PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2020

TRADE SHOW REVIEW PET planet Insider Vol. 21 No. 01+02/20 www.petpla.net 32 Circularity for polymers - ICIS recycling conference by Gabriele Kosmehl The polymer industry is facing an unprecedented moment brought on by a global shift towards circularity and sustainability. The European Commission’s Strategy for Plastics and increasing brand-owner commitment to recycled content in packaging is putting pressure on an industry already challenged by supply constraints and market uncertainty. With the full value chain impacted by these challenges, the importance of industry collaboration is emphasised more than ever before. In response to this changing industry, Berlin hosted the first ‘Circularity for Polymers: The ICIS Recycling Conference’ on November 5 th 2019. PETplanet selected the most important topics for those involved in the PET chain. The first speaker was Werner Bos- mans, Policy Officer - Circular Econ- omy, for the European Commission. He explained to the 100 conference participants what the initiatives of the European Plastics Strategy and the Single Use Plastics Directive would require from participants in the plas- tics supply chain. He talked about the EC’s targets and strategies for plastic recycling and the proposed plastic tax, including timelines and strategies to define recycling terminology. Werner Bosmans Of particular interest for the bottle industry is the directive on reducing the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, which comes into effect on 5 June 2021. Based on the identification of the ten most-found marine plastics litter items on Euro- pean beaches, the directive advocates, where possible, less harmful alterna- tives, prevention measures and/or better waste management. In terms of the bottle caps listed in the top ten items, the product design requirements for tethered caps come into effect as prevention measures; these stipu- late that caps and lids must remain attached to beverage containers & bot- tles (≤ 3 l) from July 2024. From 2025, single use beverage bottles must con- tain 25% recycled content for PET bot- tles (as an average per member state) and by 2030 30% recycled content for all plastic bottles (average per member state). In addition, extended producer responsibility is planned so that manufacturers of certain packaging – such as food and beverage contain- ers – must help to meet the costs that arise from waste prevention, waste management, litter clean-up and data gathering. The separate collection target for plastic beverage bottles is 77% by 2025 and 90% by 2029. “The best way to achieve high collection and low littering is through a deposit refund system,” recommended Bosmans. “When something has value, it is not thrown away; or it will be picked up by someone else,” and he illustrated his proposal using the example of Lithu- ania, where a deposit refund system quickly led to a return rate of 90%. During the subsequent round-table discussions, conference participants had the opportunity to meet with key stakeholders throughout the plastics value chain and discuss the challenges and opportunities present in the market today. Topics included the challenges in reaching virgin-like quality with recy- cled polymers, recycling improvements in Asia, the question of how the rest of the value chain can support recyclers in improving the recycling stream and insights into achieving sustainability ini- tiatives within a larger company. In his lecture “Evaluating the Market for Recycled Polyolefins”, Mark Victory, Senior Editor, Recycling, ICIS, discussed the challenges facing recy- cled polyolefin market growth, such as the lack of standardisation because of differing production and input methods, the restrictive legislative environment and how country specific legislation such as the UK’s packaging recovery note cap and trade scheme are distort- ing market fundamentals. Victory also