PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2020

PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 11/20 www.petpla.net 43 TRADE SHOW REVIEW tions. He expects that demand for PET bottles will remain tighter, and lower than the past, also in 2021. The audience again questioned whether consumers would be willing to pay a higher price for rPET. But all bottlers underlined that price was not a factor, but the culture and education on recycled materials. Eventually prices will be only be slightly affected or not at all. The fi nal round table looked at envi- ronmental issues. Mr Hans van Bochove , VP Public Affairs EU, Coca-Cola, underlined that the movement towards sustainable packaging is facing hurdles with many regulations coming from governments. The media also criticised plastic heavily during 2019, but now the situation is changing. Packaging is 50% of Coca- Cola’s carbon footprint, hence its huge importance in the Group strategies. Mr Hikoji Kosaka , CEO of Toy- otsu PET recycling systems, Japan, explained that his company was created by Toyota in July 2020, and the group intends to invest in a new production of 40.000mt/a of rPET, which will be start- ing operations in 2021.The availability of recycled materials is not suf fi cient, and more investments will be needed, not only in Japan but world-wide. Mr Renato Zelcher , CEO and President EuPC, was representing the European converters, who employ more than 1.6 million people. The packag- ing sector showed big resilience, as consumers returned to plastic, because of its image of safety and hygiene, and this led to increasing purchases of packaged food and beverages. On the other hand, a dramatic downturn was seen in the automotive and building sectors. Plastic tax may be kill off a sig- ni fi cant part of this industry, since com- panies are uncertain whether invest- ment in plastics in still worthwhile. Mr Antonello Ciotti , VP Corepla, attacked the concept of the plastic tax in Europe, which is to be applied at the beginning of 2021, but only in some countries. Nobody knows yet how it will be implemented and collected. There is huge uncertainty, and a total lack of harmonisation. Mr Werner Bosmans , EU Commis- sion, tried to counter critics explaining that what EU commissioners are doing is to accelerate the birth of a circular plastic economy. It is necessary to fi nd solutions against plastic littering, upstream and downstream. Already the measures against single-use plastics are in force, and soon measures to avoid dispersion of microplastics will come. EU is aiming therefore at recycla- bility and reducing marine litter (esti- mated 29 million tonnes in 2030). Mr Philippe De Baere , Partner of Van Bael & Bellis, focused on interna- tional trade measures. The main thing today is that duties will be abandoned to make way for trade measures on social environments. EU will move the playing fi eld more aggressively into the suppliers’ environment, so affecting other areas around the world. That will in fl uence social activities, job safety, pollution, recycling, and environmental activities in other continents, pushing exporters to the EU to comply with clear and sustainable behaviours within a wider social and environmental agenda. Discussions then became more heated as Mr Zanchi stressed that education is the key to reducing plastic pollution in the oceans and more should be invested in this. The plastics industry could invest any amount of money but if one don’t educate the consumer, the money would be wasted. Mr van Bochove agreed with this, claiming that it is also a problem of infrastructure: one cannot blame the plastic indus- try for littering. It is the litter that must be addressed. Finally, Mr Bosman acknowledged that educating the con- sumer is a huge and continuing task. In his closing address, Mr Zanchi thanked all the panellists for the excel- lent presentations and discussions, and wrapped up this special webinar edition of PET Day 2020 by underlining how all people are really in an era of huge transformation. “We have all to realise we are in a global village, one entity. Covid has greatly enhanced this concept. We have to achieve a circular economy but we also have to introduce a social circular- ity by supporting the poorer areas of the world that Covid is making even poorer. And this can be done by helping these areas to help themselves, and thus discourage people abandoning their homelands to face a sometimes peril- ous future.” www.gsiplastic.com