Page 13 - Packaging News Magazine Jan-Feb 21

January-February 2021 | www.packagingnews.com.au
| INDUSTRY INSIGHT 13
• Improving the recyclability of multi-lay- ered, flexible plastic packaging
• Lightweighting and redesigning rigid plastics to boost recycling
• Leveraging advances in chemical recy- cling to address multi-layer flexibles, and mixed polymer waste streams
• Implementing effective recycling technol- ogy for polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chlo- ride (PvC) and other difficult to recycle plastics; or substituting to alternative materials where feasible
• Developing new pigment or tracking plat- forms to enable black PET packaging to be
sorted effectively in material recovery
facilities (MRFs)
• Implementing a recycling infrastructure
for new consumers in less developed areas of the world, including the rising urban populations of Asia and Africa.
DIFFERENT SECTORS, DIFFERENT IMPACT
The impact will not be uniform across all sectors. The Smithers analysis shows that in 2020, 64 per cent of single-use plastics will be used in food packaging, 13 per cent in per- sonal care, and just more than 8 per cent in pharmaceutical and medical applications.
The scale of the problem requires additional focus and new technologies to reach these targets that governments have set for themselves.”
Brand owners in these industries will have specific challenges, but Smithers finds that making the transition for plastic packaging into a circular economy model will require cooperation between all stakeholders. This includes legislators, plastic and packaging companies, consumers, industry associations, NGOs, and the waste management industry.
The status of single-use plastic packaging across the next five years is examined in depth in The Future of Single-use Plastic Packaging to 2025, (available at www.smith- ers.com). This includes detailed expert mar- ket and technology forecasting; and an exclusive data set segmenting the market by polymer type, packaging format, end-use application, and geographic and major national markets. ■
MAIN: Single-use plastics usage is set to increase significantly in the coming years.
OPPOSITE: Australian business Planet Protector Packaging has developed a sustainable alternative to polystyrene for cold chain shipping, using waste wool otherwise destined for landfill.