Page 12 - Packaging News Magazine Jan-Feb 21

12 INDUSTRY INSIGHT | www.packagingnews.com.au | January-February 2021
The thorny problem
of single-use plastics
Australia and other nations have set ambitious targets to increase the sustainability of plastics and other materials used in packaging. Achieving these targets hinges on developing new ways to deal with the increasing use of single-use plastics over the coming years. Industry analyst Smithers recently released a report delving into the issue.
TWENTY twenty-five is a key year for sus- tainability targets. It is the goal date for Australia’s 2025 National Packaging Targets and the EU is to require all mem- ber states to achieve a 77 per cent collec- tion target by that year. But global con- sumption of rigid and flexible single-use
plastics will continue to grow in 2025, according to recent research from industry
analyst Smithers.
While the research found global use of single-use plastics would increase
to 48.5 million tonnes in 2025, it
also found progress towards these goals. However, the scale of the problem requires additional focus and new technologies to reach these targets that governments have set for themselves.
AMBITIOUS GOALS
Despite multiple policies to restrict their use, global consumption of rigid and flexible sin- gle-use packaging will continue to grow to reach 48.5 million tonnes in 2025, even as Covid-19 reshapes the global economy.
The research, available in The Future of Single-use Plastic Packaging to 2025 report by Smithers, tracks how this will rise from a projected 40.4 million tonnes in 2020. This is equivalent to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7 per cent for 2020-2025 and is a drop from the 4.0 per cent CAGR seen for 2015 – 2020.
Efficient mechanical recycling pro- grammes are advancing in some markets targeting specific single-use types – polyethylene terephthalate (PET) drink bottles, high-density polyeth- ylene (HDPE) dairy containers, and some PET and polypropylene (PP) food containers – which are excluded
from the Smithers data.
THE PROBLEM OF FLEXIBLES
Instead, the industry is now focusing increasingly on recovering and processing flexible polymer formats, which represent 69 per cent of single-use plastic packs.
In parallel, it will need to react to chang- ing consumer perceptions of packaging due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and reap- praise the market proposition of recycled feedstocks as oil prices experience a short- term fall.
Smithers’ five-year forecast identifies the following key technology challenges for 2020-2025:
APCO’S ACTION PLAN FOR PROBLEM PLASTICS
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) has published APCO Action Plan for Problematic and Unnecessary Single-Use Plastic Packaging. It is a practical new resource designed to help Australia’s packaging supply chain phase out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through innovative, sustainable solutions.
Approximately 50,700 tonnes of single- use plastic packaging enter the market every year and include some of the most challenging to recycle and environmentally
harmful packaging formats. The plan sets out how Australia can eliminate the following nine priority materials:
1. Lightweight plastic shopping bags
2. Fragmentable plastics
3. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) packaging
for food and beverage service and retail
fresh produce
4. EPS loose fill packaging
5.Moulded EPS packaging for white/brown
goods and electronics
6.Rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) packaging 7. Rigid polystyrene (PS) packaging
8. Opaque polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles
9. Rigid plastic packaging with carbon black The plan provides a practical framework
to help businesses identify opportunities to eliminate, redesign, replace, or innovate to introduce new solutions. It also provides a range of resources to help the supply chain take action at each step of the process.
Also included are industry best practice case studies and programs currently in market, including initiatives by Officeworks, Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, and McDonald’s.