Recycling
Over 40 industry leaders have given their backing to a new plan to increase plastic packaging recycling targets globally.
The plan, which is presented in ‘The New Plastics Economy: Catalysing Action’, a report by the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, could increase recycling from 14 percent to over 70 percent of total plastic packaging.
The report, unviled at the 2017 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, provides the global plastics industry with a transition strategy for better package design and increased recycling rates.
The findings suggest that 20 percent of plastic packaging could be profitably re-used, for example by replacing single-use plastic bags with re-usable alternatives or designing innovative packaging models based on product refills.
The report also suggests that a further 50 percent of plastic packaging could be profitably recycled if improvements are made to packaging design and after-use management systems. This could bring in an additional $90 to $140 (approx. £70-115 GBP) per tonne of mixed plastics.
According to the findings, without fundamental redesign and innovation, the remaining 30 percent of plastic packaging (by weight) will “never be recycled” and will be destined to landfill or incineration.
New Plastics Economy Initiative
The plan is part of the New Plastics Economy initiative, which was launched in May 2016 as a result of Project MainStream, a multi-industry collaboration led by the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
The multistakeholder New Plastics Economy initiative brings together for the first time leading organisations representing every sector of the global plastics industry: chemical manufacturers, packaging and consumer goods producers, retailers, city authorities and recyclers, all working together towards what it says is a more effective global system for plastics.
"The New Plastics Economy initiative has attracted widespread support, and across the industry we are seeing strong initial momentum and alignment on the direction to take,” commented Dame Ellen MacArthur, Founder, Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
“The New Plastics Economy: Catalysing action [report] provides a clear plan for redesigning the global plastics system, paving the way for concerted action.”
Large-Scale Innovation
The focus of the New Plastics Economy over the next year will be to bring about large-scale innovation.
The initiative will launch two global innovation challenges to kick-start the redesign of materials and packaging formats as well as begin to build a set of global common standards (a “Global Plastics Protocol”) for packaging design, concentrating initially on the most significant changes.
It will also aim to improve recycling systems by delivering collaborative projects between companies and cities participating. To support the shift to “circular” design thinking, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and design firm IDEO are launching a new, publicly-available Circular Design Guide.
“Minor changes in material, format and treatment, in conjunction, can make the economics of recycling viable and take us into a positive spiral of higher yields, lower costs and better design. The result will be plastic that remains a valuable material before and after use,” said Martin R. Stuchtey, Professor for Resource Strategy and Management at Innsbruck University, who contributed to the report.
Unilever and Recycling Technologies are two companies that have already pledged their support for the new initiative.
To download the ‘The New Plastics Economy: Catalysing Action’ report, click here.