“Packaging isn’t the problem”: Huhtamaki and Waste Aid flag circular economy as “climate priority”

12 Nov 2021 --- According to UK environmental charity Waste Aid, there can be no packaging circular economy unless material recovery is at the heart of waste management systems. “Otherwise, the theory just does not work,” insists Waste Aid’s network director Michelle Wilson.

The one billion metric tons of globally unmanaged waste every year bear significant health and environmental consequences, especially on island populations and minority communities. 

“I say this almost in a bit of a provocative manner, but packaging is not exactly the problem. It’s a profound part of the solution,” argues Charles Héaulmé, CEO of Huhtamaki, a Waste Aid partnering company. 

“The real problem is what we are not doing with packaging post-consumption. This is where not just us as a company but we as an industry and society have a major responsibility to manage waste in a completely different way.”

PackagingInsights attended a virtual press conference organized by Waste Aid and Huhtamaki, where the companies discussed implementing waste reduction legislation and educational programs for the circular economy.

Huhtamaki struck a two-year partnership with Waste Aid last year, donating €900,000 (US$1.04 million) to deliver education and training on waste management and circular systems.

Understanding circularity
Crucially, Waste Aid spotlights 85% of the sub-Saharan African population and 91% of the southern Asian population are forced to choose between dumping or burning plastic waste, as regular waste collection services are mostly inaccessible. 

Only half of the world’s waste is managed safely, flags Waste Aid, and only a third of people worldwide have access to waste management systems.Besides landfills polluting terrestrial and marine environments, garbage fires smolder, filling the atmosphere with a cocktail of toxic compounds, black carbon and greenhouse gases (GHG). 

“When consumers and stakeholders look at dumps or marine littering, the first intuition is that packaging is the problem,” says Héaulmé.

However, he argues an often overlooked problem is food systems’ impact on climate change. “The bigger issue is food waste. A third of globally produced food is wasted, representing 10% of GHG emissions. We believe packaging has a tremendous role to play [in mitigating food waste].” 

Experts from Coveris and Nextek have echoed this sentiment to PackagingInsights in previous interviews, emphasizing how plastic packaging is a key part of preserving food in a safe, hygienic and cost-efficient manner.

Five cross-industry targets
Sixty-four percent of global respondents to an Innova Market Insights survey view their own waste disposal behavior as the most significant contributor to the global plastic pollution crisis, followed by packaging suppliers (51%), FMCG companies (44%) and regulatory bodies (42%).

Regardless of whom is to “greenblame,” Huhtamaki outlines five types of non-exclusive actions for preventing unmanaged waste:

1. Increase the use of renewable materials: “More than two-thirds of our materials are renewable, but it’s not enough,” says Héaulmé. “We need to use even more.” 
2. Ensure packaging is always recyclable by design.
3. Digitalize packaging: “In the future economy, it will be only possible to create recycling regulations for packaging that have a digital identity. That’s economic sustainability,” Héaulmé adds. 
4. Invest in recycling and recollection infrastructure. 
5. Supply chain actors, from manufacturer to end-consumer, must take responsibility for packaging’s end-of-life disposal. 

Legislation makes the difference
Increased, improved and cross-national legislation is one of two keystones in the fifth “responsibility” goal. “There won’t be any systemic challenge without clear legislation. It is a must. We just need to look at the countries which have already made some kind of a difference in [environmental] sustainability over the past decades. Why is that? Legislation.”

Wilson highlights how South Africa’s extended producer responsibility law will be ratified this month, requiring all producers to demonstrate they are effectively collecting and returning recycled content to their production system. 

The South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment lists the National Waste Management Strategy, major policy intervention from the National Economic Development and Labour Council and plastic bag regulations, including the plastic bag levy, as some of the country’s legislative efforts to curb plastic pollution.

Legislation and education are two pillars in Huhtamaki’s vision for a more responsible packaging value chain.“But the actual implementation of [legislation] is quite complex. We can wait for laws to come into play, but then nothing happens. The combination of voluntary initiatives and binding legislation do go some way to solving the issue,” Wilson points out.

Boots on the ground 
Consumer education is the second counterpart to Huhtamaki’s fifth “responsibility” goal. Notably, the food packaging company’s two-year partnership with Waste Aid was born from a motivation to “give back” to the industry via educational programs and networking.

The program takes place in three hubs where Huhtamaki has a physical presence: India, South Africa and Vietnam. “We thought if we can work together and find focused, incremental projects, then that is how we can give back and have an impact,” comments Héaulmé.

The joint program accelerates knowledge transfer and cultivates ideas within communities most affected by poor waste management. Developing alternatives to dumping and waste burning makes homes more liveable, reduces health problems and builds stronger local economies.

“There is a recognition that there are many entrepreneurs and innovators already working in the circular economy space on the ground. But what we wanted to do is link them together,” adds Wilson.

“Our vision is to see this [program] go beyond these three countries. We don’t just want it to stop there – we’re looking at how we can tailor it to Cameroon, for example, to scale up their activities.” Waste Aid also aims to progress companies’ circularity ambitions more at the ideation phase. 

Concluding thoughts
The value of waste management is universal, according to Waste Aid, as effective waste infrastructure protects the quality of air, food and the environment. 

Ultimately, waste management must be financed as a climate priority. “By COP27, there will be another billion tons of waste to manage,” Waste Aid warns.

By Anni Schleicher