Using recycled plastics

The main trends and developments affecting the use of plastic packaging and the use of recycled plastics are:

• The volume of plastic packaging on the market today continues to grow.
• The composition of plastic packaging material is changing.
• More plastic packaging waste is being collected.
• Our sorting capacity is increasing and sorting methods are improving, which is seeing the quality of sorted plastic packaging flows increase.
• Europe’s recycling capacity is increasing, with chemical recycling methods being developed in addition to mechanical recycling methods.
• Demand for recycled plastics is increasing due to social pressure and ambitious targets set by producers and importers of packaged products.

Economic 

• Demand for recycled plastic packaging waste currently outstrips supply, creating a mismatch between prices and the actual costs incurred for the collection, sorting, recycling and marketing of recycled plastics. In order to make recycling more economically interesting, efforts must be made to reduce the costs along the chain and/or improve the quality of the recycled materials, which will lead to higher prices.
• The costs of virgin materials are linked to oil prices. When the oil price is low, it is cheaper for producers to use virgin plastic than to purchase recycled plastic.
• Another major economic challenge is increasing the transparency of the market. This can be done by giving buyers and manufacturers using plastic more insight into the availability of recycled plastics, by developing quality standards, and by creating more clarity about the possible uses of certain types of recycled plastic. One of the parties measuring recyclate quality is Veridis.
• Improving the collection, sorting, and recycling chain is another significant challenge.

“Recycled plastics have great potential in the non-food packaging market. The non-food packaging market is promising for the application of plastic recyclate. Another interesting market is that of packaging that may not be recycled after use, for example paint or chemicals. For these packaging, use dark-coloured plastic recyclate, for example, which has fewer applications and should be incinerated regardless” 

 Technical 

• We have to increase the quality of recycled materials. Improving quality starts with improving sorting methods to increase the purity of mono-streams and reduce the size of the mix-stream. This will ultimately mean that we can extract more mono-streams from mixed plastics. Further research is needed into opportunities and possibilities for this (smaller) mixed stream.
• A major technical challenge, linked to food safety regulations, is developing food-grade recycled plastics based on PP and PE. Currently, this is only possible with chemical recycling.

Legal 

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) provides guidance and targets for the use of recycled plastics in food contact materials. 95% of all recycled plastics used for r-PET, for instance, must be sourced from food packaging to prevent hazardous substances from making their way into the recycled material. This either requires a closed collection and processing system or broad-based agreements about the use of specific types of plastic for food packaging, such as the exclusive use of PET.

A study conducted by Tilburg University on behalf of KIDV (only available in Dutch) shows that chain partners interpret EFSA targets as being legally binding, even though these targets are stricter than legally necessary. If producers can demonstrate that the properties of their recycled plastics and their processes meet all food safety guidelines, they need not necessarily meet the target percentage, which provides scope for new technological developments.

• There are still many opportunities to use more recycled plastics, especially in the construction and infrastructure industries, in transport packaging, and in non-food packaging.
• Take a design for recycling approach to the packaging design process. Make sure that all your packaging is easily recyclable. Use the KIDV Recycle checks to check if your packaging is easily recyclable.
• Get your organisation ready to innovative in and learn from the use of recycled plastics. Make sure to get all heads pointing in the same direction and involve various departments in the process, including R&D, design, marketing, sales, finance, and so on.
• As a buyer, do not consider recycled plastics as second-hand virgin plastic, but as an entirely different material with its own identity. Recycled plastics can behave differently in the production process and in use than virgin material. Different processing steps are required to turn recycled plastics into an end product that meets all product specifications.
• As a buyer, be prepared to draw up a schedule of requirements for recycled plastics together with the recycler and explore which requirements to include.
• Greater transparency in the plastic recycling chain may lead to increased use of recycled plastics.
• Learn from the experiences of participants in the pilot projects in the Plastic Packaging Waste as a Raw Material (KVG; completed in 2020) programme set up by KIDV and Rijkswaterstaat (only available in Dutch). Through technical innovation, circular purchasing methods, and collaboration, fifteen pilot parties have taken steps to reduce the use of primary raw materials and better match the supply and demand of recycled plastics, bringing them closer to a circular economy.