Recoup reports terminology and operational inconsistencies in ocean plastic recovery programs

24 May 2023 --- Recoup has found that inconsistency and ambiguity in terminology and operations surrounding plastic waste removal from marine environments risk undermining program efforts.

In its River and Ocean Plastics Collection and Recycling Programmes Report, available to Recoup members, the organization analyzed 30 global marine programs. The investigated members include collection schemes, technical innovators, equipment manufacturers and those collecting software material and storing data.

Recoup says interest in ocean plastic collection programs is increasing alongside packaging producers seeking ways to incorporate recycled plastics collected from the natural environment into new packaging and products.

“There’s a drive across the world to not only eliminate plastic in the environment but increase the amount of recycled content in new packaging,” Tom McBeth, policy and infrastructure projects manager at Recoup, tells PackagingInsights. 

“These programs offer a potential source of recycled plastics and hopefully strengthen how the industry operates, creating more confidence and investment to increase collections and reduce litter in rivers and oceans.”

Minimizing variations
The collection programs offer a service to remove plastics from the environment, however, when the operations are not consistent they can cause confusion when the collected plastic waste is used in the packaging industry.

“Findings from the report showed significant variation across the programs we analyzed, ranging from differences in definitions and language used, materials targeted, environments collected from, and the transparency around the process and end destination of the material,” explains McBeth.

Recoup says ambiguity in terminology used by marine collection programs affects packaging labels. “The research was conducted to generate a better understanding of programs designed to collect river and ocean plastics and ask questions about their outcomes.”

Recoup created five interventions it believes would aid in increasing transparency and reduce confusion around marine programs and their operations:

• Implement widely understood definitions relating to marine programs
• Create creditable auditing of the programs and the material they collect 
• Programs comply with international legislation 
• Programs fully disclose information about the collection and management of material 
• Conduct more research and development of the technological requirements and infrastructure needed to recycle collected material effectively 

“Part of our research came up with a due diligence checklist that also recommends ensuring programs use independent auditing and certification, demonstrable meeting of international legislation and transparency relating to their use of volunteers or paid workers,” adds McBeth. 

Left to their own devices
When asked why there are discrepancies in terminology, McBeth says that it is hard to determine the responsible factors.

“Some of the languages are used favorably to describe the need to remove the material from the worst-case scenario – particularly for ‘ocean-bound plastics’ – but overall, it seems that the global nature of these programs, and the fact it is a new and growing industry, has left organizations to their own devices in defining their operations, the material they collect and the environments it is from.”

He highlights that the inconsistency of terminology is a concern for the packaging industry: “Some programs using wording around ‘ocean-bound plastic’ to mean material ‘likely to enter waterways within 50 km of open water.’” This would mean that water entering any river in the UK would meet such a definition. Recoup presents guidelines for ocean plastic collection programs to consider to improve clarity. 

“It is also fair to acknowledge that we see different terminology in the industry in many situations, such as with plastic films being called flexibles and soft plastics. Regardless of the reasoning, it isn’t helpful to have these inconsistencies, and they cause confusion and doubt, so hopefully, we will see these programs operate a more standardized approach going forward,” McBeth notes. 

Reducing mislabeling
Furthermore, McBeth tells us that Recoup hopes its report and recommendations will encourage companies to ask questions about the marine plastic collection programs and the material collected to ensure that they are correctly identified and promoted when used in packaging sold back to consumers.

“We hope that it reduces risks of mislabeling or claims of use of this material that is misleading – this is where the need for clearer language comes in, and the differences between ‘ocean’ and ‘ocean-bound’ and the self-defined terms from the programs themselves around this,” says McBeth

“As well as clear and consistent language, auditing and transparency in operations, collections and recycling – particularly concerning offset schemes – are vital in achieving this confidence.”

By Sabine Waldeck