Mostly, while aligning with the trend, the nature of the packaging and packaging operation of every company varies. From the 100% recycling process, around 10% to 20% of things get overlooked. Among this percentage, around 30-40% of items are smaller than the three inches identified in the glass recycling streams that got rejected at the MRF or during the secondary processing. Featuring and considering these smaller format packaging items requires breaking down silos to engage and work beyond an individual commodity focus.
Government Affairs and Sustainability Associate, Glass Packaging Institute (GPI), Rebecca Thomas, said, “The glass market cannot identify this alone. Partnering across the recycling value chain is crucial for circular glass solutions and also plays an important role in keeping small-format packaging away from landfills.”
In June 2025, the Glass Packaging Institute declared the establishment of the Small Format Coalition as a cross-market initiative to bring brand packaging, recycling value chain, and material processing to enhance the recovery of small-format materials through the recycling system. To succeed in this ambitious mission, a partnership with different founding members is a fundamental key and solution to achieve sustainability in the packaging sector. The founding companies include Sol de Janeiro, TOMRA, Nestlé, Mars, The Recycling Partnership, Steinert, Sibelco, ReMa, Colgate-Palmolive, Encina, Nespresso, and GPI.
For decades, the glass pile in solo stream MRFs without an accurate cleaning tool has been referred to closely as the residue pile. Among the mixed glass, there are mini-items such as plastic tubes, caps, small paper wrappers, cartons, and aluminum caps. The broken glass can be recycled with the extra procedure of secondary or beneficiation processing, which is essential for eliminating the non-glass residue (NGR) and small-format materials. The glass packaging needs valuable and recyclable materials to contribute to sustainability.
Senior Recycling Manager at Nespresso USA, a founding partner of the Coalition, Amy Uong, said, “It’s not a multi-centric approach, but a cross-industry initiative to serve the scalable and feasible solutions that will help the whole recycling recovery process in the US. The main goal of the Small Format Coalition is to support the economics for the betterment of recovering small formats via funding for various scenarios and deliver insights into these smart strategies.”
“We can reduce the stress of the secondary glass processors who struggle in sorting those tiny materials and open sectors for recycling small materials.”
26 January 2026
26 January 2026
23 January 2026
23 January 2026