12 minute read
SatNav for BPF’s journey
from SPN Nov 2021
by spnews.com
A SatNav for BPF’s Journey
The journey to a net zero future is long and hard - and can often be a rocky road to travel. However, out of all the confusion and darkness there is often some light at the end of the tunnel – hopefully it is not the headlamp of an oncoming express. Prof. Edward Kosier of Nextek gives us some useful Sat-Nav tools to help us reach our net zero destination.
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Kosier begins by taking us through some background data to our current situation. The majority of his latest paper is covered here: “If we were to crunch the data relating to our future on this planet and reduce it to one meaningful headline it would be that in less than 9 years time, we will have exceeded the 1.5 degree increase on pre-industrial temperature levels we have been seeking to avoid. We are on the edge of the tipping point as we continue to voraciously consume 3 planets’ worth of resources.
“Whilst crunching the meaningful data let’s also consider that by 2040 the world will be producing 400 million tpa of plastic, which, will equate to 20% of oil production. Around the same year our global population will reach 9.2 billion people. This leads us to address the pressing issue of food waste. As it stands, we waste 35% of food annually - plastic plays a vital role in preserving food and therefore reducing food waste. What this means is that if we are to impactfully address our carbon targets we must hone our focus on managing plastic in a way it has never been managed before - as a resource rather than waste. This will require significant and systemic changes across the plastics ecosystem. So, what is society as a whole going to have to do to shift the needle over the next five years?”
BPF’s Recycling Roadmap
“The British Plastics Federation’s (BPF) Recycling Roadmap for 2030 gives us a good indication of what can be achieved if we amplify our existing technologies. They have estimated the advance in capability and efficiency of mechanical recycling technologies will need to deliver more than three times our current 2020 capacity - from 16% in 2020 to 50% by 2030. “The report also shows minimal plastic waste going to landfill in a bid to maximise the value from all plastic and ensure it is used as high up the waste hierarchy as possible.
The EU too is stepping up as they phase out specific single use plastic and redouble efforts to reduce the waste we are currently generating - as of 2021 we are generating 11.2 billion tpa of solid waste - so no small undertaking. The Eu has set out targets for countries to deal with the plastic they generate within their own borders this will mean enhancing packaging circularity and product durability and ending our shameful era of discard”.
Global harmonisation
Kosier added, “Those countries lagging behind on their recycling infrastructure will need help to catch up. According to Greenpeace, Russia produces about 60 million tonnes of waste annually of which a mere 7 to 8% gets recycled. The Balkans has trash islands surfacing and vast swathes of the US still suffers a paucity of recycling mechanisms. Even those countries that boast a strong recycling culture, such as the UK, are still hampered by disparate recycling schemes across the nation. Policy makers are often mis-guided and information relating to best practices is frequently misleading and ill-researched. What is needed is a global shift driven by a strong set of guiding practices to start harmonising the recycling ecosystems across entire countries, not just sporadically. We also need everyone to be genuinely onboard - and this starts with the major brands.
Green-economy vs Green-washing
“To define what constitutes an authentic green economy from a plastics packaging perspective requires both simple and cutting-edge technology to unlock the potential built into plastics materials.
It certainly is not about wasting time and resources exploring unrealistic solutions such as a paper bottle for carbonated beverages. This simply boils down to corporate greenwashing that leads to an obvious dead-end whilst confusing much of the public.
A far more effective scenario is to focus single-mindedly on creating a circular economy that is commercially viable and that directly solves our growing post consumer plastic waste crisis. According to the BPF’s report, if all plastic were recycled globally this could result in mean annual savings of 30 to 150 million tonnes of CO2, equivalent to shutting between 8 and 40 coal-fired power plants globally.
“The good news is that this is achievable. Of course, it will require closing the loop on plastics of all types, not just bottles, but especially the awkward to recycle plastics such as films, pots, tubs and trays.
Another reason why we don’t want to add categories to the recycling stream. It will also require organisations to have end-of-life strategies for the plastics they put onto the market which will mean the introduction of new technology and deliberate design for circular economy recycling.
Simplifying collection
“Before we can even start discussing efficient recycling we actually need to take a step back and address collection a key component to the overall process. Collection needs to be streamlined - so we know what we are collecting, it has to be comprehensive, simple and easy and uniform across countries. Phillip Law, Director General at the BPF, points out there is (huge) scope for innovation in product design, collection, sorting, mechanical and chemical recycling. He is referring to the kind of innovation that strives to resolve our current challenges rather than pander to consumers’ appetite for action.
“To truly create an effective circular economy we need to focus on closing all loops to ensure post consumer plastic waste is consistently and efficiently turned back into new materials. To achieve carbon neutrality as well as benefit from the properties and economics of plastics we must increase recovery of valuable resources, boost recycled materials, reduce landfill and de-carbonise the waste -to-energy industry”.
In order to meet the BPF’s goals we should be recycling all packaging produced by the retailers. Placing recycling at the heart of packaging design thinking is key, yet many brand owners are still reticent to make many meaningful changes. Despite claims to the contrary, few packaging recycling features run very deep and those that are bolted on are unlikely to be clearly thought through. Efficient recycling formulations are few and far between.
The majority of packaging items on our shelves have been designed with the primary purpose to engage with the consumer, protect the contents within and tell a strong brand story. Most materials have been designed to be processed only once and recycling features that minimise recycling complexity and create closed loop opportunities are woefully low on the list of priorities.
The missing link
“Drilling down to specific Polyolefins that are currently not being recycled back into food-grade packaging highlights a missing link in the recycling stream, that are the pots, tubs and trays made from Polypropylene (PP), a highly versatile polymer that dominates this non-bottle packaging stream. Polypropylene (PP) accounts for 20% of the world’s plastics. In the UK, some 300,000tpa of PP is used in packaging out of a total of 700,000 tpa used.
Yet currently there is no food-grade recycled PP available for use as recycled content in new packaging. PP surfaces in those ‘hard to recycle’ packs such as pots, tubs, trays (PTT) and films in food packaging (approx. 210,000 tpa) as well as in non-food household and personal care products. Which is why closed-loop recycling of rPP to food-grade packaging is more complex due to the presence of non-food PP packaging.
Currently PP packaging is either being downcycled into low performance applications or going to waste-to-energy or landfill - thereby wasting precious resources. For consumer safety, the European Food Standards Authority (EFSA) requires that recycled food-grade materials can only be made from (95%) food packaging and that the recycled plastic must meet the same high standards required for virgin food-grade plastics. The absence of food-grade recycled polypropylene (FGrPP) means that all PP food packaging is currently made from virgin plastics. This is a global problem. If we can create a circular economy for food-grade PP packaging waste we would be able to reduce the production of virgin plastics from petrochemicals, in turn reducing CO2 emissions and diverting waste from both landfill and lower quality plastics. To illustrate, the production of one tonne of recycled PP saves approximately 1.7 tonne of CO2 emissions. If the UK meets the 30% recycled content target for food contact PP packaging alone, it will create annual savings of 63,000 tonnes of virgin PP and 107,000 tonnes in CO2 emissions, which equates to planting more than 1 million trees. Retailers and brands seeking to meet the 30% recycled material target by 2025 and avoid the UK’s plastic packaging tax of £200/tonne from April 2022 would see immediate benefits and we already have the cutting edge technology to identify, sort and decontaminate post-consumer plastic waste to achieve this”.
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Abandoning The Brown Box while Improving Sustainability in the Supply Chain
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Sorting the unsorted
“Whilst some discussions around innovative sorting technologies have started emerging it is vital we take a holistic approach to recycling technologies, otherwise we will create multiple sub-categories of packaging in response to the perception that sorting will have the capacity to create narrower fractions of materials. While this is generally helpful it reduces the recycling productivity and efficiency. At which point the economics will diminish and issues of cross-contamination will increase.
“As a consequence the likes of powerful UV-fluorescent markers (PolyPRISMTM) or digital markers that identify and separate food-grade packaging will only have an impact if we continue the journey to decontaminate and turn the well-sorted post consumer plastic waste back into high quality recycled mono-polymers that can be re-used in new products. High performance decontamination technologies that have been shown to remove all possible contaminants to very high levels to ensure compliance with EFSA and USFDA food-contact are required to deliver the penultimate stage of recycling. Taking a holistic approach to recycling that combines sorting with decontamination is instrumental in closing the loop on the likes of PP and other plastics. However, to be truly effective, it requires all packaging to be designed for optimum recyclability, otherwise the next cycle quality will be compromised and be expensive to operate”
“As the case with Coca Cola’s paper bottle goes to show, only simplifying packaging will result in simpler recycling equipment and lower processing costs”.
At SPN we thank Prof. Kosier of Nexteck for his illuminating coverage of the BPM’s recycling Roadmap and hope that our readers are able to benefit from the many conclusions on offer here.
For the full, unabridged review visit: www.nextek.com
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