PET
Over 300 attendees at latest Petcore Europe conference / Agreement that EU's SUP directive focuses too much on plastics
Petcore Europe’s (Brussels / Belgium; https://petcore-europe.org) annual conference took place from 5-6 February 2020 in Brussels, where more than 300 delegates attended the event.
On the first day, Andy Grant (Eunomia) gave an overview of the PET market, including collection and recycling. A report of the data compiled in collaboration with Petcore, Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) and the European Federation of Bottled Water (EFBW, Brussels; www.efbw.org) – see Plasteurope.com of 17.02.2020 – was released during the conference. Petcore’s Sebastian Lemp talked about the need for the industry to communicate and showcase the positive aspects of PET such as circularity, and he introduced the strategies of some organisations and initiatives such as the EFBW and the US National Association for PET Container Resources (Napcor).
On the first day, Andy Grant (Eunomia) gave an overview of the PET market, including collection and recycling. A report of the data compiled in collaboration with Petcore, Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) and the European Federation of Bottled Water (EFBW, Brussels; www.efbw.org) – see Plasteurope.com of 17.02.2020 – was released during the conference. Petcore’s Sebastian Lemp talked about the need for the industry to communicate and showcase the positive aspects of PET such as circularity, and he introduced the strategies of some organisations and initiatives such as the EFBW and the US National Association for PET Container Resources (Napcor).
 Rana Pant from the EU commission’s DG Envi (left), John Standish from the Association of Plastic Recyclers (middle) and Kim Ragaert from Ghent University take part in a panel discussion at the 2020 Petcore Europe conference (Photo: HorstWagner.eu) |
The second day of the event opened with Rana Pant from the European Commission’s DG Envi presenting the EU’s SUP directive. In his opinion, the directive is focused a bit too much on plastics and should instead be against unsustainable use.
Describing challenges and solutions in North America, John Standish from the US Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) shared the APR’s design guidance for recyclability. He noted the influence major retailers like Walmart, Target and Amazon are having on packaging design and sustainability. Regarding PET bottle design, the APR is currently focused on five areas: pressure-sensitive film labels and eliminating paper, shrink sleeve labels, eliminating PETG, eliminating metal closures and innovation in barrier technologies.
Gian De Belder (P&G) described the multi-year “HolyGrail” project, which in collaboration with Digimarc, created a “digital recycling passport” that can be embossed in plastics or used in a printed label. The still-forming consortium includes 115 brands, retailers, manufacturers and waste management specialists, among others. In Q4 2020, the digital watermarks will be launched for certain Lenor-branded bottles in Germany and flexible packaging for Fairy tabs and soap bottles in Germany and the UK. De Belder also announced, in a chemical recycling partnership with Indorama, that P&G Hair Care Europe will release clear Pantene bottles for the UK market in Q4 2020 which will use circular resin from the PET producer.
The next Petcore Europe conference will take place in early 2021, with the exact date and location to be announced later this year.
Describing challenges and solutions in North America, John Standish from the US Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) shared the APR’s design guidance for recyclability. He noted the influence major retailers like Walmart, Target and Amazon are having on packaging design and sustainability. Regarding PET bottle design, the APR is currently focused on five areas: pressure-sensitive film labels and eliminating paper, shrink sleeve labels, eliminating PETG, eliminating metal closures and innovation in barrier technologies.
Gian De Belder (P&G) described the multi-year “HolyGrail” project, which in collaboration with Digimarc, created a “digital recycling passport” that can be embossed in plastics or used in a printed label. The still-forming consortium includes 115 brands, retailers, manufacturers and waste management specialists, among others. In Q4 2020, the digital watermarks will be launched for certain Lenor-branded bottles in Germany and flexible packaging for Fairy tabs and soap bottles in Germany and the UK. De Belder also announced, in a chemical recycling partnership with Indorama, that P&G Hair Care Europe will release clear Pantene bottles for the UK market in Q4 2020 which will use circular resin from the PET producer.
The next Petcore Europe conference will take place in early 2021, with the exact date and location to be announced later this year.
18.02.2020 Plasteurope.com [244471-0]
Published on 18.02.2020
German version of this article...