PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2021

PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 01+02/21 www.petpla.net 41 TRADE SHOW REVIEW Dr Volker Rehrmann, Head of Circular Economy at Tomra explained to host Claudia Fasse, Co-Founder & CEO von F+B Fasse und Bieger, the importance of imme- diate action with regard to holistic waste management, which would include long-term reductions in material usage and therefore waste generation, and improved recycling. He described the effects of coro- navirus on current waste genera- tion and the image of plastics in the pandemic as follows: “Basically we see increased generation of domes- tic waste as a result of increased home working or lockdowns. Overall however, it can be seen that the global negative image of plastics has sharply reversed, as the cur- rent situation has clearly exposed their necessity and their positive hygiene aspects.” In terms of plastic recycling, the currently low oil price means that virgin plastic material is somewhat cheaper than recyclate, as shown in the example of PET. However, continued Dr Rehrmann, many plastic manufacturers, con- verters and international or multina- tional brands are sticking to their line of maintaining the recyclate propor- tion in their packaging, despite any additional costs. The newly created department, the Circular Economy Division, will henceforth work towards holistic solutions for waste management. Its objectives are to reduce global emis- sions, increase the intentional col- lection of waste from 14% currently to 40% by 2030 so as to feed this into appropriate recycling streams, and establish a principle of closed- loop recycling at 30%. Dr Dominic Hogg, Chairman at Eunomia Dr Dominic Hogg, Chair- man at Eunomia, used a study to explain the impact of these holistic approaches to waste and recycling. This showed that in 2016, worldwide urban waste generation according to the World Bank amounted to 2.02 billion tonnes, which is comparable with ten thousand times the volume of the Empire State Building. A por- tion of this would never make it into the recycling stream, but would end up as landfill, in the environment or in the oceans. In 2030, waste generation is expected to amount to 2.59 billion tonnes. According to the International Resource Panel, the plastic and rubber industry con- tributes 1.5 gigatons of emissions annually. According to the World Resources Institute, an estimated 4.4-5.7 billion tonnes of overall emissions result from manufac- turing things that later end up as urban waste. In 2030, it could even be 5.6-7.3 billion tonnes. “With the currently available options for opti- mised waste management, 1.58 bil- lion tonnes of CO 2 emissions could be saved by 2030, equivalent to around 3% of all global greenhouse gases. If we assume a higher waste generation of an additional 30%, which is likely, as it has been shown that the World Bank has set the data for several groups of countries too low, then potential savings of 2.17 billion tonnes would be realistic,” said Dr Hogg. This quantity would be comparable with renouncing two- thirds of worldwide automotive traf- fic and all commercial flights. Stavanger pilot project The discussion group illustrated how a holistic solution could look by presenting a unique pilot project from the city of Stavanger in the southeast of Norway with a popula- tion of almost 144,000 residents. Besides comprehensive infrastruc- ture for waste separation in Norway, systems like deposit schemes for containers already generate high recirculation. However, a great deal of additional potential was identi- fied,” explained Dr Rehrmann. The municipality contacted us a few years ago with the aim of improv- ing their already good collection and recycling system and increasing the April 13-16, 2021, Shenzhen at the Krones booth 10F23 German Technology Innovative hotrunner optiRun