Page 62 - Plastics News September 2018

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

European soft drinks industry set to make plastic packaging

more sustainable

1(6'$ 6RIW 'ULQNV (XURSH KDV D VHW RI (8 ZLGH to reduce the amount of raw materials used; increasing
8ambitions to make the sector’s plastic packaging the use of recycled materials and removing technical
more sustainable. The ambitions aim to contribute EDUULHUV WR UHF\FODELOLW\ ´$FKLHYLQJ FLUFXODULW\ WKURXJK
towards building a circular model for plastic packaging by optimal collection, recycling and use of recycled PET is
improving its recyclability, recycled content, collection, D WRS SULRULW\ IRU RXU LQGXVWU\ µ H[SODLQV 81(6'$ 'LUHFWRU
and reuse. The ambition aims to have 100% of soft drinks *HQHUDO 6LJULG /LJQp ´81(6'$ PHPEHUV ZDQW DOO WKHLU
primary plastic packaging to be recyclable by 2025. packaging, including plastics, to be collected and recycled
All the soft drinks PET bottles will contain a minimum and not discarded on our streets, oceans and waterways.
25% recycled material on To achieve this, packaging collection systems must be
average. Collection rates of well designed, set-up and managed by industry. Improved
soft drinks primary plastic collection and recycling, alongside greater consumer
packaging for recycling will awareness, are key to increasing the rPET content of
be further increased and EHYHUDJH ERWWOHV µ
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in collaboration with other
packaging recovery actors. UK Government announces
Soft drinks primary plastic plans to extend the single-use
packaging will be reused –
LQFOXGLQJ UHÀOODEOH ERWWOHV plastic bag charge
– where it makes environmental and economic sense.
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objectives including the European Strategy for Plastics in a Textend the single-use plastic bag charge to all
&LUFXODU (FRQRP\ ² ZKLFK FDOOV IRU ´LQGXVWU\ DVVRFLDWLRQVµ retailers and increase the minimum charge to at
WR ´FRPH IRUZDUG ZLWK YROXQWDU\ SOHGJHV WR ERRVW WKH least 10p, subject to consultation. The 5p plastic bag
XSWDNH RI UHF\FOHG SODVWLFVµ DQG WKH SURSRVDO IRU D charge will be extended to all retailers and not just
Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic
big businesses, subject to consultation later this year,
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impact on collection rates, the quality of the collected WR KHOS ÀJKW WKH JOREDO VFRXUJH RI SODVWLF SROOXWLRQ
It is estimated over 3.4 billion single-use plastic bags
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are supplied annually by small and medium-sized
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of a secondary raw material market that makes food enterprises (SMEs). Trade bodies representing 40,000
JUDGH TXDOLW\ U3(7 VXIÀFLHQWO\ DYDLODEOH DFFHVVLEOH DQG small retailers have already launched a voluntarily
DIIRUGDEOH :LWK WKHVH FRQGLWLRQV PHW LW LV UHDG\ WR JR approach to a 5p charge, but this accounts for less
way beyond its current target of a minimum 25% recycled WKDQ RQH ÀIWK RI (QJODQG·V HVWLPDWHG 60(V
material on average. A consultation, to be launched later this year, will

The newly launched ambitions underline the European also explore the possibility of increasing the 5p
soft drinks industry’s commitment to increasing rates minimum charge to encourage further behaviour
RI FROOHFWLRQ IRU UHF\FOLQJ DFURVV WKH (8 7KH VHFWRU change, potentially doubling it to at least 10p. The
will play its part in tackling the societal challenge of move follows the success of the 5p charge introduced
packaging waste by continuing its collaboration with in 2015, which has seen plastic bag sales in major
other actors and driving ongoing packaging innovation supermarkets drop by 86%. This is equivalent to just
and improvement in the future.Beverage packaging is 19 bags in 2016/17 per person in England, compared
7KH VHFWRU KDV DOUHDG\ WDNHQ VLJQLÀFDQW VWHSV WR PDNH with 140 bags each before the government introduced
soft drinks packaging more sustainable and reduce its the charge.
carbon footprint – including light-weighting programmes

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