Packaging Innovations 2019 preview: Plastics debate to take center stage amid raft of new government measures

26 Feb 2019 --- The UK’s biggest annual packaging show – Packaging Innovations – will open its doors in Birmingham tomorrow. One of the most hotly anticipated features of the show is the Big Plastics Debate, which brings together representatives of the entire plastics supply chain to discuss the role of the material in a more sustainable future.

James Drake-Brockman, Divisional Director of Easyfairs’ Packaging Portfolio, tells PackagingInsights that we can expect the plastics discussion to transition from “what the industry can do” to “what it has actually now done,” especially in light of more challenging UK government regulations.

“What we are starting to see is people focusing more on actions, rather than simply discussing the issues, which is a positive step for the industry. With this in mind, producers are bringing more sustainable products to market, making the idea of plastic-free alternatives more tangible,” he says.

The urgency for more sustainable packaging solutions has intensified after the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) announced plans to implement a tax on plastics containing less than 30 percent recyclate. DEFRA will also introduce an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, which will make producers responsible for the cost of recycling, and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for cans and bottles. The UK government will elicit industry opinions on its plans for a period of 12 weeks, closing on 13 May 2019.

“I’m quietly optimistic about the new raft of measures that have just been proposed by DEFRA,” Rob Thompson, Packaging Technologist at Co-op, tells PackagingInsights. “The proposed mandate of ambitious targets for recycled content and use of funds raised to build more UK recycling plants, improve on-the-go collection and invest in R&D to find a solution for the recyclability of residual plastics, is something we would support.”

“I like the idea of introducing a tax on plastics which contain less than 30 percent recycled materials as this would help to create an economy for recycled plastic in the UK moving forward,” adds Drake-Brockman. “However, the proposition does present issues that will need to be addressed, such as where businesses will source these recycled plastics in the short and medium term.”

“The EPR and DRS schemes are also interesting and valid propositions, but each come with their own issues that will need to be ironed out before they can be truly effective. The success of all of these initiatives will ultimately boil down to the detail and the delivery, and these are elements that are yet to be finalized,” Drake-Brockman explains.

UK waste industry lags behind European standards
The role of the UK waste industry in a more sustainable plastics economy will also be a pressing point of discussion at the show. Think tank Policy Connect recently published a report entitled “The Plastics Packaging Plan” which suggests that the UK is lagging behind European recycling standards and can no longer afford to “sweep its plastic waste issues under other countries’ carpets.”

Trewin Restorick, Founder & CEO of environmental sustainability charity Hubbub, tells PackagingInsights that it has been “too profitable” for the UK waste industry to offload waste to foreign shores.

“I think that to date it has been more profitable for the UK waste industry to stick waste on boats and ship it to China and other countries and we have basically exported our problem. There’s been a financial incentive for the waste industry to do that. Now that the Chinese have started to restrict waste imports and there are more stories about UK waste going overseas and not actually ending up being recycled, the chickens have come home to roost.”

“It is a problem that could get even worse should we have a no-deal Brexit. We really do not have adequate recycling infrastructure in the UK, so the government needs to provide more financial incentive to ensure waste is recycled domestically. I also think we have been very lax in looking at the quality of the recycling we collect – again, the UK lags very far behind other European countries in terms of collecting quality recycling material that can be of use to the industry,” Restorick adds.

Conversely, Simon Ellin, Chief Executive of the UK Recycling Association, believes it is concerning that MPs are seeking zero exports of plastic waste by 2030.

“Many legitimate companies are sustainably exporting plastics, often to places they were manufactured in the first place. By banning exports, we also risk removing competition, making the cost of recycling much higher. I’m in favor of increasing UK recycling infrastructure and that needs investment, but we do not want to create a UK monopoly that makes plastic recycling expensive,” Ellin tells PackagingInsights.

Drake-Brockman believes that there are lots of factors contributing to the UK’s comparatively low recycling rates, with one of the key issues being the inconsistencies between the infrastructures in different boroughs.

“Wales, for instance, has fantastic recycling rates, while other parts of the country continue to lag behind. The government efforts towards a more standardized system would help to reduce the disparities between different regions in the UK and ensure that our recycling rates continue to improve in line with other European countries,” Drake-Brockman says.

To be avoided: “Knee jerk reactions” to plastics
At the same time, Restorick is concerned that the public has become obsessed with the end of the production line without thinking about the full carbon impact of plastics relative to other packaging materials. “It can lead to knee jerk reactions which can result in poorer environmental outcomes, like mining for aluminum to store water in cans.”

Last week, BP released a report suggesting that the global trend of banning single-use plastics and replacing them with alternative materials, such as glass and paper, will lead to drastically increased energy consumption and carbon emissions. Some have suggested that this is an act of self-preservation from an oil and gas “supermajor,” but a growing number of studies support BP’s claims.

Notable examples include an independent Heriot-Watt University report and a North American study which found that plastics are more sustainable than the material alternatives in terms of energy use, water consumption, solid waste, greenhouse gas emissions, ozone depletion, eutrophication and acidification.

Food waste: A bigger environmental problem?
One of the environmental benefits of plastic packaging which is sometimes overlooked is its ability to minimize food waste. Luke Heeney, Technical and Innovations Director at food innovators Leathems, tells PackagingInsights that “the environmental impact of food waste is, gram-for-gram, much higher than the impact of the packaging itself. Based on a filled pouch of 250g and a pouch only weighing 6g, one wasted pouch of food is equivalent to 320 empty pouches going to landfill.”

“We have to be conscious not to make a seemingly positive change in one area of the supply chain that actually serves to worsen the entire product environmental footprint. Alternative plastic packaging would require a significant reduction in product shelf-life or the product to be frozen.”

For this reason, Leathams primarily uses PET laminate pouches and cardboard for the packaging of food products. It tries to avoid shrink wrapping and black printed plastic serving trays. “We believe our current pouch offers the best total environmental solution when balancing food waste, transport, recycling and packaging impacts,” Heeney notes.

Innovation takes center stage
How the UK packaging industry is innovating to find greater sustainability in packaging will be the focal point of Packaging Innovations 2019. The headline area for this is the Innovation Zone, which will host the Innovation Showcase and Innovation Stage, offering a two-day program of conference content devised to inspire advances within the packaging industry.

“For those looking for industry-specific advice, our Industry Forum stage will host dedicated seminars for the food, drink, pharma, beauty, e-commerce and retail sectors. The conference will offer insights from industry-leading experts on the most prolific issues within the industry, as well as advice on best practices within the specific sector,” Drake-Brockman explains.

“With so much going on, we are confident that Packaging Innovations 2019 will be the biggest and busiest to date when it returns to Birmingham’s NEC 27 and 28 February,” he concludes.

By Joshua Poole