Materials News
Flexible packaging: sorting out the recycling issue Innovative packaging designs for easier sorting are being sought as the initial basis for effective recycling, says Angelica Buan in this article.
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lexible packaging offers many benefits: it uses less energy and materials than other packaging options, helps extend food shelf life and minimise spoilage, and reduces waste by preserving and protecting products until they are consumed. With the benefits offered, flexible packaging has outpaced the utilisation rate of other packaging formats like metal, carton, glass or rigid plastics. UK-based Smithers Rapra, in its report titled The Future of Global Flexible Packaging to 2018, expects global consumption to grow 3.5% annually over the next five years, reaching US$231 billion by 2018. But with the popularity of flexible packaging also follows the issue of recycling, and the issue of recyclability starts from the packaging producers. It is because of the environmental implications attached to consumer packaging that it adheres strongly to corporate sustainability. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in its presentation at a conference in Belgium in 2010, Global Forum on Sustainable Materials Management, stated that of the huge volume of waste generated, 60% comes from packaging. A report from Worldwatch Institute, a US-based organisation that tracks key trends in energy, environment, transportation, food and agriculture, economy, and society to inform and inspire the changes needed to build a sustainable world,
OECD stated that of the huge volume of waste generated, 60% comes from packaging
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OCTOBER 2015
states that packaging accounts for more than 40% of plastics use. While production of packaging has skyrocketed, recycling of discarded packaging is lagging behind. It is also made more difficult as some types of plastics are harder to recycle than the others. Moreover, recycling rates in countries vary. In the US, where there are existing recycling facilities for plastics, only 9% of its waste plastics were recycled in 2012. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates lower plastic recovery rates for other countries, whereas a high percentage of waste is not collected “but instead littered or burnt in the open”, in Africa (57%), Asia (40%), and Latin America (32%). Materials are hindering factors A wide array of polymers are being utilised now for flexible packaging. Some of the most common types are: PET or metallised PET, BoPET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, LLDPE, PVDC, BOPP, CPP, PS, PP and biopolymers. The common applications for these polymers are flexible beverage containers, metallised foil pouches, twist or cling wrap, blister packs, vacuum packaging for pre-cooked meals, and shrink sleeves, to cite a few. According to the report, Waste and Opportunity 2015: Environmental Progress and Challenges in Food, Beverage, and Consumer Goods Packaging by non-profit organisations As You Sow and the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), the biggest challenge for building up recyclability and compost ability of packaging are the type or materials used. An example is beverage packaging that is increasingly making use of laminated pouches, shrink wrap, and other flexible plastic packaging, which cannot readily be recycled. Researching on cracking effective recycling solutions A recent study, initiated in the US by the Research Foundation for Health and Environmental Effects (RFHEE), a tax-exempt organisation established by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), is aimed at recovering more packaging that is currently destined to landfills as well as investigating the efficacy of existing sorting systems to recycle flexible packaging. It is backed by a number of key packaging stakeholders including Dow Chemical, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé Purina PetCare and Nestlé USA, Sealed Air, and SC Johnson, as well as the Association for Postconsumer