VOLUME 17.4 – 2022 CAN PLASTICS BE INFINITE? A CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR AFRICA • END OF LIFE • SERIALIZATION • PHARMA PACKAGING • AIPIA
© Packaging Europe Ltd 2022 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form for any purpose, other than short sections for the purpose of review, without prior consent of the publisher. ISSN 2516-0133 (Print) ISSN 02516-0141 (Online) Packaging Europe Ltd Part of the Rapid News Communications Group 9 Norwich Business Park, Whiting Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 6DJ, UK Registered Office: Carlton House, Sandpiper Way, Chester Business Park, Chester, CH4 9QE. Company No: 10531302. Registered in England. VAT Registration No. GB 265 4148 96 Telephone: +44 (0)1603 885000 Editorial: editor@packagingeurope.com Studio: production@packagingeurope.com Advertising: jr@packagingeurope.com Website: packagingeurope.com Twitter: twitter.com/PackagingEurope LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/company/packaging-europe YouTube: youtube.com/PackagingEurope Editor Victoria Hattersley Journalists Elisabeth Skoda Libby Munford Digital Editor Fin Slater Junior Editor Hannah Cole Production Manager Rob Czerwinski Digital Design & Production Assistant Meg Garratt Head of Marketing & Audience Development Kamila Miller Advertising Coordinator Kayleigh Harvey Digital Analyst Syed Hassan Operations Director Amber Dawson Brand Director Tim Sykes Sales Director Jesse Roberts Senior Portfolio Sales Manager Dominic Kurkowski SalesPortfolioManagers Matt Byron & Guy Helliker Events ManagerOperations Simran Budesha VOLUME 17.4 – 2022 3 Editorial Victoria Hattersley 4 Building a circular economy for Africa Interview with Clem Ugorji 11 Are plastics ‘infinite’ materials …or could they be? 18 End of life Barriers and opportunities for enhancing end-of-life outcomes 24 Serialization Exploring the potential of digital watermarks 29 Pharmaceutical packaging The importance of safety and sustainability 33 Beverage cartons interview Beverage cartons and sustainability 38 In conversation with… BOPET Films on the problems with household flexibles circularity 40 AIPIA interview A deep dive into the power of smart packaging 44 AIPIA stories Active and intelligent packaging spotlight 46 In conversation with... Wipak talks recyclability 48 On second thoughts... When ‘bio-based’ is not what it seems 33 4024 11
Victoria Hattersley Victoria Hattersley @PackEuropeVickyvh@packagingeurope.com
Packaging Europe | 3 | Victoria Hattersley Senior WriterEDITORIAL |
And of course, we also have our regular active and intelligent pack aging updates. As always, we bring you some of the most interesting news stories on the topic from the past month or two, but as an added bonus we share an interview Elisabeth Skoda recently conducted with Eef de Ferrante and Andrew Manly of AIPIA, during which they dis cussed the key role smart packaging will play in addressing the many and varied challenges facing the industry moving forward. Enjoy the rest of your summer breaks, and we look forward to seeing as many as possible of you during our programme of events in Q3 and Q4. n
Greetings, fellow packaging enthusiasts. First things first, before you start mourning the approaching end of the unnaturally warm summer, be reassured that the Packaging Europe events calendar, at least, is hotting up (and not in the horrifying, apocalyptic climate-meltdown way we have seen over the past months). Our muchanticipated Sustainable Packaging Summit will take place in Lisbon from 13-14 September – last tickets for the event are available https://packagingeurope.com/lisbon-strategic-leadership-summit.at
Next up, we have our Flexibles Circular Economy Conference, in collabora tion with CEFLEX, at FachPack on 28th September. The AIPIA Smart Packaging Summit takes place at Pack Expo Chicago on 25th October. Finally, there is the AIPIA World Congress and Sustainable Packaging Summit ‘Innovation Horizon’ event on 14-15 November in Amsterdam. That’s what’s coming up; in the meantime, we have plenty of content for you in this issue. I recently spoke to Clem Ugorji, CEO at Circularium Africa Advisory and Consultant to the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership, about the barriers to achieving circularity in Africa and tackling the continent’s plastic waste problem – and how these may be overcome. Speaking of plastics, I will also be asking the question: Can they ever be seen as ‘infinite’ materials in the same way that we view glass or metals? It’s possibly a contentious question, but one I enjoyed exploring. Hannah Cole talks us through end-of-life solutions and how these need to be incorporated into the value chain right from the start. Melina Spanoudi highlights the importance of safety and sustainability in pharma packag ing, while Elisabeth Skoda delves into the topic of digital watermarking – a subject which, as we all know, has experienced a huge surge in interest in recent years through the HolyGrail platform.
While plastic consumption in Africa is still relatively low in global terms, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation says imports are expected to double by 2030 in countries including Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Such rapid growth could worsen the environmental pollution crisis in countries where, as we will see, collection and recycling infrastructure are often scarce or ineffective. This is without considering the social and health consequences – plastic pollution in waterways can impact food ecosystems or clog drainage systems to exacerbate flooding, while increased waste on land can help spread diseases in already vulnerable communities. In short, plastic waste in Africa is already a problem and if left unchecked it is likely to be a much bigger one in the years to come. On the positive side, there are steps that can be taken to mitigate this that can both help decrease environmental pressures and provide a boost to local economies and livelihoods at the same time. But as Clem Ugorji, who was previously a vice-president at The Coca-Cola Company, explains, this requires a thorough understanding of the unique challenges facing Africa.
BUILDING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR AFRICA | 4 | Packaging Europe
VH: Firstly, I would also be very interested to know how the mechanisms for developing a circular economy for plastics in Africa differ to those in Europe or elsewhere. CU: I think the mechanisms for developing a circular economy for plastics are not necessarily different in Africa than in Europe or elsewhere. These would include policies/regulations, financing, collaboration, infrastructure, innovation and market development. The issue is the degree to which these mechanisms are existent and effectively leveraged to drive impact. While there is recently a lot of momentum towards developing such mechanisms in Africa, Europe has been at it for a while and is already at an advanced position. For example, Europe has a more effective policy and regulatory environment in most countries, a huge industrial base that provides technology solutions and market opportunities to foster plastics circularity, and financing capacity (including advanced EPR schemes in some countries) to fund circular economy research, innovation and projects. We have also seen how the European Union (EU) is serving as the plat form to coordinate and accelerate circular economy practices and collaboration As the continent comes under increased pressure from plastic pollution, how can a coherent vision for Africa help implement a circular economy – and how can this be achieved in practical terms? Victoria Hattersley spoke with Clem Ugorji, CEO at Circularium Africa Advisory and Consultant to the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership and one of our Sustainable Packaging Summit 2022 speakers, to find out.
VH: Can you describe some of the initiatives you are currently involved in and their aims? How do these address the wider challenge you have mentioned?
VH: What are the particular infrastructural and social barriers you are facing here and how might these be tackled?
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across member states, using instruments like the European Green Deal, the EU Circular Economy Action Plans, and the EU Directives on Single-Use Plastics.
Such mechanisms are weak or in the early stages of development in Africa, where nearly all the countries are still grappling with basic issues like effective waste collection and where (with the notable exception of South Africa) national plastic recycling rates are mostly still at low single digit. The biggest barriers to a circular economy for plastics in the region include feedstock recovery which is very low and expensive because about 80% of plastic waste still goes to dumpsites and landfills; regula tory mechanism which is weak with countries lacking plastic recycling standards, EPR schemes and mandatory requirements for recycled plastic content; and funding which is inadequate and thus constrains innovation, market development and scaling of projects in a space that is dominated by under-resourced informal sector players.
CU: A most basic issue would be the weak municipal waste management capacity that is common in countries across the region. Another would be the absence of a market for plastic waste, and this is anchored on three factors, that is, the extremely small size of most African countries (population and plastic volumes) which makes recycling infrastructure investment unattractive; the lack of domestic offtake or demand for recycled plastics due to low industrialization and lack of regulatory inducement (standards, mandates, incentives, etc.) for reuse; and the lack of enabling transboundary initiatives such as regional plastic recycling standards and plastic trade policies (as you have in the EU). Tackling these multifaceted challenges requires the development and implementation of a realistic and holistic national strategy and action plan for circular economy at country level as well as an effective mechanism for regional plastic trade and collaboration on transboundary plastic leakage.
GPAP champions a shift towards a new plastics economy, by addressing the root causes of plastic pollution, from production to consumption and reuse. I provide strategic advisory and operational support for the establishment of the locally-led multistakeholder National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) in coun tries in the region. The NPAP serves as a neutral convening platform, bringing together the government and the key actors across relevant sectors to develop and commit to the implementation of a realistic National Action Roadmap that articulates the interventions required across six key barriers or impact areas: Policy, Financing, Behaviour, Metrics, Innovation and Inclusion.
CU: Currently, I am a consultant to the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) and a member of the Technical Committee of the African Circular Economy Alliance (ACEA) – both of which are platforms com mitted to advancing a circular economy for plastics.
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ACEA, on the other hand, is a regional governmental coalition that is collaborating with the private sector and other stakeholders to drive Africa’s transformation to a circular economy with a focus on policy and advocacy.
CU: Across the region, there are several promising initiatives large and small by governments and other sector players. In terms of potential impact, I think the most notable initiatives would be the recognition by an increasing number of governments that circular economy underpins sustainable development, and the resultant efforts to integrate it into their national development strategies and plans. For instance, the Nigerian Circular Economy Working Group (NCEWG) was instituted about two years ago for this purpose. It is expected that this could expedite the institutional resources (knowledge, structure, policy and budget) required for these countries to implement their transition agenda. At private sector level, it would be the recent emergence in Nigeria over the past year of three medium scale food-grade PET recycling facilities with capacity for bottle-to-bottle recycling, which is really a big deal considering Nigeria’s huge plastic waste volume and that South Africa was until this development probably the only Sub-Saharan country with that capability. With a supportive policy envi ronment, this is expected to grow Nigeria’s plastic collection, recycling and reuse rates, reduce virgin plastic consumption, increase job opportunities and incomes for collectors and other workers in the value chain, and hopefully encourage similar investments in other countries.
Generally, there is also great promise in the large and growing number of well-educated entrepreneurial youth across various African countries who are running fast-growing plastic waste collection, aggregation and processing firms and leveraging social media and mobile technologies to innovate and drive efficiency in various aspects of their operations.
The NPAP is fully operational in Ghana and will launch soon in Nigeria, while engagements are progressing with a number of other governments.
VH: Are there any particular regulatory issues presenting a roadblock to the adoption of a circular plastics model in Africa? What can be done to address these?
Clem Ugorji
Apart from fostering action-oriented multistakeholder collaboration and birthing the action roadmap, the NPAP also generates a national baseline data and analysis of plastic flows that enhance decision-making; a gender and inclusion strategy to strengthen the vulnerable players in the sector; and a sustainable financing strategy that de-risks the plastic waste sector and enables investments for scaling collection and recycling infrastructure.
ACEA has potential to serve as a peer support mechanism for governments in the transition to a circular economy as well as to coordinate and acceler ate enabling transboundary regional initiatives. It is already showing promise in this regard with several insightful research reports, notably, the Five Big Bets for the Circular Economy in Africa and Increasing Circularity in Africa’s Plastic Sector, that articulate the challenges, prospects and pathways for the continent’s circular economy transition.
VH: Are there any other particularly promising initiatives you are aware of that are working to address the challenge of circularity? What makes them stand out?
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The interesting exception to this rule is South Africa where the industry was ahead of regulations and had begun the production and use of recycled PET bottles several years ago and is now in the process of establishing standards for food-grade rPET. A second issue is the absence of a mandatory national level EPR scheme in any of the countries, which could have been a viable source of funding to support the growth of plastic waste collection and recycling.
CU: Yes, there are three regulatory issues that border on inaction. First is the lack of regulatory standards for recycled plastics, especially food-grade rPET, in nearly all the countries – except Nigeria and Mauritius which approved food-grade rPET standards in 2019 and 2021, respectively. In the absence of such standards, beverage companies, for example, cannot use recycled PET bottles and investors cannot set up rPET facilities for bottle-to-bottle recycling.
VH: Finally, why is it so important that we consider this a global, not a regional, problem?
A third issue would be the lack of regulations mandating or incentiv izing the use of recycled plastic for single-use packaging and other plastic products. The passivity of the regulators has led to the unfortunate situ ation where Africa could eventually miss out on the global commitments by major plastic producers and users to reduce, recover and reuse their plastic outputs, despite the region’s rapid growth in plastic consumption and waste generation.
CU: As we know, plastic waste pollution, just like climate change, transcends boundaries. No country or region can truly tackle it alone or assume to be safe whilst it persists elsewhere. This is why countries and regions need to genuinely support each other to effectively eliminate this problem. And I think there is lot that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us in this regard. n
Infinity, or the quality of being limitless or endless: For packaging, which for decades has been making free use of our natural resources, the switch to materials that are self-sustaining and circular is the ultimate goal. In fact, it’s essential. When we think of infinite materials, it is generally metals and glass that spring to mind. Most would argue that plastics cannot – as yet – be put in this category. Here, we are going to explore the question of whether plastics can ever be considered ‘infinite’ – or if, as some might argue, we’re almost there already.
According to Gary Panknin, Sustainability Officer at PakTech – designer and manufacturer of 100% recyclable injection moulded handles made PLASTICS ‘INFINITE’ MATERIALS – OR COULD THEY BE?
Or to put it another way, it depends on what you call ‘infinite’. The packaging materials we currently consider infinite are perceived that way because it is believed they can be endlessly recycled into new products with the same structure and without loss in quality or purity. With plastics, the situation is not quite the same. Plastics cannot, as yet, be recycled indefinitely to the same level of strength and purity each time without adding new materials to the mix.
A question of definitions?
ARE
Packaging materials such as glass or steel are widely regarded as ‘infinite’ – but what about plastics? asks Victoria Hattersley.
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“With plastics, the situation is no different than other materials. If you take a single product of any material and recycle it over and over without adding new material, eventually you can’t recycle it any longer because the physical properties will fade away. However, the addition of new material or products with less recycling cycles are introduced naturally during the
According to this definition, we are perhaps not so far off. “An ‘infinite’ material in the case of plastic would mean that it can be recycled with very low addition of new virgin polymers in a large number of cycles,” says Dr Frank Eistenträger, Product Director Standards Polystyrene EMEA at lead ing global sytrenics producer INEOS Styrolution. “Mechanical recycling of polystyrene is actually very close to this goal.”
Of course, when it comes to recyclability not all polymers are created equal. A key point is that recyclability – at least with more traditional mechanical recycling, of which more later – depends on the type of base plastic. Some, such as PET, HDPE and PP, are more easily recyclable than “An ‘infinite’ material in the case of plastic would mean that it can be recycled with very low addition of new virgin polymers in a large number of cycles.”
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others and have always been so. Certain biobased resins – such as HDPE resins derived from sugar cane and so on, are completely compatible with petroleum-based HDPE and so can be placed in the recycling stream.
Others caution that there are further downsides to chemical recycling.
More problematic are plastics containing additives, such as oxo-degrada bles, which have been roundly condemned by many organizations including European Bioplastics and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The latter will render the plastic unrecyclable and will not, as has been claimed, break down fully in the environment. Also problematic, as we know, are multilayer plastics that combine different forms of polymers to achieve particular material properties.
“At INEOS Styrolution, we currently favour depolymerization for PS, but we also explore other methods,” says Dr Eisenträger. “Theoretically, advanced recycling technologies make plastics an infinite material – if the achieved yield is 100%, which is not the case yet, since, as rightly stated, we are at a relatively early stage. Yields do improve and will improve over time. But will they ever get to 100%? Doubtful and maybe academic.”
Then what of these harder-to-recycle plastics? Does the answer lies in advanced chemical recycling technologies? Using these, it is hoped that plastics that were previously unrecyclable through traditional mechani cal means can be fed into the system and returned to their original chemical format.
chemical recycling solution – feedstock recycling, pyrolosis, depolymeriza tion and so on – are still at an early stage and not ready to be widely used; and while they certainly hold promise for the future when it comes to the possibility of infinite plastics, it’s safe to say this potential is still theoretical.
“A recent SYSTEMIQ report clearly indicated that the sustainability goals of the EU can only be achieved by incorporating advanced (chemical) recycling methods into the recycling portfolio,” says Dr Eisenträger. “Thus, advanced tech nologies must be looked at. We are seeing policy makers begin to acknowledge thisBeforefact.” we get too excited, however, we should remember that there is no ‘perfect’ solution, and that these advanced recycling technologies are still largely untested on an industrial scale. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for chemical recycling is its highly energy-intensive nature. The UK’s Mura Technology is one example of a company that is looking to address this issue. As we have been reporting over the past year, Mura is pioneer ing HydroPRS™, a hydrothermal advanced recycling process that utilizes supercritical water (water at increased temperature and pressure) to convert waste plastics into valuable, fossil-replacement hydrocarbon products for use in the manufacture of new plastics and other materials. This supercriti cal water, which avoids the need to heat the chambers from the outside, is what makes the technique, according to the company, ‘uniquely scalable’.
In 2020, a report by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (Gaia) concluded that aside from being energy intensive, chemical recycling is polluting and prone to technical failures.
“Remember that chemical recycling is exactly what it says,” says Gary Dr Frank Eistenträger
Organizations such as CEFLEX are working on ways to achieve circularity for multilayer flexible plastics and moving ever-closer to this goal. Is chemical recycling the key to infinite plastics?
“The infrastructure – particularly in developing countries – isn’t adequate to support the materials that are going out there to keep them in circulation and out of the environment,” says Gary. In addition, the most advanced recycling technology in the world will not be sufficient, if we are not in the mind-set to support collecting and managing the materials properly.”
Aside from technical questions, it’s clear that it’s going to be an uphill battle to change the overwhelmingly negative societal perceptions around plastics. But if we don’t, it is hard to see how the industry’s circularity goals can be met – particularly as we see the recycling targets for 2025 and 2030 looming ever closer. For Gary Panknin, achieving this comes down to focusing on real data and facts when it comes to communicating informa tion to consumers, rather than sending messages merely to gain notoriety.
“Let’s not forget that traditional mechanical recycling is still an extremely efficient and economical solution for many of the plastics that are already widely used.”
Yes, chemical recycling is exciting and has huge promise. Still, let’s not forget that traditional mechanical recycling is still an extremely efficient and economical solution for many of the plastics that are already widely used. That being the case, there is no reason why this cannot continue to be used in the future even as chemical recycling is rolled out. This is without mentioning the potential of other emerging technologies, such as delamination, which can enable multilayer structures to be developed in such way that they are much easier to separate for recycling.
Admittedly, not an easy thing to negotiate when everyone is misled and inundated with so many unsettling images and poor information of the impact of plastic pollution on the natural world, while ignoring the impacts of other materials being discarded and inadvertently doing more harm to the economy and environment.
How to change perceptions of plastics? So can plastics be infinite? The fairest answer is: maybe…. but it will take time. As argued above, we probably need to rethink how we define this concept when it comes to packaging materials. It is not always practical for a plastic to be broken down into its original form every time through chemical recycling, but if we were to add renewable materials into the mechanical recycling mix, while we are technically adding something new this is still creating a sustain able loop. The key is to move away from virgin materials where possible.
Finally, ‘infinite’ or not, the aim has to be to keep materials in the loop for longer to reduce depletion of the earth’s natural resources and this is not just down to the type of material itself – more practically, it’s about what we do with it. n
Packaging Europe | 17 | rebuild it, and that is going to have an environmental impact. Whereas with mechanical recycling you’re actually using the same material over and over again, and you’re not adding additional external resources to build that material back up. The key is to apply the most appropriate material to the requirements of the package and then recycle as much and as long as possible to maximize its longevity.”
THE
WHERE
AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENHANCING END-OF-LIFE OUTCOMES FOR PACKAGING?
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Built-in barriers It’s difficult, and perhaps counterproductive, to identify a single end-of-life solution as the best outcome for all packaging types. However, ending up in landfill or leaking into nature are increasingly considered worst-casescenarios. “The waste crisis has never been higher on the global agenda,” says Julien Tremblin, general manager of TerraCycle Europe, pointing to the growing focus of packaging end-of-life solutions: the avoidance or repurposing of waste so that it does not become a permanent but unus able fixture, posing a risk to both environmental and human health. Recycling often leads both company and consumer conversations about packaging end-of-life, but material type, product application, and infrastruc ture availability are just some of the factors that determine whether packaging even reaches this step. The market intelligence company AMI reported that End-of-life solutions do not stand in isolation from the rest of the value chain. Design decisions could set packaging on a path that allows it to be recycled or reused, rather than incinerated or sent to landfill, but unevenly applied and sometimes underdeveloped collection and sorting processes present hurdles along the way. We spoke to Amcor, TerraCycle, and RecyClass about identifying – and overcoming – some of the barriers to enhancing end-of-life outcomes for packaging. ARE BARRIERS
According to Tremblin, “the biggest barrier is that something is only recycla ble when the cost of processing it and turning it into a reusable format costs less than the end product”. Tremblin cites this as the reason glass, aluminium, and rigid plastic packaging generally have higher recycling rates and arguably better end-of-life outcomes: they are “relatively easy to recycle”, which in turn gives higher quantity and quality yields that can be sold at profit. This means these packaging types are often included in local kerbside collections, allow ing for collection rates that support recycling rates, and vice versa.
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As such, these packaging types are often excluded from collection, especially in locations that do not have the specialist facilities required to process, for example, composite packaging that could be recycled if its different material components were separated. Gerald Rebitzer, sustainability director at Amcor EMEA, concurs: “Often it’s a case of the recycling capabilities in various markets.
Working backwards for recyclability by design Decisions made at the start of the value chain can determine packaging end-of-life even well in advance of the packaging being produced and used. Working backwards from end-of-life points to the potential of design. Fabrizio di Gregorio, technical director at Plastics Recyclers Europe and member of the RecyClass initiative, says that “increasingly complex packaging [being] put on the market is one of the major challenges” when it comes to enhancing end-of“The biggest barrier is that something is only recyclable when the cost of processing it and turning it into a reusable format costs less than the end product.”
77% of plastic waste was not recycled in 2021, with large amounts appar ently being ‘lost’ during the collecting and sorting stage – in other words, sent to incineration or landfill.
“Multilayer packaging and other more complex materials such as flex ible plastics are expensive to separate and recycle and the end product is often lower quality, which means the process just isn’t cost effective for local authorities to fund,” Tremblin adds. “The economies don’t work.”
The ability of a package to be recycled by consumers will depend on the specificities of the recycling programmes that consumers have access to in each Therefore,market/geography.”technological barriers present in terms of actual recycling infrastructure, as well as a feedback loop whereby processes that are costly or in the early stages of development, receive less material to work with because local governance does not yet facilitate separate collection streams. Collection and sorting act as end-of-life crossroads, but the route packaging ultimately takes is determined by a complexity of factors from the beginning to the end of the value chain.
Packaging Europe | 21 | usability and recyclability,” di Gregorio explains, while Rebitzer adds legisla tive requirements and voluntary initiatives to the list of considerations when designing for recycling. According to Rebitzer, these considerations cut across material type and are applicable to all packaging formats. At the same time, Rebitzer warns that any material substitutions made in the name of designing for recycling need to be carefully considered: “It’s important that alternatives are not contributing to new or different environmental or social concerns.”
As di Gregorio and Tremblin highlight, even when packaging is collected, there are additional hurdles to overcome, such as correct sorting processes and contamination rates. According to di Gregorio, “sorting is primordial, as it contributes to limiting the number of contaminants in the stream and recy clable products contribute to increasing and optimizing efficiency of this step.
Avoiding the silver bullet
“While the upstream part of the value chain needs to continue the focus on implementing design for recycling across the full packaging portfolio, circularity can only be established by efficient and effective downstream systems for collection of all packaging and subsequent sorting and recy cling infrastructure,” says Rebitzer.
“Sorting is primordial, as it contributes to limiting the number of contaminants in the stream and recyclable products contribute to increasing and optimizing efficiency of this step.”
Design and end-of-life, while at opposite ends of the value chain, are intertwined. However, both remain dependent on the development and availability of other factors, including technology, legislation, and collabora tion, to maximize potential.
The common thread is collaboration, especially when it comes to collection.
“We encourage open discourse and collaboration between brands, regulators, local governments, packaging recovery organizations, consumers and manufac turers to strive for the best outcomes possible,” Rebitzer continues, referencing – along with Tremblin – the potential of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to provide the impetus and funding for improved collection rates. Such schemes, they argue, could help to introduce more uniformity across collection streams and related legislation, ultimately offering packaging more varied end-of-life solutions as opposed to being sent directly to landfill or incineration.
Rebitzer also highlights that developing multiple design for recycling guidelines could complicate rather than clarify the issue, identifying the need for “standardization in design requirements, which will enable the expansion of collection, sorting and recycling”. He points to CEFLEX’s Design for a Circular Economy (D4ACE) guidelines and 4evergreen’s Circu larity by Design initiative as examples of good practice. Yet, according to di Gregorio, “harmonization of the design for recycling guidelines, at the EU but also global level, is just the first step”. He argues that there needs to be a standardized definition of recycling itself, which could help to simplify the process of designing for recyclability. Plastics Recyclers Europe processes, or be available in sufficient quantities to justify the development of new recycling processes to become a raw material for new products.”
Rebitzer highlights the potential of “design for reuse” while Tremblin suggests global solutions, including the UN agreement to establish a legally binding treaty on plastic waste by the end of 2024, have the potential to restructure our relationship with waste in such a way that allows reuse to become a scalable primary solution. Therefore, the key to more favourable end-of-life outcomes for packaging will be collaboration and harmonization – alongside a diversity of approaches that combine established and developing technologies, innovations, and knowledge. n
“Both the separation and washing stages are essential to ensure that the correct materials go through the correct processes,” Tremblin adds, noting that this is even more important for packaging that is considered difficult-torecycle. “This process may include steps such as a surfactant-based wash or a radiation-based sterilization process to ensure that the material can safely move forward through the rest of the reprocessing work.”
Reuse is, again, an end-of-life solution that concerns the entire value chain.
“Domestic and international recycling systems are failing to meet the current challenge and at best, recycling will only function as a plaster over the global waste crisis,” he claims. “We believe that solutions should incorporate reducing consumption, investing in reusable packaging technology and when materials can no longer be reused, recycling.”
Packaging Europe | 23 | for recycling process to increase the quality of the output material.”
Finally, Tremblin acknowledges that there is “no silver bullet” when it comes to optimising end-of-life scenarios for packaging, and that recycling should be developed alongside reduction and reuse rather than as a catch-all solution.
There are several emerging technologies aimed at enhancing the sorting and washing processes. This includes the use of Near-Infrared (NIR) technol sort existing recycling streams or, in some cases, develop more specialized streams for packaging types that do not yet have them. Again, the intercon nectedness of the value chain could help here: Rebitzer notes, for example, that design for recycling should exclude carbon black, as it can interfere with NIR detection. Meanwhile, deinking technologies are seeing a surge in research and development as a possible approach to reducing contamination during the washing process.
Zooming in on digital watermarks
INthis article, Elisabeth Skoda explores the potential of a technology that many of our readers will be familiar with in a different context, i.e. facilitating the sorting of waste in recycling plants within the framework of the Holy Grail 2.0 project – digital watermarks.
FROM WASTE SORTING TO SERIALIZATION: EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL OF DIGITAL WATERMARKS
Digital watermarks are covert designs repeated many times throughout product packaging artwork to provide a “secure and robust” means of deterministically identifying an item. They are connected to the cloud, and in this way, products digitized with digital watermarks can serve as a conduit to a repository of intelligence about a product’s path and attributes and have a range of different applications. Product digitization expert Digimarc has been providing digital watermark ing solutions for sorting packaging waste within the framework of the Holy Grail 2.0 project, and the project was able to report on successful trials. “As your readers have learned, Holy Grail 2.0 has already proven the effectiveness of digital watermarks in recycling. With an average detection rate of 99%, results from the recently completed semi-industrial trial have demonstrated that digital watermarks perform well across all tested categories of plastic packaging material in conditions representing routine industrial opera tions. Even in harsher conditions – with higher belt speed and severe soiling and crushing – digital watermarks maintained performance,” says Ken Sickles, Chief Product Officer, Digimarc.
A recent report produced by Europol and the European Union Intellectual Property Office, the Intellectual Property Crime Threat Assessment 2022, highlights the fact that counterfeiting remains a big problem across a wide range of sectors. It states that counterfeit and pirated goods represent up to 5.8% of EU imports, corresponding to around EUR 119 billion in value. In 2020, around 66 million fake items were seized by authorities. These statistics show that the battle with counterfeiters is ongoing. Thank fully, a wide range of technologies is available in the market in order to tackle this major challenge.
“Our watermarks connect a product to the digital world. They are also covert, which means they can support a lot of use cases that visible symbology cannot. With our acquisition of EVRYTHNG earlier this year, Digimarc can now seam lessly connect physical items to an aggregated collection of information in the cloud, either through our covert digital watermarks, or other forms of digital symbology, such as QR codes or NFC tags. By giving every product a digital identity – a digital twin – in the product cloud, brands can ensure product authenticity, identify fake products and/or counterfeits, detect diverted goods, as well as provide consumers with dynamic, contextualized experiences.”
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Supply chain insights Without a singular source for product data, companies can lack actionable intelligence about product attributes.
Serialization, as most readers of Packaging Europe magazine will be aware, entails assigning unique markings on the packaging design of each product, which then allows it to be followed and tracked throughout its life cycle.
Hidden in plain sight Digimarc’s digital watermarking is the science of ‘hiding’ information about an item in the item itself – or said more technically, a digital watermark is a low contrast pattern printed all over packaging that is imperceptible to the human eye. The digital watermark can carry any number of data sets –giving that item a digital identity.
“Digimarc’s Brand Integrity solution gives brands and their customers more sophisticated and flexible ways to verify the authenticity of products by assigning each product unit a serialized digital identity that can be
Mr Sickles points out that Digimarc’s technology can provide the ben efits of product digitization beyond improved detection of plastic material at recycling facilities.
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“Sophisticated counterfeit schemes expose companies and consumers to inferior products. Watermarks for packaging support this business needs with batch-lot and item-level traceability by applying serialized or custom identifiers and additional data to product packaging.”
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“Smart packaging allows every product to be ‘born digital’ at the time of manufacture. By giving every product item a unique digital identity in the product cloud, brands can realize the benefits of product digitization, such as ensuring a product’s authenticity, improving a product’s circularity, powering a smarter supply chain, and opening an owned-media channel for direct-to-con sumer engagement and the delivery of contextualized experiences. At the same time, brands receive real-time data intelligence to drive future sales, marketing, and other key business strategies.”
Looking to the future Mr Sickles sees “endless” possibilities for the technology going forward and believes that product digitization will be a crucial enabler as compa nies around the globe continue their digital transformation journeys.
“Our digital watermarking technology works on physical and digital products. Since our digital watermark can provide a unique digital identity for a product in both physical and digital worlds, this allows companies to provide a seamless customer experience across both worlds. For example, imagine viewing a dress that has been digitized with our watermarks with Augmented Reality glasses as you walk down the street. With a simple tap, you can learn where to buy that dress, and how much it will cost. Once you have purchased the physical dress, you can outfit your digital avatar with the dress in a virtual setting. The opportunity goes beyond consumer expe riences of course, and there are many opportunities in industrial, scientific, medical, environmental, and agricultural use cases.” n
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“Sophisticated counterfeit schemes expose companies and consumers to inferior products. Watermarks for packaging support this business need with batch-lot and item-level traceability by applying serialized or custom identifiers and additional data to product packaging,” says Mr Sickles. The technology can deliver new intelligence at every step in the product journey, which allows businesses to gain valuable information.
This combination of digitized products and cloud-based data makes the process of authenticating items more accurate and scalable than traditional physical authentication measures. Product traceability across the global supply chain is increasingly essen tial for consumer brands and food manufacturers to promote consumer safety, mitigate risk and gain real-time insight into product locations in warehouses and distribution centres.
“Smart packaging allows every product to be ‘born digital’ at the time of manufacture. By giving every product item a unique digital identity in the product cloud, brands can realize the benefits of product digitization.” tracked in the product cloud and accessed through a variety of on-package digital triggers, including digital watermarks.”
“The technology is being used in the apparel industry by brands such as Puma and Ralph Lauren to provide supply chain insights, boost brand protec tion, and engage customers along the product lifecycle. For the packaged goods industry, we enable end-to-end tracking of serialized items, cases, pal lets, batches, and raw materials for compliance and inventory management. In addition, giving every product item a digital identity in the product cloud pro vides brands with an owned-media channel for direct-to-consumer engage ment and the delivery of contextualized experiences. Consumers simply scan the code on the product’s packaging or label with their smartphone to receive valuable product information and personalized experiences,” he adds.
It’s all about the data Digimarc has recently partnered with Sealed Air to bring product digitiza tion to markets like food proteins, e-commerce fulfilment, industrials, and consumer goods at scale through smart packaging. The aim is to enable consumers to confirm product authenticity, access product origin and provenance information, and verify critical sustainability information.
“The primary purpose of pharmaceutical packaging is to protect medicines from contamination and maintain their effectiveness until delivery to the point of care,” said Amcor spokesperson Daniel Roiz, Marketing Director Healthcare. “Maintaining a barrier against oxygen and moisture that can alter the properties of the product, protect ing against contamination and physical damage and keeping the stability of active ingredients are key,” he explained. “Packaging also has to be designed to ensure convenience and compliance, such as being childresistant and senior friendly.”
SUSTAINABILITY PACKAGINGPHARMACEUTICALIN
and Stickpacks are based on mixed materials – often a combination of paper, aluminium and plastic – with the barrier coming from the aluminium layer. While this material structure is effective, it’s not recyclable. So we’ve developed new recycle-ready materials that remove the aluminium layer and still provide an effective barrier. This is one of the many sustainable levers we can unlock.”
The challenge is to create packaging that is both safe and more sustain able, Roiz explained. “To give one example, today’s pharmaceutical Sachets
He identified collection, recycling, regulation, and technology as the key challenges in creating more sustainable packaging for pharmaceuticals. Roiz explained that the existing infrastructure is not always designed for
Pharmaceutical packaging must tick many boxes to be considered safe and effective. Packaging plays a vital role in protecting the medicine, delivering it safely to patients and even shaping their experience with their treatment. Sustainability has also increasingly become a priority for the sector, presenting new challenges and opportunities for innovation.
‘Collection, recycling, regulation, and technology’
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And then there is also the fact that a lot of innovation will be required to create more sustainable packaging for medicine. “We can help customers smoothly transition away from non-recycle ready solutions, Roiz argued. “Some of these solutions imply a more significant change than others, and require a greater shift on the part of healthcare companies to succeed. One example is the world’s first recyclable polyethylene-based thermoform blister packaging. The new solution offers recyclability and carbon footprint reduction, as well as being rated as the more appealing pack by consumer focus groups. At the same time, it may require packaging design adapta tions to maximize productivity on customers’ lines.”
‘Patient safety is paramount’ When it comes to regulation, Roiz argued that “patient safety is para mount”. This can make moving to more sustainable packaging solutions a lengthy process. Nazneen Rahman, CEO of YewMaker – an “action lab” working to make healthcare more sustainable – also suggested that regulation may potentially pose an additional barrier to the emergence of sustainable solutions. She added, however, that the strict regulatory landscape could also be seen as being beneficial for the pharmaceutical packaging industry as it gives a sense of clarity on the approval process that may be lacking in other sectors.
YewMaker is the executive partner of the Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP), a not-for-profit collaboration between the public and private sectors that aims to bring together stakeholders to reduce waste generated from medicines and medical packaging. The World Packaging Organisation (WPO) – a non-profit, non-governmental, international federa tion – is a founding collaborator of the SMP.
| 30 | Packaging Europe collecting, sorting, and recycling the range of materials that are used in packaging, and will have to be improved for pharmaceutical packaging to enter a circular economy. “Amcor is active in a wide variety of partnerships both local and global to address this challenge, including being a strategic member of the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC), working towards a circular economy in healthcare,” he said.
“This new packaging enables manufacturers to leverage existing filling machines, with no required investments or efficiency losses,” Roiz said.
Smart packaging could also help prevent medicine from being unneces sarily wasted, Rahman suggested. “We obviously have excess medicines in the system, you have to have that to ensure supply,” she said. “But if you end up having too much medicine, instead of destroying it, can you donate it?” According to Rahman, this could be a possibility “Medicines are all barcoded already, we’re just not making use of that information,” she explained. “If we can know where our medicines are and move them to where they’re needed rather than having to dispose of them because we’re not tracking them well enough, that must help to improve accessibility.”
‘Instead of destroying it, can you donate it?’
Rahman explained that, through the SMP, YewMaker and WPO aim to raise awareness about the scale of the problem of waste in pharmaceutical packaging, but also to reward innovation and solutions. In part, this will be done through the SMP Awards that launched on 16 March 2022, endorsed by WPO as part of the organization’s WorldStar Packaging Awards program.
Other than maintaining the safety and integrity of the product, there are some additional factors that need to be considered when trying to change the packaging for medicines. One of these is a potential increase in cost, which must be considered alongside other factors, such as achieving a high barrier for products that require it.
The PP high barrier laminates for pharmaceuticals launched by Constantia Flexibles last year are also another available ‘recyclable-ready solution’.
She went on to add that part of the SMP’s mission is to highlight the fact that packaging is a key part of the medicine, and not only a protective container. n
Rahman explained that creating more sustainable packaging that leads to a rise in costs will not be an effective solution. “I don’t think that that’s going to be tenable,” she said, “because every health system, particularly after COVID, has got its back against the wall.”
‘More medicines in sustainable packaging’ Pierre Pienaar, President at WPO, suggested that the process of changing pharmaceutical packaging is longer compared to the processes for other consumer goods. “At minimum you’re looking at shelf-life trials that would take the best part of two years,” he said, adding that sometimes it can take more time than this. “Having said all that, we still need to have a more sus tainable approach,” he added. Pienaar argued that regardless of the timeline, the objective should be to “have more medicines in sustainable packaging.”
One example is the world’s first recyclable polyethylene-based thermoform blister packaging. The new solution offers recyclability and carbon footprint reduction, as well as being rated as the more appealing pack by consumer focus groups.
When it comes to laminate packaging solutions for pharmaceuticals, Amcor recently launched HealthCare™ High Shield Pharma Laminates in both paper and polyolefin versions that reportedly provide a ‘low-carbon’ and ‘recycle-ready’ packaging solution, while also giving a high barrier.
Pienaar echoed Rahman’s point, citing the example of blister packs, where using foil for the entire packaging would be costly. “You’re now becoming unsustainable from an economic perspective,” he said, “because foil is more expensive than any of the other polymer-based materials.” He explained that multi-laminate packaging presents more challenges than mono-material packs. One of the available solutions in this space is the Push Tab, a monomaterial PET blister lid for pharmaceuticals recently launched by Huhtamaki, which aims to improve recyclability while also maintaining its functionality.
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EXTR:ACT, the European platform to improve and increase the recycling of beverage cartons and similar fibre-based multi-material packaging in Europe, recently reported that its various projects across the continent now allow roughly 50,000 tonnes of non-fibre components of beverage cartons to be recycled annually and presented a 2030 roadmap. Elisabeth Skoda takes a closer look at the sustainability of beverage cartons, and delves deeper into EXTR:ACT’s work with Michael Brandl, who is the Director General at EXTR:ACT; and Annick Carpentier, director general at ACE, the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and Environment.
AC: Climate change is undeniably the biggest challenge for the next generations, and packaging should play its role in trying to stop climate change from becoming an even bigger problem. Packaging should always
AC: Beverage cartons perform better than alternative packaging materials, for several reasons. You should look at functionalities – packaging is not made for fun, but to serve and provide a function. Beverage cartons are used to safely transport and store the product and enable safe consumption. When comparing packaging solutions, you should compare the same functionalities. For example, you shouldn’t compare a clear PET bottle of water with a beverage carton that can contain sensitive goods such as milk or juice. To highlight beverage carton performance, I would like to refer to existing life cycle assessments, which demonstrated that beverage cartons perform better in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than plastic, or glass bottles. The same studies revealed that bever age cartons perform equally, or slightly better than re-usable glass bottles.
Another element is the packaging and transport efficiency of beverage cartons. Their shape allows more product to be transported – for example 25-40% more milk can be transported in cartons than in glass bottles, which results in a lower carbon footprint.
ES: Annick, how would you summarize the benefits of beverage cartons for packing beverages compared to other packaging materials, such as glass and HDPE?
The final element is that much less plastic is used in beverage cartons than in PET bottles.
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The same applies to packaging efficiency – beverage cartons are lighter than alternative packaging solutions, like glass, and even PET bottles which positively impacts on the emission of greenhouse gases.
BEVERAGE CARTONS AND SUSTAINABILITY
There are three elements to explaining the performance of beverage cartons.
ES: Could you talk a bit about what role beverage cartons can play in helping with the sustainability goals and the EU Green Deal ambitions?
Firstly, the source of the materials – on average beverage cartons are 75% renewable. These renewable resources have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuel equivalent materials used for packaging. All fibres that make up beverage cartons come from sustainably managed and certified forests. The fibres come from timber work byproducts, which means trees aren’t cut down to create beverage cartons.
ES: This obviously ties in with the roadmap launch. Could you talk to us about the commitments set to be reached by 2030?
AC: Collection is the starting point for any kind of recycling, so it is crucial to implement the ambitious collection requirements for our members. For some ES: Michael, what progress has EXTR:ACT made towards reaching these goals? MB: We are now focusing more and more on the technical solutions for non-fibre components like foil made with LDPE. We can proudly say that our latest development is the installation of a recycling plant close to Cologne here in Germany where we will be able to process roughly 40% of the nonfiber components of the beverage cartons in a starting phase. We have plans for recycling non-fibre components in other European countries, such as in the Netherlands, Italy and the Czech Republic, and through this, we expect that we can raise the recyclability of beverage cartons to over 90%.
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the ACE 2030 roadmap, our members are committed to increasing collection of beverage cartons to 90% by 2030, and to make sure that 70% of them are recycled. Of course, collection is key to reach this ambitious recycling target because if nothing is collected it cannot be recycled. The most important part of the food system is food safety, something that our members take very seriously although we are equally concerned with the environmental impact of food waste. Beverage cartons allow the storage of goods on the shelf for over six months.
ES: You mentioned collection, and recycling of beverage cartons. Which challenges do you face when wanting to improve rates?
Secondly, the more organized the collection system for sorting the materi als is the more sustainable the whole operation is. Last but not least, national recycling organizations and organizations such as EXTR:ACT support paper mills by giving them a sustainable and reliable flow of material and be able to set up installations for non fibre materials.
ES: I’d like to dig a bit deeper inter the technicalities of separating the non-fibre components from beverage cartons and subsequently recycling. How does this work and what’s the potential for upscaling? of upscaling of volumes – currently all the beverage cartons which are col lected are going into recycling. Our current 18 to 20 dedicated paper mills with their enhanced technology do have some reserves in their capacity for more volume, and more paper mills are interested in beverage carton recycling. What is the reason behind this? Paper mills appreciate the high quality of the fibres from beverage cartons.
When it comes to upscaling of quality, we take a comprehensive approach. What we are doing is not processing waste, but finding and extracting valuable materials.
90% collection and recycling target respectively, which will be verified by third parties. We will also meet the highest sustainability standards for all the materials used. We already have all our fibres certified against these globally recognized standards, but we will ensure this is done for all materials. And finally, we commit to increasing carbon saturation, enhancing biodiversity and increasing forest growth. We will also update our design for recycling guidelines on a yearly basis as they need to reflect the current technologies and developments. I think the roadmap is something we are all very proud of as it gives a real vision of what we are working for.
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Michael BrandlAnnick Carpentier
ES: On that note and in conclusion, could you tell me a bit more about the value of collaborations and any success stories?
It is important to note that recycling starts at the consumer’s household. Separating your waste creates ideal conditions for high-quality secondary mate rials. Around Europe you will find very different regulations around sorting waste. In my opinion, more education is needed to ensure that the consumers actually separate their waste. We are also exploring new sorting methods like AI or deep learning systems as well as digital watermarking systems which will lead to more granularity in the sorted material and lead to less unwanted materials in our streams. Together with the recyclers themselves we are investigating and testing these new technologies for this more granular type of sorted materials.
The dynamic in these areas is huge and I’m sure we will see a lot of new developments over the next few years. A lot of collaboration between the mem bers of the value chain is needed. At EXTR:ACT we invite not just the converters and the paper board producers, but also brand owners to join our initiative.
A new platform was created for the paper packaging value chain, including retailers, recyclers and suppliers: 4evergreen. There is a need for collaboration not only within the value chain but with local, national and EU authorities, as we need framework conditions to be in place. We also need authorities to understand how things function. As I men tioned, forestry is very high on our agenda but others tend to see forestry as a mere technicality. Things are complex but the future will certainly be about collaboration, creativity and getting together.
MB: A practical example: If we are going for new specifications and guide lines, we consult with all the members of the value chain. We ask the recyclers: What materials are you happy with? We ask the sorting facilities and the tech nical suppliers: Could you solve this problem or this requirement from the paper mill? Which technology would be needed? Also, we involve waste management companies, as they have to communicate with the brand owners or the fillers. Then we have closed the recycling value chain loop as the fillers come back to our colleagues and tell them what they require. n
AC: ACE itself has a value chain approach as we include the three largest bev erage carton converters in Europe. We do have the three main beverage carton converters in Europe, by far the largest one. Our members also include the liquid packaging board suppliers. We work together to ensure cooperation and targeted action. We also collaborate with different platforms and associations, on the side of regulatory affairs and advocacy and on a more technical side.
Packaging Europe | 37 | LISBON PACKAGINGSUSTAINABLESUMMIT For more information, scan here: 13-14 September 2022 Lisbon, Portugal Innovators, thinkers and leaders from FMC packaging, NGOs, regulation, EPR and recycling will come together to frankly assess our commitments, progress and how we can align around better strategies for sustainable transformation
BOPET FILMS ON THE PROBLEMS WITH HOUSEHOLD FLEXIBLES CIRCULARITY
In this edition of our ‘In Conversation With…’ feature, BOPET Films Europe’s chairman, Steven Davies, discusses the problems with circularity in household flexible packaging, the role that PET currently plays in these applications, and the future of these trends.
Broadly speaking, what would the impact of designing PET out of household flexible packaging structures be?
I think it is important to assess product sustainability throughout the lifecycle of a product taking into account the impact of production, the performance in use and then the potential end-of-life outcomes.
You’re of the belief that household flexible packaging has a prob lem when it comes to circularity. To start us off, could you give us a broad outline of this?
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The first point to make is how resource-efficient flexible packaging struc tures are and we shouldn’t lose sight of the positive role flexible packaging plays throughout its product life cycle, but unfortunately it is true that there are still challenges to address with circularity at the end of life.
The resource efficiency of household flexible packaging relies on a complex mix of materials, inks and adhesives, and when added to the fact that the pack sizes are small and can have a high level of food residue it essentially rules out mechanical recycling as a viable, economic end of life strategy regardless of the mix of plastics used.
Another very important factor is that if you design out PET, you lose the ability to incorporate recycled content into food contact applica tions which of course is the opposite of one of four key pledges in the European plastics pact. During the processing and packing process there will also be significant financial and environmental costs with less efficient processing and pack ing with packing lines running at lower speeds and lower temperatures, and ultimately that will lead to more machines and more factories needed to pack the same output. If those compromises lead to a much-improved end-of-life outcome then it could be worth considering, but unfortunately the end-of-life out come for mixed plastic or mono polyolefin remains the same with incinera tion or in the future pyrolysis the only viable option at industry scale.
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With other forms of advanced recycling, the plastic-to-plastic yield is very low, but because of PET’s molecular construction there is the option with monomer recycling to recover almost all of the PET present in the original structure. Like all other areas of recycling there is investment needed, but we can only expect investment in the collection, sorting and recycling of house hold flexible packaging when there is a viable economic case, and here I believe PET structures and monomer recycling offers the most compelling case, and certainly the only viable way to achieve a circular economy for household flexible packaging.
As I touched on before, it is not just the plastic content you need to con sider, but also the other elements in household flexible packaging as well as the limitations of the recycling processes you are evaluating. In the case of mechanical recycling the issue with household flexible packaging is the inks, adhesives and food residue which reduces the quality of the resulting recyclate, making it financially unattractive to invest to serve the limited end markets for downcycled material.
It is your view that PET structures can offer a closed-loop system for household flexible packaging. Can you break this concept down for us? There is not going to be a one size fits all solution for an industry as complex as household flexible packaging, but PET structures technically can be a more resource-efficient, lower-carbon alternative in a wide variety of applications. However, it is at the end of life where the real gains can be
On that subject, what do you think has driven these trends?
PET is currently the backbone of about 25% of all household flexible packaging structures, and replacing this with a polyolefin alternative will lead to a significant increase in the use of plastic to get the same level of pack performance. If you consider a property like pack stiffness, you require up to a 60% increase in thickness to get the same performance from a PE film compared to PET.
At industry scale I believe the only viable end-of-life outcomes for polyole fin-rich structures (whether they are mono polyolefin or mixed plastic with low levels of PET content) are incineration or advanced recycling such as pyrolysis.
I believe that pyrolysis will have an important role to play in the future, and we have data to prove that low levels of PET have little or no negative impact on the yield of useful products through pyrolysis so there is no need to make the compromises of re-designing all polyolefin structures.
What are your thoughts on the end-of-life outcomes for current mixed plastic structures, and all polyolefin structures for that matter?
I think the debate in the industry has to shift to a more detailed discussion about the impact of packaging structures across their lifetime, and we need to focus more on what recycling technologies are viable for those structures. This is most likely to be pyrolysis for mono PE, mono PP and mixed plastic structures, and monomer recycling where all PET structures can be used. n
I think there has been a real desire from many parts of the supply chain to find a positive solution, and unfortunately, that has led to a simplistic view that the success story of mechanically recycling pre-consumer polyethyl ene film waste can be translated into the far more complicated world of household flexible packaging.
achieved with monomer recycling which is a lower cost, lower carbon form of advanced recycling offering the only real opportunity for a closed-loop recycling process for household flexible packaging.
EdF: After those five years I think AIPIA played at least a small role by bringing the right people together. Our events were very small but very inspiring. We have always tried to invite brands to tell technology provid ers what they specifically want so they are developing things that are
ES: Eef, you set up AIPIA over a decade ago: Could you tell me what inspired you to do so?
ES: Andrew, you’re an equally longstanding part of AIPIA. How did this happen?
Elisabeth Skoda catches up with Eef de Ferrante, managing director at AIPIA, and Andrew Manly, AIPIA’s communications director, to discuss the collaboration and the role that smart packaging can play when it comes to reducing food waste, brand protection, fighting counterfeiting, driving supply chain efficiencies, as well as boosting consumer engagements and recycling rates.
AM: I’d add that you can’t take active or intelligent packaging in isolation. Some of these things can work together and the ultimate objective is to extend the shelf life or reduce perishability, as well as connecting with the consumer along the supply chain and authenticating the product. They work together, these goals.
Earlier this year, AIPIA (the Active and Intelligent Packaging Industry Association) and Packaging Europe entered a strategic partnership with the aim of accelerating the uptake of smart packaging innovation.
EdF: From 1995 I was managing intelligent transport systems and I became interested in what would happen if you put the word ‘intelligent’ in front of other industries. So when the idea of intelligent packaging arrived on my desk, what I found out was that it already existed but at the same time it didn’t. There were lots of ideas and companies were developing things but it was not structured. So, I decided to set up the association to help this industry forward.
ES: How have you seen active and intelligent packaging grow in these years?
A DEEP DIVE INTO POWERTHEOF PACKAGINGSMART Eef de Ferrante
ES: Smart packaging is a very broad area. For our listeners who are not so familiar with AIPIA, what areas does it cover?
EdF: I have a very simple explanation I always use: Active packaging is a technology that you add to packaging that has an influence on the product (extending shelf life, for example); intelligent packaging is a technology you add to the packaging that knows something about the product (where does it come from, where’s it going to, how it was made, etc).
AM: My entry into packaging was in 1977. I’ve spent 20 years as head of the UK’s Processing and Packaging Machinery Association. I found myself in Holland and through a colleague in the international packaging press organi zation I met Eef, who was in need of some help in English translations for the newly established AIPIA. His expertise in organization and networking and my expertise in the packaging sector seemed to marry together very well
AM: The first five years of AIPIA was very much about proof of concept. People didn’t understand what active or intelligent packaging were really for and therefore they didn’t get why they would need to have it.
Yes, authentication, provenance etc. are all very important but what surprised us from the start was that brand owners were much more interested in the consumer engagement aspect of smart packaging. I think the agenda has changed a bit more because of sustainability and food Andrew Manly
Packaging Europe | 41 | actually needed. Bringing together the right people at the right time is a key role for AIPIA. AM: What we found from brand owners is that they became more familiar with the technology but wondered what it solved for them. They wanted us to come to them with a solution rather than with silos of technology that they couldn’t see would help them. They had issues that smart packaging could help with but they needed this network to bring the technology provid ers together to offer those solutions. We are now maybe in the third five-year phase where most of the brand owners get it, while the retailers are still a bit slower to take up the technologies. But the thing is to get them to take the big step to implementation at a scalable level. Something like the HolyGrail project with their plastic sorting technology chimes very well with that. EdF: Now you see that the topic of smart packaging is a bit more embed ded into the brands’ organization. They will often appoint a smart packag ing manager, for example, so we are slowly getting there.
Also, we really believe that if you want to influence consumer behaviour it’s only technology that can do this. You can’t teach the con
All these topics are on top of the list. Smart packaging is about engaging with the consumer and really let them do something. Covid definitely highlighted the need for safety and security. The pack aging industry has had to respond and it’s quite clear smart packaging has a few of the answers to this, particularly for perishable and sensitive foods. But we can also add compliance in the pharma sector. 14 billion dollars’ worth of meds get wasted in the US every year so if we can do something to divert that money into more useful things then that’s going to be a big
AM: The stakeholders come from all parts of the supply chain from prod ucts through logistics and into retail and consumer engagement. I should also mention we have worked with Accenture on an important report on connected packaging that addresses some of these issues. It’s not just interoperability either – the roadblocks are within companies themselves and the bigger the companies the more siloes there are. Smart packag ing provides solutions; it gives answers to all kinds of questions that can help to streamline supply chains in a much more coherent and economical way. The Accenture report is available free-of-charge to download and
EdF: There is also a big roadblock. The packaging travels through the whole supply chain but all those steps in the chain are siloed. To be honest, we talked five years ago about how if you make packaging intelli gent you have to use this intelligence in every part of the supply chain and that’s not happening yet. It needs to be connected the whole way through, from transport, to storage, to retail and so on. We have to share the data along the supply chain with everyone using the same system, and if we don’t do that, smart packaging will fail. The future of this industry 100% depends on opening up the supply chain to data.
RFID tags on all products but that’s just one retailer; we need 10+ of the big retailers to do that – your Nestles, your Unilevers, P&G etc. Again, it comes down to the cost vs. value question.
ES: What steps would have to be taken to achieve this? EdF: We have a project called ‘Smart Packaging for Intelligent Logistics’. This is at the early stage but we want to extend it globally and build a system as an example.
I recommend that any readers who want to should access it from our website: connected-packaging-from-Accenture-and-AIPIA-39.phphttps://www.aipia.info/smart-packaging-New-research-report-on-
EdF: For us, one issue is that Covid hasn’t helped us at all the past two years so we needed to look for ways to come back even stronger and keep our agenda moving. We truly believe that the partnership will make AIPIA stronger; Packaging Europe’s network offers big opportunities for us, while we in turn bring our in-depth knowledge of this market sector.
ES: How has the collaboration with Packaging Europe influenced the scope of AIPIA and how do you see it progressing?
AM: Anything that gets the message of smart packaging to a wide professional audience of readers is a good thing.
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ES: And finally, I would like to remind out readers that Packaging Europe will be helping to run this year’s AIPIA World Congress from 14-15 Novem ber 2022 in Amsterdam. We look forward to welcoming as many of our audience there as possible. Details can be found on the Packaging Europe website: https://packagingeurope.com/aipia-world-congress
The upcoming release, created in collabora tion with M/M, comprises wearable ‘auras’ –customized ‘digital and physical scents’ which were featured in Vogue Business. These fragrances, a combination of 26 ingredients that represent different emotions, are packaged in bottles with near-field communica tion (NFC) tags that connect to NFTs (Non-fungible Tokens.) Each customized perfume will be launched as a digital collectible in limited quantities. This project marks Byredo’s first foray into the metaverse, following in the footsteps of other beauty brands such as Estée Lauder, Givenchy Beauty, Nars and Jeffree Star who are also investing in the digital space.
NEW RECTANGULAR QR CODE FROM DENSO WORKS IN NARROW SPACES
FRAGRANCE
Digimarc Corporation, a leading AIPIA member which created Digimarc watermarks, next-generation digital identification and detection-based solutions, recently announced the launch of its Digimarc® Brand Integ rity digital solution, which gives brands and their customers more sophisti cated and flexible ways to verify the authenticity of products.
Digimarc’s data-driven approach involves assigning each product unit a serialized digital identity that can be tracked in the cloud and accessed through a variety of on-package digital triggers, including the Digimarc digital watermark. The powerful combination of digitized products and cloud-based data makes the process of authenticating items more accurate and scalable than traditional physical authentication measures, according to the company. It recently acquired EVRYTHNG, the creators of the Product Cloud® platform, which is a feature of the new solution.
JOINS THE METAVERSE THROUGH NFC TAGS CONNECTED TO NFTS
The rMQR code contributes to the efficient management and use of informa tion and resources in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, it claims. Additionally it is ISO certified and can be used freely and easily by all usersDENSOworldwide.WAVE first developed the QR code back in 1994. As it is in the public domain, the QR code has become the global standard and is used in a variety of different fields. With the addition of the new QR code model, DENSO believes it makes it pos sible to use extremely small spaces that had previously been difficult to reach. The possibilities range from product traceability in factories and supply chains to products and printed matters that place emphasis on design.
NEW BRAND INTEGRITY SOLUTION COMBINES DIGIMARC AND EVRYTHNG TECHNOLOGIES
ACTIVE AND INTELLIGENT PACKAGING SPOTLIGHT
In collaboration with our partners AIPIA, we bring you the latest from the world of intelligent packaging.
“The company has created a uniquely digital solution that leverages the ubiquity of smartphones and other digital devices to make product authen tication much more streamlined and less prone to human error.”
RTFKT’s co-founder Benoit Pagotto added, “We always wanted a perfume but had to do it differently, and Byredo was always our dream partner to make this vision happen. It’s one of my favourite projects we have going, an idea I’ve had for a while.”
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Byredo, a fragrance and makeup brand founded by Ben Gorham, has joined forces with RTFKT, the Nike-owned digital fashion startup, on a beauty-meets-Web3 launch.
DENSO, which is part of the Toyota Group, has developed a new QR code. The rectangular Micro QR Code, or rMQR Code for short, can be printed in long, narrow spaces. These spaces are commonly found in margins. Hence, the new QR code contributes to information management in small spaces with limited height dimension, according to the company. Further development of the QR code technology has made it possible to create the rMQR code, which is easy to read, while being a rectangular shape instead of the typical square one. While the shape of the rMQR code is new, it retains the same outstanding scan speed and data capacity characteristics of a common QR code, says Denso. In fact, the rMQR code stores up to 361 numeric characters, 219 alphanumeric characters or 92 kanji characters.
“As counterfeiters have become more sophisticated and supply chains more diffuse, companies are recognizing that traditional brand protection approaches, that are largely reactive and reliant on trained inspectors and specialized equipment, are both ineffective and inefficient,” said Ken Sickles, chief product officer at Digimarc.
“I liked the idea of dissecting it down to raw materials. A single scent is incapable of represent ing this virtual world, so we formulated a lexicon of elements that collectors can combine at will to make something entirely unique,” Gorham explained.
POUCH GIVES BERRIES AND LETTUCE EXTENDED SHELF LIFE SCENTS AS A SENSORY PACKAGING TOOL AND COVID TEST PERNOD RICARD LAUNCHES DIGITAL LABEL SYSTEM AIMED AT RESPONSIBLE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION
Pernod Ricard is set to roll out a digital label system across its wine and spirits brands with QR codes that consumers can scan with their smartphones to access information on ingredients, nutritional values, and responsible alcohol consumption. The company says it will launch a European pilot programme for the digital label solution in July 2022. As part of the pilot, Pernod Ricard brand bottles will reportedly carry their own QR code on the back label that, once scanned with a smartphone, will redirect consumers directly to a platform where they will be able to access relevant information on each Accordingproduct.toPernod Ricard, this information will include a list of ingre dients and full nutrition facts for each of its products in partnership with European wine and spirits associations. The digital platform will apparently also offer information about the health risks asso ciated with consuming alcohol, as well as responsible drinking guidelines issued by governments, including guidance on who should avoid drinking alcohol.
In a recent study by researchers from Iran and the University of Pennsylvania, 96% of COVID-19 positive patients exhibited some degree of measurable smellMajorloss.advantages are that smell testing is inexpensive, easy to perform and provides immediate test results. H&H worked with Dr Richard Doty, the director of the University of Pennsylvania Smell and Taste Centre and founder of Senson ics International, a New Jersey-based company that produces smell and taste tests used in a wide variety of applications.
Sensonics, in collaboration with H&H Graphics, created a test for use in iden tifying this potential COVID-19 biomarker. The scratch-off tests use a combina tion of eight scents with multiple-choice options for identifying them.
The digital label system is expected to be rolled out globally across Pernod Ricard’s portfolio by 2024.
SAVRpak, a California-based food technol ogy innovation company, has announced the launch of SAVRpak Drop-In, the firstever moisture control technology that extends the shelf-life and freshness of produce up to three times, it claims. The SAVRpak Drop-In is a thermodynamic, biodegradable, chemical-free pouch that is placed in produce packaging before being sealed. SAVR pak’s Atmospheric Control and Transmission (ACT) technology quickly begins purifying the atmosphere within the package to slow the aging process. This is achieved by targeting conditions that affect shelf-life, such as excess moisture and condensation, as well as external contaminants like bacteria, according to theThecompany.pouch creates a modified atmosphere inside the package for an extended period by eradicat ing a number of causes of premature moulding, wilting and spoilage of peel-less and packaged produce including berries, leafy greens, grapes, mini cucumbers and others. Successful trials have been completed with a number of US produce suppliers. “We’re excited to be able to address an area of food preservation that has been unachievable to date, and that’s the ability to extend the life of peel-less produce like berries and leafy greens,” said SAVRpak co-CEO Grant Stafford. “Building on our success in the foodservice delivery realm, we have successfully transformed the basic technology to address a category that lacked a solution to keep food fresh for longer while reducing food waste – a top culprit of greenhouse gas emissions.”
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The solution will be rolled out initially in the USA and Latin America with berry suppliers that have undertaken successful trials, proving the technol ogy’s efficacy. Trials took place with Divine Flavor for table grapes, RCG Fruits for blackberries, Agrovision for blackberries, blueberries and raspberries, Agrizar for mini-cucumbers and Ocati for goldenberries. n CONTROL
BIODEGRADABLE MOISTURE
While a smell assessment is not intended as a means to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, there is growing interest in the smell test as a way to detect smell dysfunction that could be linked to COVID-19 infection.
According to H&H Graphics, a new member of AIPIA, there is a wide and growing interest in incorporating scent into packaging. The potential for innovation is pretty much unlimited, particularly when combined with other multisensory effects, it says. The technology for incorporating scent includes the development and testing of specialized inks to create a customized, high-quality scent and to ensure its release and resiliency. Scent can be incorporated with encapsulation that cre ates a release upon opening, or for scratch interaction, as well as printed directly onto or into packaging. One example is scented recipe suggestions on food and beverageRecentlypackaging.H&Hhelped to develop a rapid screening tool in the fight against COVID-19. An impaired sense of smell is common in many neurological disorders. Initial research revealed smell dysfunction as an early symptom of COVID-19 and a more effective screening criterion than fever checks.
The company adds that all the available content will be adapted to local specificities, with country-specific drinking guidelines and a range of languagesAlexandreoffered.Ricard, chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard, comments: “As a consumer-centric company committed to responsible drinking, this new digital label system strives to respond to our customers’ evolving needs. “Now more than ever, consumers want to know what is in their drinks. Thanks to digital technology, this information can now be accessed easily.
What is the importance of collaboration to packaging recyclability, what more can the value chain do to accelerate it, and what kinds of technical challenges must the industry overcome on this journey? We caught up with Susan Janssen, Sustainability and Sustainable Products Manager at Wipak, to find out more.
Packaging lines differ a lot and request a lot from the thin flexible films we produce. Keeping mechanical properties at a well-known level, without using common materials to enhance stiffness, which would make the film structure complex, is one of the key elements.
Wipak’s recyclable portfolio offers solutions designed accordingly to recycling guidelines, with excellent performance and the smallest amount
Could you drill down into some of your products, and give us some insights into some of the technical challenges that had to be addresses in the R&D process?
Recyclability is one of the biggest challenges of our era. Currently, the materi als that are eligible for recycling in most countries need to fit the current infra structure based on mechanical recycling. One of the challenges it that different infrastructure and preferences apply for different countries, even within Europe.
For example, vacuum packaging, typically made from multilayer structures containing PA and PE, having a high mechanical strength and puncture resistance. With our latest PE- or PP-based thermoformable films from our NFO ECO and SC ECO range, we can maintain performance of the film and efficiency on the packaging lines of our customers.
WIPAK RECYCLABILITYTALKS
Our GreenChoice sustainable products are designed with the circular econ omy as a guiding principle. Our mission is to make packaging more circular and for this we keep on striving for valuable collaborations with customer and partners, gathering the right knowledge and develop solutions together.
Broadly speaking, what is the importance of recyclability to Wipak, and how does it fit in with your overall sustainability mission?
We are proactively embracing sustainability issues as consumer demands and regulatory requirements multiply. A common target and approach is needed to increase recycling and to improve and innovate recycling infrastructure, or even develop it where it doesn’t exist yet. Apart from downgauging and recyclability, we all need to think in terms of solutions that are designed for purpose. Not overengineering, but keeping packag ing balanced for the application and adapting the product safety to the required level of a packaged good.
Recycling is a shared challenge for producers and consumers, but we find it our responsibility to help in making responsible choice and the transition to recyclable packaging as easy as possible for producers and packers. Designing packaging for recycling enables it to be sorted and recycled properly as the valu able material it is, staying within the value chain as part of a circular economy. How does collaborating with organizations like Ceflex help you in this journey? We want to be the facilitators in contributing to a circular future, producing sustainable products that allow our customer’s customers, the end-con sumers, to make sustainable decisions all the way from the store shelf to the collection point at the end-of-life of the packaging. Therefore, we make sure all of our recyclable solutions are in align ment with recognized ‘Design for Recycling’ guidelines, such as the ones proposed by CEFLEX. Sharing a common sense along the value chain is essential to make the change happen, that’s what CEFLEX stands for, the collaboration and approach in working towards a common goal. In your view, what more can the packaging value chain as a whole do to accelerate recyclability and recycling infrastructure?
The need for more recyclable solutions asks less complex film structures but at the same, not compromising on product safety, shelf-life and machinability. Especially the last one is a major topic to our R&D.
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Packaging Europe | 47 | of material needed. Facilitating sustainable choices for the end consumer “Sustainability made Simple” is key for the transition towards responsible packaging. Therefore, we are continuously extending our recyclable pack aging portfolio, allowing for more packaging being recovered via recycling.
As an official Digimarc partner since 2018, Wipak has firm expertise in driving the next generation of digital identification and detection-based solutions that help customers drive efficiency, accuracy, and security across physical and digital supply chains.
What are your predictions for the future of recycled packaging, and how will Wipak fit into this?
Wipak is key player in the cross-value chain initiative HolyGrail 2.0, under the auspices of AIM. The objective of the Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0 is to prove the viability of digital watermarking technologies for accurate sorting and the business case on a large scale. In the near future, digital watermarks will help consumers better sort their waste at home, providing all the information they need at their fingertips.
Wipak has successfully produced close to 8000 digital watermarked enhanced packaging concepts in the retail sector with partner, Digimarc®
When the digitally watermarked packaging is collected and sorted, and after this sent for recycling, the system using a standard high-resolution camera will be able to detect and decode the watermark. Depending on the attributes communicated by the watermark, the packaging will then be automatically directed to the right sorting stream, allowing a more homogeneous stream and higher-quality recycled materials to get back into the value chain.
The better the quality of recycled materials, which will be supported by new recycling technologies and cleaning steps as well, the higher the chance to really close the loop and recycle packaging back into packaging. n
It is therefore unclear what official percentage of plastic and packaging materials will be needed for plastics and packaging materials to be classed as biobased, biodegradable, and/or compostable in the future. It is predict able though that official standards and regulations will soon be set, and that required percentages to meet these standards will keep increasing further in the future. It seems that until the EU legislation is further refined, industry will need to lead in the push towards sustainable packaging. Those delving into sustainable packaging must also be wary of ever-changing regulations around chemicals, as those chemicals considered safe to use today, espe cially in food and drink packaging, could be considered toxic in the future. We need more frontrunners to achieve more breakthroughs that really save the planet. CO-CREATION IS THE WAY FORWARD. Cocreation accelerates both invention and commercialization of extreme breakthroughs – driven by those who care about our oceans. n
WHEN ‘BIO-BASED’ IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS ON SECOND THOUGHTS...
On the surface, the notion of bio-based plastics is an appealing one. But it is not so simple, as Dr Sigvald Harryson, Professor of Disruptive Innovation and Founder of iKNOW-WHO.com, explains in the second of his columns in this series in collaboration with Dr Katie Lamb, Co-Creation Officer at iKNOW-WHO.com.
Many packaging applications currently make claims to be based on bioplastics. Unfortunately, bio-based means absolutely nothing today except in a few frontrunner countries. For a packaging manufacturer, or an FMCG, to label a package with ‘biobased’ it currently suffices that a mere 20% of the packaging material is bio-based and the rest can be fossil fuel derived plastics. To make a bad situation worse, there are companies putting bio-based labels on packaging that is 20% bio-based, only considering carbon while ignor ing all other organic elements that are part of the package.
One major issue that needs to be addressed is clearly defining: What truly are ‘biobased’, ‘biodegradable’, and/or ‘compostable’ plastics and packaging?
One barrier for sustainability is the overlap between numerous plastic definitions that exist. Whilst terms such as ‘biodegradable’, ‘biobased’, ‘bioplastics’ and ‘compostable’ have their own definitions, which are still debated today, many of these terms can overlap and are interchangeable.
One personal observation is that due to the numerous standards already existing for biodegradable and compostable plastics, with more soon to be developed around biobased plastics, there is the risk that no overall figure or percentage on what determines plastic or packaging to be termed as biobased, biodegradable or compostable will be set. This in turn will lead to confusion, different standards listing different criteria, and issues in creating more sustainable plastics and packaging solutions.
After talks with experts in the policy sphere, it was clear that the EU is on the verge of making key decisions in terms of sustainable packaging and plastics, but where these decisions will go is still unclear. Until the details of these recent consultations are released and made official, many experts in the EU policy sphere are not willing (yet) to comment on future EU directions, with one expert commenting, “you may find that the DirectorateGeneral for Environment and others don’t want to be interviewed at present ahead of a consultation response”.
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So how is the misleading bio-based label possible and why do we not have any EU law in place applying to bio-based, biodegradable and com postable plastics in a comprehensive manner?
Not only does this add complexity to setting rules, standards and regula tions, but it also means that labels around these terms are confusing for consumers and the general public. As of 2022, the European Union still lacks specific legislation compre hensively regulating biobased, biodegradable, and compostable plastics, and thus sustainable packaging. The EU’s European Green Deal details that the production of more sustainable plastics will be pursued, and the impact of mircoplastic pollution will be reduced. Further, in the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Commission set out to create a policy framework on sourc ing, labelling and use of biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics. As a result of the promises declared in the Circular Economy Action Plan, an online consultation on developing a ‘Policy framework on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics’ roadmap was run by the EU from September 2021 to October 2021. The results from this report are expected to be released in the second quarter of 2022.
Some countries do act with impact. As an example, the introduction of the Plastic Packaging Tax in the UK led to a dramatic drop in single-use plastic bags at supermarkets, when the 5p charge of purchasing these plastic bags was introduced in 2015. A future ban on single-use plastics has also been pushed in the UK and in the EU. Far from all countries have followed this ban.
For more information, visit: packagingeurope.com/lisbon-strategic-leadership-summit Take a lead and create positive change that drives sustainability in packaging. LISBON PACKAGINGSUSTAINABLESUMMIT 13th-14th September 2022 Lisbon, Portugal
LISBON PACKAGINGSUSTAINABLESUMMIT For more information, visit: packagingeurope.com/lisbon-strategic-leadership-summit13th-14thSeptember 2022 Lisbon, Innovators,Portugalthinkers and leaders from FMC packaging, NGOs, regulation, EPR and recycling will come together to frankly assess our commitments, progress and how we can align around better strategies for sustainable transformation.
