With today’s emphasis on recyclability in marketing and packaging materials, it’s almost hard to conceive that it wasn’t always this way.
The concept of recycling goes back to ancient times. The earliest examples are found in ninth-century Japan, when recycled paper was valued for its use in artwork and important texts. In Medieval Europe, we see the use of palimpsests, parchments that have been scraped or washed and then reused. Among the most famous palimpsests is the Archimedes Palimpsest, a work of the great Syracusan mathematician copied onto parchment in the tenth century and overwritten by a liturgical text two centuries later.
In 1688, the first recycling plants were built in England. In 1690, the Rittenhouse Mill in Philadelphia followed suit, recycling linen and cotton rags to produce paper. The Rittenhouse Mill remained the only plant in the United States to use the process for the next 40 years.
It wasn’t until 1800, however, when the British papermaker Matthias Koops patented a process for extracting ink from paper, that recycled paper began to have a higher level of quality. Koops’ process allowed for the production of high-quality recycled paper for the first time.
Recycling gained momentum during World War II, when a national effort arose to conserve resources for the war effort. This commitment faded briefly, then resurged with the “Environmental Awakening” in the 1970s. This movement was marked by the first Earth Day, a time when the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol was created.
On the heels of these milestones, the U.S. Congress passed legislation promoting sustainability. This included The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976, along with other legislation that spurred curbside recycling programs. In 1987, New Jersey enacted the nation’s first universal mandatory recycling law requiring all residents to separate recyclables from their trash.
The introduction of plastic packaging in the 1960s marked a major shift in the packaging world, driven by plastic’s lightweight and cost-effectiveness. But it wasn’t long before the environmental impact (single-use plastics, landfill overflow, ocean pollution) became a major concern.
Now we are seeing a significant move from plastic-based packaging to paper. A recent survey from Two Sides/Toluna found that half of consumers are actively taking steps to increase their use of paper packaging, and 47% say they would consider avoiding a retailer that is not actively reducing its use of non-recyclable packaging. Today’s packaging has certainly come a long way from ninth-century Japan!