment. This review is devoted to the analysis of the market of modern biodegradable materials and methods for obtaining degradable compositions that can become a significant alternative to traditional plastics.

A study of intention to recycle pesticide packaging among rural farmers in China based on the logistic model

A consequence of the improvement in China’s agricultural production capacity has been increased production of pesticide packaging waste, which is a major obstacle to the sustainable development of rural areas. Although the Chinese government has made great efforts to control pollution by waste pesticide packaging, a unified recycling system has not yet been established. Therefore, determining whether farmers are willing to participate in recycling of pesticide packaging is of great relevance. This study conducted a random questionnaire survey in which 459 responses were obtained in rural areas in Liaoning, Henan, Guizhou, Anhui, Gansu, and Hunan provinces. The disorderly classification logistic model was used to analyze the individual characteristics of farmers, pesticide container sizes, perception of risk, conditions of local facilities, and awareness. The result showed that the individual characteristics of farmers and awareness had no influence of their willingness to participate in recycling, whereas container size, perception of risk, and condition of local facilities did have an influence. Container specifications have the strongest correlation with farmers’ willingness to recycle, and attempts can be made to promote pesticide packaging of about 500 ml; raising farmers’ awareness of environmental safety and possible health hazards, all of which can increase farmers’ participation in the work. Using these results, this study proposed suggestions for pesticide container waste disposal. Attempts can be made to establish a suitable recycling model and management mechanism through the establishment of additional recycling points. Refine pesticide packaging waste recycling, collection and storage, disposal and other measures to purify the environment of origin, to achieve green agricultural development, and promote the construction of ecological civilization.

What Role Does Sustainable Behavior and Environmental Awareness from Civil Society Play in the Planet’s Sustainable Transition

The respect of human beings for the planet’s boundaries is an obligation of humanity for the sake of our own and future generations. Achieving this planetary sustainability requires a radical change in the way humanity develops. This study aims to explore whether a sample of Portuguese civil society is committed to achieving this purpose. We explored: (i) citizens’ adherence to sustainable behaviour in terms of purchases and household practices; (ii) if environmental concerns and activism are predictors of these sustainable behaviours; and (iii) if environmental concerns influence environmental activism. A quantitative approach was used based on partial least squares. The results revealed that respondents demonstrate sustainable behaviour in consumption by avoiding plastic and looking for recyclable packaging and in housework by saving energy; environmental activism proved to be the most significant predictor of these behaviours, followed by environmental concerns. This article constitutes an opportunity to take (suggested) measures that encourage a change in the behavioural patterns of societies.

Research on Green Express Packaging Pricing Decision Considering the Participation of Recyclers

The green recycling of green express packaging can not only reduce environmental pollution, reduce waste of resources, but also produce economic benefits. Based on the green express packaging pricing decision-making system composed of a single manufacturer, logistics enterprises and recyclers, this paper establishes the Stackelberg game model, studies the effect of the four subsidy strategies of no government subsidies, government subsidy manufacturers, government subsidy logistics enterprises and government subsidy recyclers under the government incentive measures, and then analyzes the profits of the participants through numerical simulation. The impact of the total profit of the system and social welfare. The results show that government subsidies can promote the recycling of green express packaging by recyclers; With the increase in the proportion of recyclers reselling green express packaging to manufacturers for dismantling and remanufacturing, the behavior of government subsidies to logistics enterprises is not conducive to the secondary recycling of green packaging, and government subsidies to recyclers are conducive to promoting the recycling of green express packaging; In the government's subsidy strategy, the profit and social welfare level of the entire decision-making system is highest in the case of subsidizing logistics companies and recyclers.

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE: A CASE STUDY OF NESCAFE'S GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

This study delves into the complexities of managing a global supply chain. It examines the supply chain strategy employed by Nestle to produce and distribute its popular coffee brand, Nescafe. The main focus is on evaluating the key challenges faced by the company, including post-COVID-19 issues, sustainability concerns, climate change, and supplier profitability. In response to these challenges, Nestle has implemented a structured approach to develop a resilient, sustainable, competitive supply chain for Nescafe. The Nescafe Plan, a global sustainability initiative, has provided a competitive advantage to Nescafe’s supply chain. This initiative involves collaboration with suppliers, distributors, and customers at all levels, ensuring accountability and promoting ethical practices. Results show significant positive impacts, including local sourcing of coffee, reduced carbon emissions, and water withdrawal. Nescafe operates its coffee supply chain based on a lean strategy, ensuring supply and demand stability. Customer demand for Nescafe’s products is well-predicted, allowing for unique positioning, high service levels, and cost efficiency. To enhance supply chain resilience, Nescafe focuses on mitigating internal and external risks in coffee lands, addressing issues like labour shortage, child labour risks, climate change, and natural disasters. The study also explores Nestle’s approach to supply chain outsourcing and supplier selection processes. Furthermore, the study examines Nestle’s commitment to sustainable development, encompassing economic, environmental, and social aspects. The company invests in economic development by situating production in developing countries and ensuring growth and long-term success for stakeholders. To continue its journey towards sustainability, Nestle has set ambitious goals for the future, aiming for recyclable packaging, zero net gas emissions, and 100% sustainably produced materials by 2030. The company also plans to empower 10 million young people with economic opportunities globally by the same year. Generally, this study provides valuable insights into the strategies adopted by Nestle to create a resilient and sustainable global supply chain for Nescafe, offering lessons for other manufacturing companies seeking to achieve future success through effective supply chain management.

Environmental assessment of greenhouse herb production: A case of longitudinal improvement options in Sweden

The greenhouse sector has seen many advances to improve its resource demands, though little is known of the environmental impacts. This study aims to assess the environmental performance of a horticultural greenhouse in Sweden producing herbs. Life cycle assessment is employed to analyze different scenarios. These include previous measures, such as switching to organic fertilizers, a pellet burner, and reducing the packaging weight. Future scenarios are assessed, including increasing biofueled logistics, switching to LEDs, densifying production, and including recyclable packaging. The results suggest that GHG emissions were reduced by 32% per kg edible portion through past scenarios in current scenario. Additionally, densifying production and switching to LED lighting can lead to an additional 14% and 10% reduction in GHG emissions compared to the current system respectively, while also reducing other environmental impact categories. These results provide insights into the implications of environmental and resource improvement measures taken at greenhouses.

Effect of Pulp Modification and Pulp Mixing Ratio on Fold Crushing Resistance of High Bulk Paper

The demand of packaging paper has been increasing in order to maintain a sustainable environment through the more reliable recycling of the paper packaging. Since better mechanical properties of packaging paper can expand its range of applications, this study aimed to find a way to improve both fold crushing resistance and bulk properties, which are among the most important properties of packaging paper. The study investigated the effects of raw material conditions, such as the type, mixing ratio, and beating degree of pulp fibers, on the properties of high bulk paper. The results showed that the type of wood chips and pulping methods used had a significant impact on mechanical properties and resistance to cracking. Additionally, adding softwood pulp to appropriately beaten hardwood pulp could form a flexible paper structure while maintaining high bulk, thus improving fold crushing resistance.

Developing Post-Consumer Recycled Flexible Polypropylene and Fumed Silica-Based Nanocomposites with Improved Processability and Thermal Stability.

Collection and mechanical recycling of post-consumer flexible polypropylene packaging is limited, principally due to polypropylene being very light-weight. Moreover, service life and thermal-mechanical reprocessing degrade PP and change its thermal and rheological properties according to the structure and provenance of recycled PP. This work determined the effect of incorporating two fumed nanosilica (NS) types on processability improvement of post-consumer recycled flexible polypropylene (PCPP) through ATR-FTIR, TGA, DSC, MFI and rheological analysis. Presence of trace polyethylene in the collected PCPP increased the thermal stability of the PP and was significantly maximized by NS addition. The onset decomposition temperature raised around 15 °C when 4 and 2 wt% of a non-treated and organically modified NS were used, respectively. NS acted as a nucleating agent and increased the crystallinity of the polymer, but the crystallization and melting temperatures were not affected. The processability of the nanocomposites was improved, observed as an increase in viscosity, storage and loss moduli with respect to the control PCPP, which were deteriorated due to chain scission during recycling. The highest recovery in viscosity and reduction in MFI were found for the hydrophilic NS due to a greater impact of hydrogen bond interactions between the silanol groups of this NS and the oxidized groups of the PCPP.

Development and Characterization of Electrospun Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) Biopapers Containing Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles for Active Food Packaging Applications

Food quality is mainly affected by oxygen through oxidative reactions and the proliferation of microorganisms, generating changes in its taste, odor, and color. The work presented here describes the generation and further characterization of films with active oxygen scavenging properties made of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) loaded with cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2NPs) obtained by electrospinning coupled to a subsequent annealing process, which could be used as coating or interlayer in a multilayer concept for food packaging applications. The aim of this work is to explore the capacities of these novel biopolymeric composites in terms of O2 scavenging capacity, as well as antioxidant, antimicrobial, barrier, thermal, and mechanical properties. To obtain such biopapers, different ratios of CeO2NPs were incorporated into a PHBV solution with hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant. The produced films were analyzed in terms of antioxidant, thermal, antioxidant, antimicrobial, optical, morphological and barrier properties, and oxygen scavenging activity. According to the results, the nanofiller showed some reduction of the thermal stability of the biopolyester but exhibited antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. In terms of passive barrier properties, the CeO2NPs decreased the permeability to water vapor but increased the limonene and oxygen permeability of the biopolymer matrix slightly. Nevertheless, the oxygen scavenging activity of the nanocomposites showed significant results and improved further by incorporating the surfactant CTAB. The PHBV nanocomposite biopapers developed in this study appear as very interesting constituents for the potential design of new active organic recyclable packaging materials.

Recycling of Plastic Food Packages: A Case Study with Finnish University Students

Recycling, depositing, and proper discarding of plastics are significant means to reduce plastics in the environment. The purpose of this study was to monitor both the type and amount of plastic food packages recycled, reused, and discarded in Finnish households with at least one university student. The participating students came from various universities of applied sciences. They participated in courses related to sustainable food systems at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences. In total, 785 approved participants from 363 households took part in one-week monitoring. The focus was to quantify the number of food packages used and specify how the respondents handled the food packages after use. This study shows that the recycling rate of plastic packages in Finnish households was 61%. Bigger households produce less packaging waste per person than one- or two-person households. Furthermore, the recycling activity in single-person households was lower than for two- and three-person households. The Finnish deposit system for drink packages encourages people to recycle packages. This reduces municipal waste. Recycling requires knowledge of the plastic material used in food packages.

Sustainable production and distribution practices in Atlantic Canadian short food supply chains: Explorative study

IntroductionHow food is produced, processed, distributed, and consumed significantly impacts the sustainability of food supply chains. Short food supply chains (SFSCs) have been promoted as an alternative approach to offer sustainable solutions. However, empirical studies provide mixed evidence, and the findings greatly vary based on context. This study explores the social, economic, and environmental sustainability practices in Atlantic Canada's SFSCs from the perspective of farm businesses (producers).MethodsA semi-structured survey was conducted among 64 farmers/producers who participated in Atlantic Canadian SFSCs. Participants were asked what channel they used to sell their products and how far this location is in comparison to the production location if sold to an intermediary, how they believe they could better to improve the sustainability of their production methods, what barriers stood in their way of implementation, and how supply chain supporters could help achieve their sustainability goals.ResultsThe findings show that most farm businesses linked to SFCSs have applied ecologically sound production methods such as organic farming, IPM, or other sustainable practices, including regenerative agriculture and no-till farming. Over two-thirds of farm businesses applied sustainable practices such as pasture rotations, green fertilizers, low-carbon couriers, locally sourced inputs, and compostable or recyclable packaging materials. Farm businesses in the Atlantic Provinces highly value the social sustainability of SFSCs, followed by economic and environmental sustainability. Most farm businesses linked to SFSCs were robust to supply- and demand-side shocks, registered a low number of layoffs and fast recovery of operations, and increased their profits during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19 levels. Yet, several barriers remain, the most important ones being high capital costs and longer payback periods. Other barriers include inconsistent inter-provincial trading restrictions, lack of qualified workers and shrinking agricultural land base.DiscussionSFSCs in Atlantic Canadian SFSCs have implemented several sustainable practices in their production and distribution systems. Most of the farm businesses linked to SFSCs are small, are focused on specific product groups, target small towns or rural areas, and rely on direct-on farm sales to individual customers, and thus can play a crucial role by complementing longer food supply chains. By taking SFSCs in Atlantic Provinces as a case, this study expands our understanding of recent efforts and challenges local producers face to adopt sustainable practices in their production and distribution systems.

Optimal Design of Reverse Logistics Recycling Network for Express Packaging Considering Carbon Emissions

With the development of China’s express delivery industry, the number of express packaging has proliferated, leading to many problems such as environmental pollution and resource waste. In this paper, the process of reverse logistics network design for express packaging recycling is given as an example in the M region, and a four-level network containing primary recycling nodes, recycling centers, processing centers, and terminals is established. A candidate node selection model based on the K-means algorithm is constructed to cluster by distance from 535 courier outlets to select 15 candidate nodes of recycling centers and processing centers. A node selection model based on the NSGA-II algorithm is constructed to identify recycling centers and processing centers from 15 candidate nodes with minimizing total cost and carbon emission as the objective function, and a set of Pareto solution sets containing 43 solutions is obtained. According to the distribution of the solution set, the 43 solutions are classified into I, II, and III categories. The results indicate that the solutions corresponding to Class I and Class II solutions can be selected when the recycling system gives priority to cost, Class II and Class III solutions can be selected when the recycling system gives priority to environmental benefits, and Class III solutions can be selected when the society-wide recycling system has developed to a certain extent. In addition, this paper also randomly selects a sample solution from each of the three types of solution sets, conducts coding interpretation for site selection, vehicle selection, and treatment technology selection, and gives an example design scheme.

The recycled content of plastic products: estimating the impact of a recycling law on the input mix

The use of recycled material is a key building block for the circular economy. In this study, we explore the impact of recycling laws in Japan on the use of recycled materials in the production process of intermediate plastics. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we investigate whether the input share of recycled plastics in intermediate plastic products increased after the Container and Packaging Recycling Law (CPR Law) was enforced in 1997 in Japan. Results indicate that the input share of recycled plastics increased by 1 percentage point after the law’s implementation. Meanwhile, the input share of virgin plastic materials, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and vinyl chloride, per plastic product decreased by 3 percentage points on average. These results suggest that the CPR law helped shift inputs from virgin plastics to recycled plastic materials even though the impact size has been small. To further encourage the use of recycled plastic materials, policy interventions should directly incentivize producers to increase the use of recycled plastics.