PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2020

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 06/20 www.petpla.net 20 based PET, which currently accounts for only 1% of the total PET pro- duction for packaging. In fact, this appears to be one of the most promis- ing endeavours on the industry’s hori- zon as the big advantage of making bio-based PET is that we already have a whole industrial system set up today. The process and installation remain the same, and the PET mate- rial produced is strictly identical, still being 100% recyclable and compat- ible with existing and future recycling streams. We have to acknowledge that there is also a discussion about bio- degradable plastics as an alterna- tive to PET in the industry. As there is a lot of confusion existing between bio-based and bio-degradable materi- als, we want to clarify that there are fossil-based materials that are bio- degradable as well as bio-sourced materials that are not bio-degradable and vice versa. The ratio of bio-degra- dable materials within the bio-based category is about 55%. However, we do not expect this development to catch on for two reasons: firstly, if degradation begins during the shelf life of the container, recycling would become complex, because you might collect and enter a container that is already degrading into the recycling stream. Secondly, Sidel and their customers see bio- degradable claims as an incentive for consumers to throw away packaging, counting on the fact that it will simply disappear. In most cases the material will not degrade in an unsupervised, natural environment, for example a marine environment, but only under very specific conditions, such as industrial composting. In addition, bio- logical degradation generates CO 2 or even methane, contributing to GHG. PET collection, sorting and recy- cling are definitively the best solutions to minimise the environmental impact in all directions. Recycled PET and tethered caps For Sidel, there are other, more promising options out there to tackle the future challenges of packaging. The most significant one is rPET, as its carbon footprint is nearly five times lower than virgin PET. Its first intrinsic growth factor is consumer accept- ance – people are ready to consume their beverages in 100% rPET bot- tles, something they may have been opposed to in the past. The second factor is the external regulation changes within the EU. The directive on SUP that was passed in early 2019 will have a massive impact on the packag- ing value stream of the future: by 2025, for example, the EU demands 25% of mandatory rPET content in bottles. This figure is intended to reach 30% in all plastic bottles by 2030 with key players in the industry opting for even more ambitious targets. Moreover, rPET content is not the only variable the EU intends to regulate. The European Commission is also speeding things up in terms of collection targets: for instance, a 90% collection target has been set for all member states by 2029. Converting to rPET is a signifi- cant change for the entire industry. Depending on collection methods and bottle origin, its quality varies. There- fore, Sidel is stating that it is their goal to develop technologies that are not affected by this inconsistency, but are ensured by designing different blower generations with re-heating and blow- ing wider processing windows. Under development is the laser oven technol- ogy as an alternative to the currently used infrared solution: a vertical-cavity surface-emitting-laser (VCSEL) diode extends the process capability and ver- satility of existing blowers for improved bottle design flexibility and greater packaging opportunities. The heating process is accurate and stable, allow- ing consistent material distribution for greater efficiency and a premium mate- rial for complex bottle design from the very outset of the production. This solu- tion is claimed to have high potential for the future where Sidel might be able to deliver a blower that can handle up to 100% of rPET. Furthermore, Sidel’s rPET testing platform is contributing to this purpose, boosting the development and qualification of bottles with increas- ing rPET content. In a similar attempt to tackle plas- tic waste, the EU has also agreed to implement a mandatory tethered cap for all beverage containers up to 3 l by 2024 to keep the bottle and the cap attached to each other until both hit the recycling facilities, thus keeping bottle caps from freely floating in the oceans. While the law technically only impacts Europe, a global change is expected in the coming years due to European companies exporting their goods abroad, and Europe in turn importing goods from other countries, which will have to be compliant with this directive. It is unlikely that any key industry player will manage two different supply chains in parallel, i.e. one with and one without tethered caps. Additionally, we are seeing a similar push for tethered caps in some parts of the United States, with, for example, California striving for a similar law. Therefore, in the next decade, it is probable that anywhere in the world, PET bottles will have a tethered cap. Refillable PET bottles Besides rPET, there is another development on the beverage market looking promising: refillable bottles (ref-PET). In fact, relaunching ref-PET bottles is one of the top priorities for big players within the beverage market to lower the environmental footprint, using the bottles in the same way refill- able glass bottles are used – minus the heavy transportation costs and fragility. Compared to one-way PET, it will depend on its effective number of uses and on logistics. The environmen- Vincent Le Guen, Vice President Pack- aging at Sidel