Can plastic packaging and the circular economy co-exist?

In October, I spoke at the Sustainable Retail Summit, run by the Consumer Goods Forum, where I asked a simple but profound question: can plastic packaging and the circular economy ever co-exist?

Insights from my conversations with brand owners and retailers

I noticed several recurring themes among my conversations with sustainability experts, retailers and brand owners at the Summit. A key one is the need to tackle food waste, which is certainly one of the most urgent sustainability challenges for the consumer goods sector.

Around a third of food produced for human consumption every year – approximately 1.3 billion tonnes – gets lost or wasted. Such waste is unacceptable given that 821 million people suffered chronic food deprivation in 2017. The climate change impact caused by this wasted food equates to about 10% of global annual carbon emissions, nearly on par with global emissions from cars, trucks, airplanes, trains and ships¹ – this waste represents a pressing environmental and social concern.

Conversations at the Summit also covered the debate about tackling plastic waste. Proposed solutions often center on banning plastics, but it was acknowledged that while this may reduce plastic waste, it would have the unintended consequence of more food waste as well as higher carbon emissions from alternative packaging materials.

When it comes to plastic alternatives, there was unanimous agreement that glass and metal are generally not suitable replacements. Despite being easier to recycle in current recycling streams, glass and metal alternatives often have a larger carbon footprint because they’re energy-intensive to produce and less efficient to transport. Plastic packaging usually has a lower carbon footprint, so here the focus needs to be on “end of use” scenarios that are more sustainable. We need to put more emphasis on widespread collection and recycling of bags and pouches and material alternatives such as responsibly sourced bio-based plastics, which can reduce the carbon footprint even further.

One of the biggest confusion creators in the debate on plastics is the lack of clarity around the term “single-use plastic”. Plastic food packaging is far from single-use: it is used to portion, protect, transport, store and dispense a product over a period of time. This is not the same as a drinking straw or a coffee cup lid, which may be used only momentarily and then thrown away.

Collaboration among the whole supply chain

Can packaging, sustainability, and the circular economy co-exist? Absolutely. Amcor is working with a number of partners to develop advanced packaging that is as resource-efficient as possible, while protecting products and keeping perishable goods safe and fresh, which also minimizes food waste.

But this is only part of the solution. We need to create a circular economy model, and design waste out by developing strategies to enhance the collection and recycling of plastic packaging. Everyone along the value chain needs to be involved: raw material producers, packaging manufacturers like Amcor, industry bodies like the Consumer Goods Forum, retailers, brands, food and beverage producers, NGOs, government, collection and recycling organizations, consumers, and many others.

A commitment to collaboration is embedded in the organizations we are working with to move to a circular economy model and develop new recycling strategies. An example is the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and its New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, which Amcor signed in early 2018. This three-year initiative is helping build momentum towards a plastics system founded on the principles of the circular economy.

We also partner with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on Project Barrier, which aims to develop a global standard for recyclability of plastic-based flexible packaging, similar to the existing and highly successful recycling standards for PET beverage bottles.

I encouraged more retailers at the summit to also join Amcor and others in initiatives such as CEFLEX, which has the goal of dramatically increasing collection and recycling of flexible packaging in Europe. CEFLEX (A Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging) began with about 10 partners less than two years ago and now comprises more than 100 organizations from all steps in the value chain – and, as retailers are key players in that value chain, we welcome more joining us.

For brands and retailers in North America, Materials Recovery for the Future (MRFF) is another key project focusing on recycling solutions for flexible plastic packaging in North America.

Packaging advice for retailers and brand owners

Amcor is looking to work with retailers and brand owners in the Consumer Goods Forum and beyond to empower their packaging decisions, and reduce plastics waste as well as food waste.

__Here are my recommendations for retailers and brand owners: __

1. Engage Amcor early in the design and innovation process to provide sustainability advice, including lifecycle assessments of packaging options using ASSET, our Carbon Trust certified lifecycle assessment tool.

2. To create more alignment within the complete value chain, engage with initiatives such as those spearheaded by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, CEFLEX, and MRFF.

3. Capitalize on these initiatives and industry conversations to create effective strategies for better collection and recycling; collaborate further to devise ways to help educate consumers and motivate them to recycle.

4. Help consumers identify and select products with more sustainable packaging. For example, Method’s liquid laundry detergent bottle is made from 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic, which significantly reduces packaging’s carbon footprint, and fosters recycling at the same time. With other customers, bio-based PE is also bringing sustainability improvements.

Read more about packaging sustainability and the 2025 Pledge for the planet.

¹ Source: PCC 2014, Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)). IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp. (the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change)