There is no doubt that plastics are getting a bad press at the moment, and for good reasons, given the level of damage that plastic waste is inflicting on the world’s beaches, oceans and wildlife.
Of course it is not plastic itself that is the problem; it is how we use it. It is the systems and habits that result in this valuable material being ‘thrown away’ long before the end of its useful life.
Supply and demand
Plastics are probably the most versatile and effective materials ever invented. They are widely used in every human activity and industry from construction to food, from transport to medicine, enabling so many of the innovations that we can’t imagine living without today.
According to PlasticsEurope, the Association of Plastics Manufacturers, the European plastics industry turned over €350billion in 2016. It is a sector in which nearly 60,000 companies operate, most of them SMEs, giving direct employment to 1.5million people .
Precisely because it is such a widely used group of materials, the opportunities for reuse and recycling of plastics are considerable. And yet less than half of the plastic packaging used in Europe is currently recycled; the figure for 2016 was 40.8%2. World wide, it is just 20% .
There is certainly strong demand for high quality recycled plastic. At the World Economic Forum in Davos this year  leading international brands, together responsible for more than six million tonnes of plastic packaging per year, made significant commitments under the Ellen McArthur Foundation New Plastics Economy initiative . For example, Danone has promised that Evian water bottles will all be made from 100% recycled plastic by 2025. Others committing to new targets include L’Oréal, Mars, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Unilever and Walmart.
Follow the money
The value of recycling lies in the quality of the feedstock material you get out at the other end, and since not all plastics are the same, purity of the input is important. Not only are there different types of plastic in common circulation (eg PET, HPDE, PVC, PP), there are different colours too, and that is important because clear recycled material tends to command much high prices than coloured stock. Add to that the lack of consistency in the way household waste is categorised and collected and you start to see why, what should be a straightforward technical challenge, has become complicated.
Defra says that in 2016 the UK exceeded its EU target to recycle or recover at least 60% of packaging waste (the quoted figure is 71.4%) but more than half of this was dealt with by shipping it overseas, mostly to China, which banned the import of waste for recycling in January 2018. There is now speculation that even these figures are unreliable, as reported in the press recently that the Environmental Agency has launched an investigation into allegations of fraud by UK recycling companies .
We know there is a huge supply of raw material available, and increasing consumer and corporate demand for high quality recycled product. The UK plastic waste export industry is said to be worth £50m year. So why are we not developing a more effective plastics recycling industry here in the UK?
The US business Terracyle ‘eliminates the idea of waste’ by recycling of all sorts of materials traditionally regarded as unrecyclable, from toothpaste tubes to biros. It has gone from small-scale social enterprise to profitable multi-million dollar company by applying a unique combination of strategy, logistics, science, technology and promotion to the problem (or opportunity) of waste. According to Terracycle: “Pretty much everything we once considered non-recyclable waste can be collected and transformed into raw materials for the creation of new products.”
In the UK, entrepreneurs are finding innovative new ways to reuse plastic waste. Swimwear designer Riz makes high quality tailored boardshorts using recycled plastic. Smile Plastics transforms waste materials into handcrafted decorative panels used by architects and designers.
Garcon Wines has designed a slim-line plastic wine bottle made of 100% recycled PET that is ideal for home delivery through the letterbox.
These are all great examples of innovation in the sector but given the size of the opportunity, what is surprising is that there aren’t more like these. At Green Angel Syndicate, we support investable businesses that make efficient and sustainable use of global resources to accelerate transition to a greener economy. We would welcome approaches from businesses with innovative solutions designed to capture value from plastics or other waste materials, or extend the useful life of valuable materials in our economy.