Dive Brief:

• The Recycling Partnership, DuPont, American Chemistry Council, Ocean Conservancy and other industry groups have partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to develop the Cascading Materials Vision, according to a press release.
• WWF and its partner agencies want to promote using recycled materials in business and industry by minimizing what the WWF says are "systematic barriers" that negatively impact the quality and quantity of recycled materials, as reported by Plastics News.
• The partnership follows 10 guiding principles that include making decisions informed by science, sharing responsibility across different sectors of the industry and maximizing environmental and social benefit.

Dive Insight:

Between heightened scrutiny of the Paris Climate Accord, the Ocean Conference at the U.N. and now this WWF coalition, players in the waste industry seem to be entering a season of heightened focus on environmental protection and sustainability.

Republic Services, Waste Management and other industry giants have made sustainability a priority for years, yet consumer focus has not stopped growing. According to Gallup, 56% of folks surveyed believe environmental protection should be a top priority over economic growth, while only 35% believe the inverse — indicating the most public support for environmental protection since 2000.

While adopting sustainable practices can be expensive and time consuming, Waste Dive has previously reported that consumers are willing to give more money to firms and products if they're marketed as sustainable. If industry players want to remain popular with consumers and maintain consumer trust, they'll have to adopt — or continue to adopt — increasingly environmentally-friendly practices and services.