5-7 OCTOBERISFR2011

19

TOLEDO (SPAIN)

EUROPEAN TRENDS TO PROGRESS TOWARDS CAPTURING THE FULL VALUEOF USED PLASTICS
Jan-Erik Johansson1
1 Programme Director Resource Efficiency, PlasticsEurope

e-mail: jan-erik.johansson@plasticseurope.org

Abstract
There are 5 key considerations around plastics andwaste: landfilling, waste prevention, collection schemes,
recycling and energy recovery.
Strong links exist among these and they must be
considered in combination and implemented in a fully
integrated approach:(1) a legal hurdle to landfill waste plastics is a prerequisite and subsequently all options referred to in theWaste Framework Directive will be necessary toaccommodate the waste plastics which is currentlylandfilled.
(2) plastics are well positioned to become the championsof prevention strategies but this needs to be better
understood,(3) all waste plastics must be properly collected anddirected to sound treatment options among which(4) a high quality recycling sector with less focus on
quantitative targets and seeking the synergies with(5) high efficient energy recovery (MSWI and SRF) willbe the key to success.
Our proposed way forward to reach the ultimate goal ofdiverting 100% of waste plastics from landfill to a mix ofrecovery options is:a) Strongly support any legal means to prevent
landfilling of high calorific waste (incl. plastics).
Our industry will promote phase out of landfill andsupport legal instruments to avoid landfill either by bansor other legal instruments. Since waste-owners always
choose the cheapest legal option, zero-landfill
instruments will drive investments down the chain for
waste recovery and trigger adequate and alignedcollection schemes.
b) Build a strong waste prevention case andembrace, and pro-actively shape, the waste
prevention debate.
We will put prevention as a core message tocommunicate to stakeholders; and to advocate for, andsteer towards, prevention as a key focus for EU member
state’s resource policy, in line with the intentions of theEU Commission.
We must move the debate from recycling to prevention –which is top of the waste hierarchy.

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A three-step approach needs to be followed. First, weneed to understand the focus of the policy makers. We
can then build the case along with the value chain to
finally be able to interact with the legislative process andcommunicate the benefits of plastics in meeting theirobjectives.
c) Advocate for the extension of collection forrecycling and recovery of all waste plastics.
The past approach has been focused on avoiding
separate, i.e. material specific, collection of plastics andrelated high costs. Even so, it was known that somecost-efficient, material specific, schemes do exist acrossEurope and it was recognized that such schemes should
not be altered. However, to maximize the sustainability
opportunity for plastics we need to promote collection forrecycling and recovery of more than plastic bottles (orother specific applications). We therfore recommend thedevelopment of aligned 100% post-consumer waste
collection schemes and will promote these. One
preferred concept is the ‘dry-bin’ concept (collection ofvarious recyclables including all plastics packaging,metal and paper recyclables and potentially other plastics
i.e. plastic toys, small WEEE, …) which we will advocate
for when new or upgraded schemes are considered.
The collection of waste, however, must always be
considered in line with appropriate downstream
infrastructure for sorting and reprocessing. As far ascomplex technical applications are concerned, plastic
streams most often arise after a product-dismantling stepor shredding process (WEEE, ELV, …) organized forother purposes than plastics recycling (i.e. Health &Safety, metals recycling, …). Following the proposed
approach, however, such subsequent plastic-richstreams must be kept out of landfills and dedicated torecovery routes.
What must be prevented is that increased collection
jeopardizes the value from the current collection.
d) Stimulate the “quality recycling’’ sector.
The focus for European legislation and for many member
states has been, and still is, on quantitative recycling
targets. Such quantity-oriented recycling obligations
have, in many cases, resulted in volume optimization
instead of quality of outputs. As a consequence some of
the material collected for recycling has been of low

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6th International Symposium on Feedstock Recycling of Polymeric Materials

quality making further processing in Europe noncompetitive compared to exports outside the EU forrecycling and reprocessing.
To reverse this trend, and support building a sustainable
EU recycling industry, focus needs to be put on
supporting the quality of the recycling value chain. Thiscan be done by securing that collection and sorting isjoined up with suitable infrastructure; supporting
recyclers to improve their quality standards to achieve
better competitiveness; and by encouraging the waste
management industry to invest into state-of-the-art
automated sorting & reprocessing hardware, which canoffset the cost disadvantage of labour in Europe.
e) Strongly support efficient Energy from Waste
options (incl SRF & MSWI) within a “balanced’’
approach that supports all waste managementoptions.
PlasticsEurope has been promoting energy recovery formany years. We will continue support and promote highefficiency energy recovery but clearly highlighting that
this is a complement to recycling when this is notenvironmentally and economically beneficial. It is
assumed that particularly Solid Recovered Fuel options
have the potential to reach acceptance andacknowledgment, and should therefore be supported asa priority.

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