Rethinking Materials: Suez’s Dr. Read calls for cohesion between packaging suppliers and recyclers

29 Apr 2022 --- The Rethinking Materials summit in London, UK, next week will offer a valuable opportunity for packaging and waste management players to reimagine and design public infrastructure. We sit down with Dr. Adam Read, external affairs director at Suez Recycling & Recovery, who explains how the summit will likely raise important disputes and encourage alliances as industry faces a pivotal moment in the push for a circular economy.

Read will be taking part in a panel discussion titled “Advances in Waste Valorisation: Opportunities and Potential for Organic Recycling,” and hosting a roundtable on “Green Skills: Preparing the Future Workforce.” 

He says these talks will provide a needed bridge between industry players who cannot solve circularity challenges alone. 

“Suez historically wants to be in the right conversations, and we value the collaborative nature of conversations. The hot topic at the moment is bioplastics, and if you look at that, for example, you cannot solve the issue of how to implement them effectively as a manufacturer because manufacturers simply put things on the market.” 

“Similarly, you also can’t solve this if you run collection systems or if you own treating infrastructure because it could end up as a contaminant. As you look at a system with a new material stream, it's disruptive and we need a collaborative, pragmatic view as to how to make a system work because there are a lot of moving pieces.”

Learning and sharing
Bringing together all the right partners in a value chain for relatively new materials like bioplastics is invaluable, says Read, because environmental concerns are ushering in tides of new products boasting various sustainability benefits. However, these benefits cannot be achieved without collaboration from every relevant player on the market. 

“At the moment, it’s very easy for a new product to hit the market because there isn’t really a governance model for what can and can’t be released. The real driver is whether it can keep a product fresh for longer. If the answer to this is yes, then the post-consumer issue only gets picked up much later in the debate,” he explains. Material producers, waste management and sorting facilities must work together to achieve circularity.

“So for bioplastics, yes, there may be a future, but it has to be with a system designed – how much bioplastics alongside normal plastics or organic material because the system must work with a composition mix.”

“Yes, you can compost or biodegrade bioplastic, but not at most facilities because they were designed with food waste in mind,” he explains. 

These systemic issues make bringing industry players from all corners of the packaging business together so important, says Read, because if one material like bioplastics is added to the material stream without proper consideration, it could end up costing more and causing unexpected problems. 

Reducing EPR 
One of the main reasons for businesses and associations to work together and think holistically is to reduce costs, explains Read. If materials entering the market are prepared and accounted for in collection and waste management infrastructure, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) can be largely avoided. 

“If you look at things like coffee pods, there is a lot of effort into keeping them separate because they don’t fit in our current system. If you can make that work better, for example, you won’t get the same EPR hit down the line. There is a big incentive to think more holistically, and that’s why these panels and workshops are so important.” 

“In the future, if you can’t prove your new packaging doesn’t fit in the new material stream, then you’ll get a much higher levy put on it because it will disrupt the system. At the moment, all these new designs could become the greatest new pieces of packaging, but without a viable system in place, it just won’t work.” 

Simple solutions for your mum 
Read emphasizes that when industry players rethink materials and their handling, considering the ease at which they can be processed is what makes circularizing the economy possible – not just targeting materials themselves, which are often seen as inherently harmful. 

“I’ve got no problem with plastic packaging. It keeps products alive for a very long time. There is no problem with an HDPE or PET product because they are recyclable. The problem is this: there are multiple handling points from when my mum takes it home from the shop,” he says. Better labeling and messaging is essential to help consumers know how to recycle properly and avoid contamination.

“Does she know it's recyclable? The labeling often isn’t clear. Where does she recycle it? Also, not clear. Does she do it correctly? Not every week will she recycle properly. And when it is recycled properly, it might get contaminated in the lorries by other leakages.” 

“Once it reaches our facilities, contamination is often a fact. So ultimately, better labeling, clearer messaging, and simpler materials on the marketplace mean that recycling is easier. Without these things, there is a limit to what the waste management sector can do.” 

This comes back to EPR, Read says, as companies need to put materials in the right format on the market to aid end-of-life processes and, in turn, save money on EPR levies for packagers. 

“These changes will make things really simple for my mum and make the whole system more effective.” 

The blame game 
With these thoughts in mind, Read says he expects some kickback from packagers at the summit, who may blame waste management companies like Suez for not building sufficient infrastructure. If processing facilities were suitable, they argue, then most materials hitting the market could be simply dealt with, and packagers would have to worry less about a redesign. 

“Where is the money coming from when it comes back to the brands? We all need to be around the table and say that everyone has a role to play here. If we get it right the first time, it could work really well.” 

For this to happen, he explains, there must be legislation passed guaranteeing recycling processes will work in a certain way. Otherwise, companies like Suez are not going to invest in new facilities blindly. And to fund these new facilities, EPR legislation must provide them with capital. 

“When are plastic films going to be collected, when is biodegradable or compostable packaging going to be added to EPR? Because if it’s not added to EPR, I’m certainly not going to invest in the right infrastructure. So there are still a few uncertainties. Why would we invest £50 million (US$62 million) when we don’t even know when the feedstock is coming?” 

By Louis Gore-Langton