Plastic pot packaging and sustainability: Program provides incentives for recycling

The child safety standards in cannabis packaging require extra layers of plastic to make them more difficult to open.

Tree House Craft Cannabis — with two dispensaries in Massachusetts — has a strategy to redeem, recycle and, in some cases even reuse the plastic packaging.

“This benefits everyone in the industry," said Wes Ritchie, co-owner of Tree House Craft Cannabis. "No matter what store you are, the volume of plastic going through it is enormous."

At its locations in Dracut and Pepperell, Tree House Craft Cannabis provides a financial incentive to customers if they return the plastic packaging, no matter where it was purchased. The incentive can be up to $4.

They’ve had 7,000 redemptions since introducing the offer in May of this year, although not everyone who returns a package goes on to use the incentive offer.

More than half a year in, Tree House Craft Cannabis believes it has developed a model that works. They hope to collaborate with the Cannabis Control Commission to make what they’ve started repeatable across the state.

“Massachusetts is a leader in policy on so many things," co-owner Ture Turnbull said. "This is another opportunity for Massachusetts to lead."