The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), a project of sustainability nonprofit organization, GreenBlue (www.greenblue.org), announces additional participants in the soft launch of its pioneering How2Recycle on-package recycling labeling system. Major brand names, including  Minute Maid, will be joining 10 other companies already participating in the soft launch, including Costco Wholesale and General Mills, in implementing the label on select packaging available nationwide in early 2013. Additionally, the SPC has announced its five-year plan for the labeling system.

How2Recycle seeks to reduce consumer confusion around recycling in the United States with a clear and consistent recycling label and corresponding informational website, www.how2recycle.info. It provides companies with an easy way to conform to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) “Green Guides” while using nationwide recyclability data. While several other recycling labels and symbols exist, the How2Recycle Label is the only one that communicates recyclability across all material types and gives explicit directions to consumers to influence their recycling behavior. It also specifies when a package component is not recyclable.