The Dow Chemical Company has signed on as a funding sponsor of The Recycling Partnership, in its latest move to advance the circular economy. The company said the Recycling Partnership (recyclingpartnership.org) is a dynamic industry collaboration focused on systematically and measurably improving curbside recycling in the United States, and that the collaboration is an important step in Dow’s journey to reach its 2025 Sustainability Goals, which include turning materials formerly considered waste into new products. “At Dow, we are collaborating with other industry leaders to harness science, industries and the incredibly powerful Human Element to transition to a sustainable planet and society,” said Karen S. Carter, North America commercial vice president, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics. “From supporting the engagement of best practices in existing local recycling programmes, to creating new technologies for broader material recovery, Dow is dedicated to finding solutions that increase recovery rates for plastic packaging.” The Recycling Partnership continues to deliver tangible results, improving recovery of high quality recyclables for manufacturing feedstock across the country, according to Dow. In 2015 the national nonprofit leveraged $11 million of new recycling infrastructure that positively impacted 1.2 million households, and in 2016, The Recycling Partnership will further transform the secondary material landscape, with curbside cart launches and quality improvement programmes slated for a number of cities, adding to the 165,000 carts delivered last year. “We appreciate that Dow is actively engaging in real world efforts to improve the sustainability and recyclability of plastic packaging,” said Keefe Harrison, The Recycling Partnership’s executive director. “Dow uses well-informed tactics and strategic partnerships to make progress, and it topples tough barriers with a can-do attitude. We have that in common, and we’re undoubtedly stronger together.”