Packaging “blame game”: Aquapak research uncovers demand for stricter PPWD recycling targets

15 Jun 2023 --- Research commissioned by Aquapak with 150 packaging producers and users from the UK, Italy and Germany has revealed that a majority (85%) believe the recycling targets for the European Commission’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) are achievable, but 64% of respondents said the directive’s most significant barrier is the lack of alternative, easy-to-recycle materials. 

Aquapak echoes the surveyees in that the packaging industry needs to look to create different materials for solutions. Meanwhile, half of the survey respondents said working with alternative materials is too expensive. 

“There is too much defense of the status quo which causes confusion and sometimes greenwash statements regarding recyclability and sustainability,” John Williams, chief technology officer at Aquapak, tells Packaging Insights. 

“The blame game between the packaging industry and the readiness of the waste industry, in combination with confusing consumer messages on packaging, has led to the glacial speed over the last 20-25 years. If new technologies and materials are not invested in for the future, then more penalties will be heaped on the industry.”

Aquapak shows people want stricter recyclable material content in packaging.“Not challenging enough”
The proposed PPWD sets out that all packaging must be fully recyclable by 2030 and “recycled at scale” by 2035. It proposes increasing the amount of recycled content in plastic packaging by 2030 – 30% for single-use plastic beverage bottles and 35% for all other plastic packaging. 

“Our study suggests that the proposals for new recycling and recycling content may not be challenging enough but that there are also significant barriers to supporting the use of different materials and improving key recycling infrastructure,” adds Mark Lapping, chief executive officer at Aquapak.

“We need to accelerate the use of new technologies such as novel polymers, which will help the packaging industry use resources more effectively and offer functionality and positive end-of-life outcomes such as recyclability, compostability and biodegradability.”

The survey revealed that 87% believe that recycled content targets are achievable. However, 59% said the recycling infrastructure is insufficient to improve recycling across all material types. 

Call for more ambitious targets 
Williams says the pace of change within the packaging industry has been slow and “still often dictated by oversimplified purchasing cost models which don’t allow the changes required to be ahead of the environmental challenge curve and not simply being reactive. The adoption of new materials and collaboration with the waste industry will reduce packaging waste and enable true recycling and recovery.”

Regarding the recycled content targets, 61% said they should be more ambitious, and 59% said the general recycling targets should also be higher. Over two-thirds (69%) said additional regulations should include the recycling of materials such as film.

“Inevitably, the most challenging packaging is flexibles, particularly barrier flexibles, and while simplifying structure where possible and downgauging is a good start, the industry needs to accelerate new materials and redesign the packaging around them. By doing this, the potential to sort, separate and recycle becomes more realistic and more economical,” Williams explains. 

Coatings for recyclabilityRespondents of an Aquapak-funded survey say finding alternative materials for packaging is too expensive.
About half (52%) of respondents said there should be strict penalties for the waste industry if appropriate investment in new recycling technologies is not made. Sixty-two percent said more supportive government policies are needed. 

Sixty-seven percent said they would like more accessible access to research and innovation funding to mitigate waste, and 46% said dedicated centers of excellence were needed for development. 

Aquapak says its Hydropol, a polymer based on polyvinyl alcohol, is an environmentally sustainable innovative material that the packaging industry can adopt. Hydropol can be coated onto paper and board, with gas and grease barrier properties, with additional functionality such as heat seal and increased paper sheet strength can also be imparted, making it suitable for a range of packaging uses such as bags and pouches. 

Aquapak has “proven” that Hydropol coated paper is 100% repulpable in standard pulping systems and can be fully recycled. It has “proven” to give improvement when set against current regulations, which allow the “recyclable” label to be used if there is up to 15% unrecyclable material in the product. 

Fiber-based solutions
Speaking on fiber-based solutions across the industry, Williams says, “inevitably, the noise surrounding plastic (a lot of which is illogical and incorrect) drives packaging to available alternatives such as fiber systems. The issue is that to provide the same functionality in paper achieved in plastic, systems need additional coatings and treatment.”

“It is possible to achieve this, but there is little point in doing it if the final package is no better or worse in end-of-life recovery. Careful consideration must be given to using the right materials.”

Williams concludes that paper potentially wins as a packaging solution if the right material solutions are used to repulp and recover all of the paper fiber. “This somewhat mitigates the carbon footprint, although careful consideration of design and gauge is a factor.”

By Sabine Waldeck