Smalls Consortium

Building circular pathways for small-format packaging

The Smalls Consortium: Advancing the Recovery of Small-Format Packaging, managed by Closed Loop Partners' Center for the Circular Economy, advances circular design and increased recovery of small-format packaging, supporting key industries including beauty, pharmacy, foodservice, beverage, retail and beyond.

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Today, billions of small, rigid plastic items such as caps, pill bottles and cosmetics are lost to landfill each year. A lack of alignment between packaging design and existing recycling systems means that most small-format packaging is not reliably captured or moved to responsible end markets. Even when collected, these materials often lack the consistent demand, processing infrastructure or specifications needed to be successfully recycled at scale.

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The Opportunity
Our Work
Focus Areas

The Opportunity

Small‑format rigid plastics hold real value—but today, most end up in landfills. The Consortium brings together brands, recyclers and reclaimers to take a practical, systems level approach—focused on what it will actually take to move material through the system, close market gaps and ensure that recovered small-format packaging has a viable next life as feedstock for new products.
Billions
of units of small-format packaging used each year in the U.S.
Economic value
recouped by reintegrating valuable plastic resins from small-format packaging into supply chains
14%
of U.S. states impacted by EPR policy, with uncertainty around whether small-format packaging will be covered
Cross-sector
small-format packaging spans caps, closures, cosmetics, personal care and pharmaceuticals—representing a significant, industry‑wide opportunity

Our Work

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Report

Accelerating Small Format Packaging Recovery

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Case Study

Saving small-format packaging from landfills

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Press Release

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Mar 18, 2026

Opportunities to increase recycling of prescription pill bottles

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SELECT PARTNERS AND ADVISORS

Kraft Heinz
CVS Health
Kraft Heinz
CVS Health
Kraft Heinz
CVS Health
Kraft Heinz
CVS Health
Kraft Heinz
CVS Health
Kraft Heinz
CVS Health

Focus Areas

Packaging Design

We collaborate with our brand partners to optimize the design of small-format packaging to improve recycling outcomes.

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Equipment Design

We test and deploy new equipment at recycling facilities to better recover small-format packaging and reduce contamination in waste streams.

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End Market Development

We partner with key stakeholders to strengthen end markets for small-format packaging, ensuring they are returned to supply chains.

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Strategy

We create roadmaps for key stakeholders to navigate small-format packaging recovery solutions and the evolving Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy landscape in key markets like California.

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“L’Oréal is excited to partner with Closed Loop Partners to develop innovative solutions for recovering packaging materials, reducing waste and creating opportunities in a fragmented national recycling infrastructure."
Marissa Pagnani McGowan
Chief Sustainability Officer, North America for L’Oréal Groupe
“At Kraft Heinz, we know collaboration is the key to unlocking solutions for the future of packaging. We are proud to partner with Closed Loop Partners on this groundbreaking research to advance packaging solutions, improve end-of-life recovery and enhance critical infrastructure.”
Linda Roman
Director of Packaging R&D and North America R&D Fellow
“As the number one makeup brand in the world, we have a responsibility to create the most sustainable makeup life cycle possible. Most makeup packaging is too small to be recycled, it literally falls through the cracks at recycling facilities. That’s why it was so important to partner with Closed Loop Partners’ Center for Circular Economy to pioneer solutions for small-format recycling and to help us and the beauty industry accelerate our sustainable transformation. We look forward to making progress together.”
Trisha Ayyagari
Global Brand President, Maybelline New York
“Small-format packaging plays a critical role in health care, and it’s an area where we see opportunity to improve recovery, from prescription pill bottles to everyday wellness product packaging. Working with Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy allows us to explore practical, potentially scalable solutions that work in real-world conditions. Together, we’re helping create progress that better serves our CVS Health customers and moves us toward a more circular future.”
Jenny McColloch
Chief Sustainability Officer & VP of Community Impact, CVS Health

Related Content

Report
Advancing prescription pill bottle recovery in the U.S.

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We are  part of Closed Loop Partners—which includes the largest privately held recycling company in the U.S. and one of the largest circular economy capital management groups in the world—we’re uniquely positioned to bring research, design, and real-world implementation together.