The National Lubricant Container Recycling Coalition (NLCRC) is launching a collaborative recycling pilot program that focuses on consumer plastic packaging for engine oil and other petroleum-based products.
The NLCRC, comprised of members Castrol, Valvoline, Pennzoil – Quaker State, Graham Packaging, Plastipak Packaging, Berry Global, Chevron, and the Petroleum Packaging Council, is an industry-led technical coalition focused on developing a national program that drives the recovery and recycling of plastic packaging used to transport lubricants and related products for commercial and consumer use.
The recycling pilot is a one-year project involving over 40 locations in Atlanta, including retail stores and auto care centres, instant oil change locations, and several commercial facilities. The pilot aims to assess and measure the economic and market drivers for post-consumer recovery and recycling, better understand consumer waste disposal behaviours, and define parameters for model development and future scalability. Project partners include retail companies, commercial entities, Safety-Kleen, and Nexus Circular.
"One of the biggest waste management challenges facing the U.S. is our ability to collect, sort, and process plastic packaging and return it to productive use. For contaminated packaging from petroleum and related materials, this isn't really happening. The pilot focuses on the heart of the problem – collection – to find the most efficient ways to aggregate and transport the materials to processors that want them, creating value in a waste material that doesn't exist today," says Tristan Steichen, director of NLCRC
Addressing a challenge as complex as this is not feasible for most individual companies, particularly given the complexities of distribution, supply chains, and competition. Transforming an industry requires collaboration with all stakeholders focusing on a common goal. The NLCRC seeks to represent a single voice of the industry.
