What does it mean? Ambiguity around biodegradable and recyclable terms feeds into throwaway culture

10 May 2019 --- Throwaway culture can be defined as society’s way of living based on the excessive production, consumption and disposal of goods, according to environmental group, Zero Waste Europe. Consumer education around the suitable end of life destinations for packaging is critical and international clarification of definitions such as “biodegradable,” “recyclable,” and “compostable,” could be incredibly useful, according to industry experts. To really tackle the issue at its root, policy and industry must collaborate, as well as work to educate both industry and consumers on the matter.

One industry method to counteract the throwaway culture is the mainstreaming of biodegradable and recyclable materials, however, these materials too can contribute to littering and are often destined for landfill, where they remain for a significant amount of time. 

“The packaging industry should rethink and redesign their business models, developing innovative solutions for packaging, such as zero waste systems, that allow the reduction of litter. If a packaging can’t be reused, recycled or ultimately composted (in accordance with the applicable standards), then it should be redesigned or restricted,” Larissa Copello de Souza, Consumption and Production Campaigner for Zero Waste Europe, tells PackagingInsights.

Tackling throwaway culture and industry’s role
Regardless of industry’s bid to use innovative and ecological materials, the pervasive throwaway culture is also a large component of the world’s waste mountain that is spilling into the oceans. The way goods are currently produced and consumed is not sustainable and poses a major risk to our environment, Copello de Souza warns. “We’re eating away earth’s finite supply of resources to produce goods, mainly designed to have a short life span, that cannot be reused or recycled.”

Nestlé’s Häagen-Dazs. reusable container made for TerraCycle's new platform, Loop.The Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA), for example, even called for an end to the term “biodegradable” when used in reference to packaging. The association did so because the term biodegradable may lead some to wrongly assume that packaging carrying the presumed ecological tag of “biodegradable” will “disappear to nothing within a very short period” and in any location. However, this is certainly misleading for the public and can result in the erroneous belief that it is acceptable to litter biodegradable packaging. 

“The term is misplaced and misunderstood when used by industry, regulators and consumers alike, and may invite consumers to litter,” FPA’s Executive Director, Martin Kersh told PackagingInsights at the time. “I think the confusion is that there are people who buy packaging that is biodegradable and genuinely think that it will disappear in a matter of days. But if it were to, how on earth would you stock it?”

According to industry experts, the levels of biodegradability could be classified as follows, to avoid confusion:

• Biodegradable in industrial compost.
• Biodegradable in home compost.
• Biodegradable in soil/soil-biodegradable.

Although some proponents note that compostable materials may reduce overall litter levels, they still arguably miss the mark of a truly circular economy model. Composting is the process of breaking down organic waste by microbial digestion to create compost. When packaging materials are compostable, their end of life designations will not add to litter levels. 

Beyond compostable and biodegradable designs
However, Copello de Souza says that the massive production and consumption of products, especially single-use products, have contributed greatly to the waste and plastic pollution crisis, which is harming the planet’s ecosystems. Consumerism is the source of the issue, she notes. 

“Nowadays, people can shop from almost anywhere and get almost anything they want in a matter of minutes. This approach has led to the overconsumption and overproduction of goods and to a massive waste generation.” 

“Tackling this issue requires deep systemic business and behavioral change on the way economic development is pursued, and on the way we consume resources and create waste.”

There is no point in having a 100 percent recyclable packaging if the proper infrastructure to handle it is not well designed and implemented, Copello de Souza highlights. “It is important to have a system that preserves the value of the material. It is estimated that 95 percent of the value of plastic packaging material is lost to the economy after a short first-use cycle.”

Aiming for waste-free NPD
The entire purpose and function of packaging must be rethought, according to Copello de Souza. The industry should minimize packaging and consider its reusable potential. 

This week, Zero Waste Europe released the fourth chapter of its Consumption & Production Case Studies series aimed at promoting Zero Waste business models: The Story of RePack, A simple solution to the growing problem of e-commerce waste.

“The case of RePack is a great example of an innovative solution on packaging tackling throwaway culture. RePack has applied the Finnish bottle Deposit Return System (DRS) to e-commerce packaging, creating a closed-loop reusable system that can reduce e-commerce packaging waste by 96 percent while providing the same consumer experience as the disposable one. By rethinking the need and purpose of packaging, it’s possible to find new solutions to reduce waste or, ideally, not produce waste at all,” she explains.

 The pervasive throwaway culture is a large component of the world’s waste mountain that is spilling into the oceans. In December 2018, Costa Coffee and Barclaycard collaborated to launch the UK’s first reusable coffee-cup with integrated contactless payment technology. Powered by Barclaycard’s bPay technology, Costa Coffee’s Clever Cup allows users to make purchases with the cup, top up their in-store credit balance and track payments online or via a dedicated app. This reusable innovation is expected to decrease the volume of discarded coffee cups.

Also tapping into this space, waste management experts TerraCycle announced a new platform, called Loop, at the World Economic Forum last year in Davos. The home-delivery platform hopes to give consumers the option to avoid single-use and disposable models when doing groceries. Consumers will be able to order their food and beverages packaged in durable, reusable or fully recyclable packaging made from materials such as alloys, glass and engineered plastics.

“Giving the option to move from disposable to durable for brand, retailer and consumer is the first step. In terms of consumer experience, we need to provide convenience for people who want to be green but are strapped for time. They might not feel that it is accessible to visit bulk stores to refill their supplies, for example. Convenience is what’s great about this possibility. By working with mainstream retailers, we will, hopefully, convince people it’s easy to move to a durable lifestyle,” Laure Cucuron, TerraCycle General Manager, tells PackagingInsights.

Evian also unveiled a (re)new solution – an in-home water appliance that reportedly offers a significant reduction in plastic packaging through a combination of re-use and recycling. 

Government is also engaging with the topic. Earlier this year, the UK government launched a series of consultations with the aim of “overhauling the waste system.” The consultations include the proposed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, improvements in the consistency of household recycling and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for cans and bottles.

Economic incentives such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes with eco-modulation of fees are a great tool to design waste out of the system, according to Zero Waste Europe, by making producers bear the full costs of the end-of-life of their products. EPR is a policy approach under which producers are given a significant responsibility – financial and/or physical – for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products.

“The rationale behind implementing sound EPR schemes is to incentivize producers to redesign their products with circularity in mind, and to prompt them to think out of the box to develop more sustainable business models, including the setup of reuse systems,” Copello de Souza concludes.

With sustainability and the environmental sentiment growing stronger among consumers, government and industry both are growingly understanding the imperative need for a circular economy. What should be discarded may well be throwaway culture itself. 

By Kristiana Lalou