Page 3 - Packaging News magazine November-December 2022

When the going gets tough... pull together
AS A STRONG advocate for the REDcycle soft plastics recycling program, the sudden announce- ment of its suspension was one of those “where were you when you heard the news about..?” moments for me. I was just off a flight, sitting in Melbourne air- port, and what followed was a long night of on-the-record and off-the-record conversations with stakeholders. And in the ensuing days, these con- versations informed several in-depth feature articles to outline the causes, the immediate challenges, and a pos- sible path forward.
Amidst the writing process, one of the very first things I did though, was reach out to REDcycle founder Liz Kasell with a message of support. It’s gratifying that I was not alone. As the industry processed the extent of the problem and what the repercussions would be, messages of sup- port poured out across social media.
It was clear that the companies and industry professionals who know Liz for the pioneer that she is, and REDcycle for the innovative program that it is, know that this a complex situation and that the problem is not REDcycle’s alone to solve.
...let’s not waste this crisis. It has shone the spotlight on a flawed system that we as an industry have the wherewithal to fix.”
It is a whole of value chain problem, as I discuss in Industry Insight on page 12, where the causes of the current situ- ation and the challenges going forward are unpacked.
In my interview with Liz she told me that the groundswell of support has been a mainstay for her and the REDcycle team. The team is devastated by the crisis and, as they work tirelessly with stakeholders and government to try to solve the problem as quickly as possible, Liz says it has been heartening
to know that they have strong backing. That’s very relatable.
When the chips are down and the stakes are high, you need to find cour- age, grit and determination to keep going. Pioneering is not for the faint of heart, and in an industry like ours, it’s a road best travelled in the company of collaborators. As we have seen from recycling projects here and abroad that are getting off the ground, collaboration is where it’s at.
No circular system is an island. The problem we are dealing with in plastics waste, or rather, let me rephrase that, in plastics resource recovery, is much bigger than any single company. It requires, as new APCO CEO Chris Foley so aptly puts it in People in Packaging on page 34, a holistic systems approach.
REDcycle is a success story many wanted to believe in. Now is not the time to stop. Now is the time to take action as an industry to find scalable solutions. And scale-up we must, for REDcycle is only handling a small proportion of the country’s post-consumer soft plastics.
The good news is this process is underway, trials are advancing. But scaling requires investment encouraged by pull-through demand. The power buyers – retailers and governments – need to specify local recycled content. Brand owners need to design packag- ing to incorporate recycled content, and be incentivised to do so. Consumers need to be educated as to the value of recycled content packaging, and green- washers need to be put on high alert to stop free-riding the system others are working so hard to build.
Support is more than just a kind word or impassioned LinkedIn post. Those are welcome, but in times of crisis, actions speak louder than words.
In Liz’s words, let’s not waste this crisis. It has shone the spotlight on a flawed system that we as an industry have the wherewithal to fix. It will take time, money, technology. But most of all, it will take collective action.
When the going gets tough, the tough must pull together. ■
Lindy Hughson
Managing Editor & Publisher
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