We need more plastic
The European Commission has pledged to use 10 million tons of recycled plastic in new products by 2025. So we need more plastic. Recycled plastic that is, an extra 6 million tons per year to be precise. How?!
image by Sebastian Svenson
The EU has called on all European companies and governments to contribute to the final goal: 6 million tons of extra recycled plastic. Around 3.75 million tons are now recycled, but that should be 10 million tons in 2025: a mere 6 years! More recycling is important, because every year about 150-500,000 tons of unrecycled plastic ends up in European seas.
Foils make up 37% of plastic packaging waste
Dutch waste processor Attero are expanding their recycling capacity to 24,000 tons per year with a new Polymer recycling Plant that uniquely recycles plastic foil. Plastic foils are the most difficult to recycle (into new foil). And that's a shame, because plastic films make up a large part of all plastic packaging waste: about 37%!
image by Milad Fakurian
Competitiveness with ‘virgin’ polymers
Use of recycled plastic in the packaging industry is increasing across Europe and demand has been growing this year, but for the longest time prices of recycled polymers where not competitive with ‘virgin' polymers, from crude oil. This seems to be changing, owing to the higher prices for virgin materials, recycled polymers are an attractive alternative.
Plastic paradigm shift
Although recycling plastic is a more sustainable option than creating plastics from virgin material, the demand for plastic materials continues to grow. Using plastic at the current large quantities over the world has caused micro-plastics to seep off into the ocean, posing a significant threat to aquatic life. Still banning plastics outright is an Unmentionable, since much of our lifestyle depends on it: not just vegetable packaging, but our drainage systems, medical supplies, computer screens, vehicles, clothes, wind mills and solar panels are (at least partly) made of plastic.
A closed system
Plastic in itself may not be the biggest problem, but plastic garbage is. We need a closed systems that recycles every last bit of plastic in the production and consumption chain.