Natural Mineral Waters Europe demands “dramatic” intervention to secure bottle circularity targets

28 Apr 2022 --- The EU will fall short of its plastic recycling targets unless “dramatic” changes are implemented, according to a new report by Natural Mineral Waters Europe (NMWE). The organization says failure to ensure the beverage industry is given priority access to recycled PET (rPET) is rapidly diminishing the industry’s chances of achieving goals laid out in the Green Deal.

The report, titled “Our journey toward packaging circularity,” celebrates recent revisions to the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) but calls on policymakers to add fundamental changes to the legislation by enforcing a quota system and a more established and unified Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) throughout the continent. 

NMWE members have long pushed to circularize their value chain, emphasizes the report, but are hindered by external factors needing urgent attention at the governmental level. 

Speaking to PackagingInsights, NMWE secretary-general Patricia Fosselard, says: “It is a pity that in 2019, the EU Single Use Plastics Directive laid down targets for the incorporation of rPET into new beverage bottles without providing beverage producers with the necessary ‘enabling measures,’ in particular, security of rPET supply.”

“EU authorities are aware of the resulting challenges for our industry. The upcoming revision of the PPWD legislation will most likely set mandatory recycled content targets for additional sectors. It will afford a good opportunity to introduce priority access for all obligated sectors under the new legislation.”

Beverage producers have the highest PET recycling rates but receive only a fraction of the recycled material they produce.Fashion causes a farce 
Despite these efforts, beverage companies are constricted by the rise in demand for rPET from other sectors – primarily the fashion industry – and a shortage of supply, which has driven prices up sharply over the past year. 

Recently, UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe called for intervention by EU rulers to prevent the packaging industry from being unfairly used to boost the recycled content of other industries. Currently, roughly 30% of rPET on the market is used by the beverage industry, despite producing over 70% of the material.

A report by the Changing Markets Foundation last year found that recycled polyester, made from PET bottles, is the principal way fashion brands plan to curb their fossil fuel footprint. The majority of companies (85%) in the report indicated they aim to achieve their recycling targets by using downcycled PET bottles but provide no real plans to introduce their own recycling systems. 

This process gives an illusion of circularity for fashion brands while hampering the beverage industry’s genuine efforts to raise its recycling rates. 

“What we would like to see is for each sector to adhere to the same vision of packaging circularity and [environmental] sustainability. In a circular economy, each sector should, as a matter of principle, put only recyclable materials on the market, contribute to their separate collection and, once recycled, incorporate those materials back into its own new products or packaging,” remarks Fosselard. 

DRS and EPR 
The EU must intervene to ensure each industry achieves its own circularity, says NMWE.NMWE says its targets, which include making all beverage bottles recyclable or reusable by 2025, a 90% collection of all bottles by 2025, and at least 50% of rPET use by 2030, can only be reached if four key policy areas are given necessary resources: 

• Mandatory DRS (deposit return system) for all EU countries that are not on track to achieve packaging circularity. 
• A quota system guaranteeing priority access to rPET for bottlers, proportionate to the amount of recyclate they produce. 
• Implementing science-based impact assessments for PET recycling and use throughout industries. 
• Enforcing policies that provide a long-term vision for industry objectives and protect the market from exploitation. 

“Due to PET’s many attributes (like high recyclability and suitability for food contact), rPET derived from beverage bottles is sought after by a wide range of non-food sectors, with fibers accounting for 24% of rPET demand,” explains the report. 

“This [varied demand] means that fully recyclable material is withdrawn from the beverage loop and used in other applications. This [use] could be considered as downcycling, as the material will not be returned for the same purpose again – thus indirectly increasing the need for virgin plastic for the beverage industry.” 

One of the main concerns for beverage packagers is the high number of SMEs operating in the industry. NMWE represents over 550 natural mineral and spring water producers, most of which are SMEs in rural areas. 

Competing with large-scale fashion companies in the context of soaring rPET prices makes it very difficult for bottlers to reach their targets, despite providing the most significant contribution to recycling rates of any industry. 

By Louis Gore-Langton