Plastics & Rubber World - May/June 2019 - 28

rigid packaging

›› Continued from page 27

all Charpak packaging features an
embossed recycling message

The virgin polymer is added in advance of
extrusion.
"100% recycled material limits the
number of times you can reuse that material. Using 100% recycled material can
ultimately make the plastic brittle, possibly leading to cracked packaging in transit. Add that 10% and it keeps the plastics
industry moving and you've got a virtually
never-ending resource."
At LVF, the company uses a similar recycle message on its trays: 'I am recycled. I
am recyclable'. While the goal is to deliver
packaging which meets these criteria, the
company has put a backstop in place in
the form of Breakdown PET (BDP).
Marketed through TDX, based in Gateshead, and produced by US-based Breakdown Plastics, BDP comes in the form of an
additive used during polymer production.
Plastics using BDP have the same shelf life
as standard plastics, until they reach landfill. There, microbial actions help to reduce
the plastic material to methane, CO2 and
organic material in a matter of years, rather
than hundreds of years.
Nigel Coates offers more detail is about
the process. "The company has developed
a product which attracts microbes to the
plastic. A secretion from the microbes
makes the plastic breakdown like any other organic material."
He goes on to point out that all plastic was originally an organic material, but
those characteristics are lost during the
oil refining process. In effect, the additive
returns those features to the plastic. He
adds that the BDP product can supplement dedicated collection systems, which
he thinks are years away from having the
necessary capacity in the UK and are still
fallible due to consumer confusion centred on sorting different material types.
Coates further reports that a new version of the additive is due to be launched
which offers the same functionality, but
is activated by ocean water. "The amount

of plastic in landfill is far outweighed by
microfibres from clothing. This material
reached the ocean and is impossible to
collect, but the additive should promote
its natural breakdown," he says.
As might be expected, there is a cost
implication for plastics using the BDP
product. Coates estimates the product comes with a 60% mark up, but that
should drop with wider adoption. "If it was
to go worldwide, I'd be surprised if the increase didn't fall to about 5-10% of material costs," he says.
As it stands, the BDP product is a premium alternative, but the environmental
benefits should still attract customers. "I
think premium companies could enhance
their brand by using Breakdown PET, reassuring customers that even if the packaging went to landfill, it wouldn't have a
negative impact on the environment," explains Coates.

Not a bioplastiC

Nigel Coates is quick to separate the Breakdown PET product from other material
types. "This is not a bioplastic," he says with
some emphasis. "Biodegradable is often
mentioned in the same breath as bioplastics, but they are not the same." He pauses,
before adding: "I am strongly against bioplastics. They are a ridiculous idea."
What he is specifically against is the use
of food crops to produce starch-based
material that's ultimately used to manufacture virgin polymer. "Imagine that all of
the plastics manufacturers had been using starch-based plastics and then someone comes up with the idea of refining
oil and using that instead. That product
could be successfully reused, while the
land that had been used to grow crops for
starch-based polymer could be switched
over to producing food for people to eat.
"The person that came up with that
idea would surely be nominated for a Nobel prize!"

The downside of drS

" 'm not wholly comfortable with the idea
of a national deposit return scheme for
plastic bottles," says Charpak's Justin
Kempson.
The vacuum formed packaging company is a founder member of the WRAP UK
Plastics Pact and committed to achieving
the related goals. But a deposit return
scheme (DRS) could be a step too far.
"There are unintended consequences to a DRS programme," says Kempson.
"Remove plastic bottles out of the waste
stream and you're left with pots, tubs and
trays. That does not represent sufficient
value to support a circular economy."
As described, plastic bottles and the
high-grade plastic used to make them are
essentially the backbone of the recycling
industry. So much so that they are a key

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element in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's
New Plastic Economy Framework.
"Leave bottles with the waste and it keeps
local authorities interested," he continues.
As an example, the local circular economy
in which Charpak is involved depends on the
plastic bottles to build value. In addition, authorities involved in the programme receive
50% of the value Charpak pays for the recyclate, which can help to fund local community programmes.
There's also the related cost of a DRS,
which is estimated at between £1bn and
£2bn. "Every location that sells bottles would
need to have a collection centre. The mathematics doesn't add up," says Kempson. "The
value of the plastic collected using a DRS
comes nowhere near to matching the set up
costs."

iceland is one of many brands to trial
a DRs scheme - but such plans have
unintended consequences
In effect, there is only enough plastic
recyclate to support either a dedicated
recycling programme or a DRS. The programme put in place by Charpak shows
how a localised circular economy solution
could work in the UK, but it remains to be
seen if it will last in the face of a push for a
national DRS for plastic bottles.

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Plastics & Rubber World - May/June 2019

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