Materials News
Decoupling from plastics for the sake of the environment
The packaging industry can help in mitigating the worsening climate change with responsible sourcing of raw materials and eco-friendly material substitution, says Angelica Buan in this article. Material substitution and recycling in packaging Plastics are an unrivalled packaging material due to their diverse properties and low production costs. However, fuelled by expectations of emissions of 85 million tonnes/ year of CO2 by 2050 and the drive for a low-carbon economy, plastics have come under the heat of late. The use of renewable materials is seen as a viable option. Finnish packaging materials producer Stora Enso is looking at shifting from fossil to renewable materials like wood fibre as a complementing strategy for packaging. In a study conducted by Swedish management consulting business Material Economics for Stora Enso, wood fibre is pointed out as CO2-neutral and able to offset 65% of fibre production emissions. It also stated that while recycling is necessary to address the plastics problem, this solution will only tackle 30-40% of the problem. Stora Enso also stated that eliminating CO2 emissions from packaging plastics in the EU alone would require 80% of all electricity currently produced from renewable energy sources in the EU. At 2°C of global warming, weather patterns and extreme climate events are likely to occur
Meanwhile, Belgium-based industry association PlasticsEurope recently said that revisions made to the European Commission’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) are key to the transition to a circular economy for plastics. It adds that European plastics producers support the European Commission’s proposal for a mandatory EU recycled content target for plastics packaging, and it is now calling for a mandatory target of 30% recycled content in plastics packaging by 2030. It adds that members are already working towards this target “by investing billions of Euros in increased high-quality supply of recycled plastics and leading-edge technology solutions.” Ramping up chemical recycling
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is essential to achieve such a mandatory target, it said, citing that its members' planned investments in this vital technology and infrastructure range from EUR2.6 billion by 2025 to EUR7.2 billion by 2030 in Europe. Waste, non-food feedstock for bioplastics Without plastics, packaging may not be the same. Even the most environmentally-friendly packaging alternatives, excluding paper, metal, and glass, will contain plastic elements, but in smaller proportions. Bioplastics are biomass-derived polymers that attempt to mimic the mechanical properties of petroleum-based plastics while posing no environmental risks. Since the invention of the first cellulose-based plastic and casein milk plastic in the 19th century, the development of bioplastics has gained traction. Following this, companies developed and patented bioplastics made from wood, hemp, and cotton, such as Cellophane (which was a registered trademark by Futamura Chemical UK in some countries), as well as plastics produced by organism fermentation. As a result of these breakthroughs, it became possible to use a material derived from renewable resources. However, the cost and viability of commercialscale production have been a disadvantage, Cellophane was with questions among the early been raised about bioplastics the sustainability developed from of bioplastics’ plant-based feedstock sourcing. material With the availability of new materials processing technologies and studies, the production of bioplastics is expected to become less expensive. Current R&D efforts have also demonstrated the viability of a variety of renewable sources that address carbon footprint and feedstock sustainability. For example, The Circe (Circular industries with cellular factories) project of Harvard University’s Wyss Institute is using engineered microbes to produce biodegradable plastics from carbon dioxide and hydrogen gases. Bioplastics, their study claims, will have smaller carbon footprint than petroleum-based plastics and minimal environmental impact than plant-based plastics. Circe’s proprietary microorganisms consume CO2 and H2 gases to
