PACKAGING RECYCLING | OPINION
changes currently proposed in the retail sector are at best ineffective and potentially more damaging than the existing ones. In the rush to achieve Zero Net Emissions there is a confusing trend occurring whereby brands and retailers risk making less appropriate choices when they seek to change their packaging material. We are still seeing examples of well-intentioned retailers and brands choosing a higher carbon footprint solution than the original one in a bid to meet their sustainability targets. One such example is a misguided emphasis on achieving 100% recycled content when there is a valid argument to spread recycled material to go further by opting for 30% recycled content. Whilst our end goal should indeed be zero waste and 100% recycling, we still have some way to go to before we can achieve this. At this stage there are important aesthetic
hurdles that are much easier to overcome at lower recycled content levels while the recycling stream of packaging improves through improved design for recycling. In time, brand owners and consumers will adjust to circular economy designs at which point higher levels of recycled content can be incor- porated as they become more widely available. We see this in our work that centres around
recycling food-grade Polypropylene (FgrPP). In the UK alone, 210,000 tonnes of food-grade PP packaging is used in pots, tubs, trays and films each year (Source: WRAP 2018). An equivalent volume of recycled resin, containing 30% recyclate, would save 63,000 tonnes of virgin plastics being produced and the equivalent volume of PP food waste packaging being reused to its highest purpose, rather than going to energy-from-waste, landfill or into lower value applications. We ran a life-cycle assessment (LCA), together with the Natural Resources Institute at the Univer- sity of Greenwich, which forecasts that the produc- tion of FGrPP could generate 80% less greenhouse gases (GHG) than the production of virgin PP. Spelt out more clearly, 324 kg of GHG per tonne of FGrPP versus 2,000 kg GHG per tonne of virgin PP, this is a significant saving. Therefore, the recycling of 63,000 tonnes of PP
per year (equal to the 30% recycled content) would save a minimum estimated 105,600 tonnes in CO2 emissions in the UK per annum. If 100% of FgrPP packaging was recycled to rPP the GHG saving would be approximately 352,000 tonnes a year of CO2 emissions in the UK. Although food-grade packaging makes up 70%
of the total PP market, most food-grade PP packag- ing has not been designed to be recycled. Whilst
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the technology now exists to produce recycled food-grade PP we are still catching up with the likes of rPET, which has been in production for years. And this gives us yet another reason to aim for 30% recycled content as rPP is 50% lighter than rPET and has a reduced carbon footprint. It is a sobering fact that 80% of the packaging
currently produced still goes to landfill or is potentially destined for energy-from-waste. The likes of energy-from-waste may be heralded as a solution to our waste woes but in truth the CO2 emissions to produce energy from waste negates its benefits. Likewise many are pinning their hopes on the optimistic promises of chemical recycling, which, will undoubtedly play a role in reducing our mixed and complex waste but it is still a long way from scaling up and in the meantime it still tips our carbon footprint in the wrong direction. We need to focus on driving rapid, already-
deliverable improvements in packaging waste through mechanical recycling meshed with cutting edge sorting and decontamination technologies. This will buy time for those areas of consumption where carbon reductions are harder to achieve, to enable them to develop and test new technologies and approaches. As we increase the amount of recyclates we can
use, we will be better placed to support the world as it shifts its consumption habits in order to minimise the global temperature rise. It has been estimated that by significantly improving waste collection, sorting and recycling we can reduce GHG emissions by between 2.1bn and 2.8bn tonnes CO2 per year compared to ‘business as usual’. If we are to achieve this, brands and retailers need to consider the impact of all their choices – what might appear as an environmentally-friendly solution may have a darker side with concealed side-effects. Certainly, all changes should take into account the bigger picture, the entire lifecycle of the pack or product and be based on CO2e metrics rather than marketing appeal to consumers.
About the author Ed Kosior is Founder and Managing Director of Nextek, a global sustainability consultancy that offers strategic advice to regional and multinational organisations and recycling companies. Nextek launched the NextLooPP collaborative project to close the loop on food-grade recycled polypropylene, which incorpo- rates technological breakthroughs in sorting and decontamination. �
www.nextek.org
November/December 2021 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 37
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