When in 2018, the Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform (PCEP) committed to increasing the volume of recycled post-consumer polyolefin material used in European products to 3M tonnes - an increase of 1 million tonnes - by 2025, it seemed like a huge challenge. The commitment was made as part of the Circular Plastics Alliance and the European Commission’s campaign to reach 10 million tonnes of recycled plastic in new products on the EU market by that same year.
Now, however, the results from PCEP 2021 polyolefin material flow study, covering EU27 plus UK, Norway and Switzerland, show that this ambition has already been realised - years ahead of schedule. The industry has therefore now upgraded its level of ambition, increasing its target to 4M tonnes a year by 2025 - double the amount used in 2016.
The association's General Assembly approved a number of other long-term voluntary commitments as well, including:
- Increasing the share of post-consumer PO recyclates to 30% of total PO use by 2030 (estimated at 10.5% in 2021);
- Recycling 60% of collected PO packaging by 2030 (estimated at 28% in 2021 based on new calculation methodology);
- Recycling 50% of collected total PO waste by 2030 (estimated at 35.4% in 2021);
- Reviewing the industry’s level of ambition every two years.
For these to be achieved, however, a number of enabling conditions must be fulfilled. In the first place, all post-consumer PO waste should be collected along with other dry recyclable materials and sorted to standards which PCEP will help to establish. Second, all PO products and packaging across the value chain should be designed according to PCEP’s Design Principles, maximising the potential use of recycled PO and promoting the purest possible polymer streams.
And third, product specifiers, such as brand owner procurement departments, should make increasing recycled PO content in their product mix a strategic objective, to drive acceptance of the material.
In addition, support from European policymakers, in the form of EU legislation, is essential. This includes recognising all forms of recycling as counting towards recycling rates and recycled content targets.
Other EU measures should include dedicating resources to support the development and approval of technologies to enable recycled polyolefin content in food contact applications, without compromising food safety; implementing the EU waste directives across all member states by 2025; and ensuring the legal framework encourages investment in recycling innovations and allows time for that investment to be translated into on the ground capacity.
“PCEP is all about action, not just words,” emphasised Ton van der Giessen, interim Chair of PCEP Steering Board.
PCEP is a platform for companies and organisations operating at every point in the polyolefin value chain: brand owners, retailers, waste management organisations, recyclers, converters, producers and any other stakeholders. The association is committed to transforming from a linear to a circular economy based on three principles: designing out waste; keeping products and materials in use; and recycling into high-quality new raw materials.