Last year, Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based packaging manufacturer Graham Packaging partnered with environmental nonprofit GreenBlue on a pilot program allowing it to pursue multisite mass balance certification under the Recycled Material Standard (RMS), and after successful completion of the pilot, the company officially has achieved RMS certification for mass balance at two sites in York, Pennsylvania.
According to a statement from Graham Packaging, it is the first company in the United States to implement multisite mass balance certification under the RMS, which it says is a reflection of its commitment to sustainability and dedication to promoting the use of recycled material in its products. The certification covers its flagship manufacturing plant as well as the Graham Recycling Center.
“This certification [allows] us to incorporate higher levels of postconsumer recycled [PCR] content, delivering sustainable packaging solutions to our customers,” says Tracee Auld, chief strategy and sustainability officer at Graham Packaging. “The traceability, third-party verification and flexibility provided by the RMS are invaluable tools that reinforce Graham’s commitment to transparency and environmental responsibility.”
The RMS was developed in 2021 by Charlottesville, Virginia-based GreenBlue and Ann Arbor, Michigan-based NSF International as a market-based framework to enable consistent labeling of products and packaging that contain or support certified recycled material. Because of challenges the recycling value chain faces when it comes to incorporating higher levels of recycled content into products, the developers said at the time that the RMS would provide flexible certification options using three different methods of accounting: average-content claims, a new environmental commodity called Attributes of Recycled Content (ARCs) and mass balance accounting.
Using a mass balance accounting system, the volume of certified product entering the operation is controlled and an equivalent volume of product leaving the operation can be certified. However, the recycled material is not necessarily contained in the certified material leaving the operation, providing what RMS developers say is “much-needed flexibility” in cases where it is difficult or impossible to physically segregate recycled from virgin materials.
GreenBlue says that with mass balance, the manufacturer uses an accounting process to allocate claims and adds that this approach can be especially useful for companies using plastics in challenging applications like food-contact packaging.
During the pilot program with GreenBlue last year, Graham leveraged the mass balance methodology to transfer PCR credits across its product portfolio.
The company has set a goal of incorporating an average of 20 percent PCR across all its manufactured bottles by 2025, and says with the RMS certification, it can optimize the utilization of PCR in its products while ensuring accurate tracking and accountability of all recycled materials.
“Our collaboration with RMS and GreenBlue exemplifies Graham’s steadfast commitment to advancing sustainability practices and fostering a more circular economy,” says Richa Desai, vice president of sustainability at Graham. “Together, we are actively shaping a future where recycled materials play a pivotal role in minimizing environmental impact and creating a better tomorrow.”
