INNOVATION | RIGID PACKAGING
The push and pull of the recycled packaging sector
The EU’s challenge to make more plastics packaging “recyclable” is adding to growing pressure for recyclate to be used in new packaging. David Eldridge finds out how brands, recyclers and converters are responding
The European Union’s Plastics Strategy, unveiled in January, has placed plastic packaging waste at the forefront of its Circular Economy plans. As such, pressure has intensified on recycling of plastics packaging in Europe. PET recycling is will estab- lished in many countries, but it nonetheless continues to be a key material in the drive to improve recycling rates (see Plastics Recycling World, May/June 2018). Large quantities of rigid packaging also come in the form of polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene containers. Each bottle, pot, tub and tray made in these polymers poses its own challenges for plastics recyclers and packaging converters, who along with brand owners and stakeholders all want to improve the recycling of packaging waste and avoid its disper- sal in land and marine environments. RB (Reckitt Benckiser) is the latest
global brand owner to set compa- ny-wide plastics targets, following on from earlier commitments made by Unilever, P&G and other pack- aged goods giants. In June RB announced: “We are committed to removing or reducing plastic packag- ing wherever possible and investing in research into alternative materials that can replace its use. Where we will
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continue to use plastic in packaging we will ensure that at least 25% of its content is recycled plastic by 2025, where possible or allowed by regulators. By 2025, 100% of our plastic packaging will also be recyclable or reusable, with best-in-class labelling to help consumers recycle effectively.” RB already has initiatives to reduce the quantity of plastics in its bottled packaging. It said smaller caps on its Harpic toilet cleaner bottles save 150 tpa of plastics, for example. Lightweighting of HDPE bottles for Lizol surface cleaning products in India saves 107 tpa of plastics. The group has been working since 2003 to make its trigger sprays more environmentally friendly, which has included removal of all metal parts. This year it has adopted a smaller design for triggers which the group says will cut plastic use by 570 tpa. “By the end of 2019, all but one of our triggers will be 100% recyclable,” said RB. The commitments by brand owners to using more recycled plastics in their packaging has been welcomed by the plastics recycling industry. However, plenty more needs to be done in order to meet the EU Plastics Strategy’s target of a 60%
re-use and recycling rate for plastics packaging by 2030. In a study pub- lished in December 2017 by industry
Main image: Trigger sprays are one application area being targeted for better recyclability
Left: Jokey Group has been using recycled
plastics content in its rigid packaging
since the 1990s
September/October 2018 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 23
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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