Failure looms as industry environmental sustainability pledges slip away, reveals Gartner

10 Dec 2021 --- Gartner has predicted 90% of industry pledges to create 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025 will fail. 

In a new report, the technology research and consultancy company says corporate promises to transform packaging materials and models in line with global environmental sustainability commitments – particularly in the wake of the COP26 climate conference – will inevitably fail, largely due to a reliance on single-use items and fossil fuel-based plastics. 

John Blake, senior director analyst with the Gartner Supply Chain practice, says there are several reasons why well-intended corporate efforts to establish environmentally sustainable packaging are not progressing. 

“For example, most kinds of plastics are not broadly recyclable, and even if they were, the recycling infrastructure and the aftermarket for recycled materials are far from mature. Therefore, the overwhelming amount of packaging today is not technically recyclable or is not widely recycled in practice.”

Boosting EPR 
Gartner says organizations that do not meet their environmental packaging reduction goals or are viewed as misleading consumers will likely face legal action by stakeholders in the future. 

The report also says producers of over 95% of plastics globally have not yet committed to increasing the recycled content in the plastic resins they provide to their customers. Moreover, 71% of global plastics (by weight) are not broadly recyclable, and while chemical recycling technology promises to recycle a wider range of plastics more efficiently, these methods have not yet been broadly adopted.Tha majority of plastics are not broadly recyclable, says the report, which could mean failure for corporate sustainability pledges.

In response, Gartner recommends companies will need to take action on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation across the world to limit single-use packaging. 

“These factors will require organizations to innovate their business models, such as incentivizing consumers to embrace reusable packaging and developing in-store refill models with retailers,” the researcher says. 

Meanwhile, recent Rabobank research revealed advanced recycling continues to flourish in 2021, despite criticism from NGOs and media reports challenging the cost-effectiveness and environmental performance of these technologies.

Breaking the cycle 
The findings come as major waste management companies highlight the problem of hard-to-recycle plastics still flooding the market and a serious lack of post-consumer recyclate available for companies looking to increase recycled content in their packaging. 

UK company Viridor recently released a detailed report calling for a blanket ban on all but the four most easily recyclable plastics (PET, HDPE, LDPE and polypropylene). 

A demand for serious investment into recycling infrastructure was also made, with Viridor claiming the building of five major facilities could end the UK’s reliance on waste exports, which typically result in plastic pollution damaging the environments of less developed countries. 

By Louis Gore-Langton

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