Plastic Packaging, Sustainability & The Circular Economy: Can they ever co-exist?

Transcription

1 Plastic Packaging, Sustainability & The Circular Economy: Can they ever co-exist? Dr. Gerald Rebitzer Director Sustainability Amcor Flexibles Sustainable Retail Summit 26th October, 2018

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3 Amcor at a glance Global sales USD Employees Sites Countries 9.3 billion 33, *Source: IDC Study

4 Amcor s Sustainability track record Assessments Novel materials & processes, biobased, recycling-ready, recyclable, optimized, 27% Greenhouse gas reductions exceed target 69% Waste to landfill reductions exceed target EcoVadis: with 65 points in top 2% of assessed companies Ethical audits, with industry-leading results Global outreach and collaboration: Chair of CEFLEX Project Barrier Lead Best Climate Disclosure Award from the Carbon Disclosure Project Included in Dow Jones Sustainability Index (best in class in packaging / container sector)

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6 We are embracing the circular economy and need to look at sustainability holistically 2025 pledge to develop recyclable or reusable packaging Ellen MacArthur Foundation partnership Research and development breakthroughs Optimizing life cycle benefits of packaging Regional implementation of circular economy

7 Sorting fact from fiction: What are the biggest environmental challenges of our time?

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9 Climate change is the #1 sustainability challenge Global warming if released Scenario Sea level rise by 2100 Drowning cities Ocean acidification Heat Corn & wheat yields % more heavy rain over land Species at risk of extinction Really scary things +2 C safe limit 1,04 m Amsterdam bleached Every Euro summer a heatwave -20% 13% up to 30% Greenland ice sheet starts to disintegrate. Will take 50,000 years to melt with 2 C warming, but will raise sea levels by 6m. 3-4 C tipping point 1,24 m New York dead Italy, Spain, Greece deserts % 20-26% 40% Risk of releasing huge amounts of CO2 & methane by melting of permafrost in Siberia and Arctic. 5-6 C nightmare 1,43 m Bangkok 150% more acidic unknown unknown 35-42% unknown Risk of releasing ocean floor methane, causing runaway climate change. Possibility of mass extinction. over preindustrial average temperature relative to 1990 sea level serious inundation oceans become more acidic as they absorb CO2 US and African corn, Indian wheat compared to today, a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture

10 Well-designed packaging is part of the solution Global GHG sources Water and water waste 3% Environmental impact Agriculture 14% Forestry 17% Energy supply 26% Excess product waste Optimal packaging Excess packaging Industry 19% Transport 13% Under-designed packaging Amount of packaging (weight or volume) Over-designed packaging Residential & Commercial buildings 8% Environmental impact Minimum environmental impact Source: IPCC 10

11 Sorting facts from fiction: Is Circularity the only guiding principle?

12 Look to optimize the complete life cycle Material sourcing Low impact materials Lightweighting Downgauging Post-consumer recycled content After use Improved reuse & recycling Reduced total cost of ownership (e.g. green dot recovery fees in Europe) Packaging Life Cycle Conversion & Distribution Waste reduction Optimized conversion Logistics savings Retailing & Consumption Form/Filling/Seal Efficiency gains Waste reduction Energy reduction Food/product waste reduction Logistics savings

13 Working towards recyclability and lower carbon footprint 200g Glass Jar with Metal Closure Standard Flexible Packaging Improved Flexible Packaging Recyclable Flexible Packaging

14 Sorting fact from fiction: Is using one mono material the solution? Can multi-layer packaging be recycled?

15 Material makes a difference Thickness would increase from 0.1 mm to 35 cm

16 What we can learn from soft drink bottles Mixed plastics and heavy Flexible Packaging: Focusing on polyolefin-based materials (polyethylene, polypropylene) Ongoing development of design for recyclability guidelines 24.5 grams lighter mono-pet bottle

17 Recyclability & lower carbon footprint for high-barrier packaging 200g product 200g 200g product 200g product 200g product 127g Packaging 4.0g Packaging 3.9g Packaging 3.9g Packaging Glass Jar with Metal Closure (separately recyclable where systems exist) Standard Flexible Packaging with PET and Aluminium barrier (not recyclable) Today: AmLite HeatFlex with PET and metal-free barrier Coming soon: AmLite HeatFlex with high barrier new mono-polyolefin film and metal-free barrier - Glass - Twist closure (steel) - Label - PET - Aluminium - PP - PET - Adhesive - Amcor Barrier Coating - PET - Adhesive - PP - PP - PP with Amcor Barrier Coating - PP

18 It starts with a pouch Pouch is torn open and its contents eaten Pouch is thrown into recycling bin Recycling bin travels to sorting plant From pouch to playtime: the polyolefin-based flexible packaging solution with a world of potential Made into a new product Goes through the recycling process and made into high-quality regrind material Goes into a bale and sold to a recycler

19 Designed for recycling is meaningless if the packaging isn t collected and recycled

20 Consumers reuse or recycle packaging Recycled Consumer Engagement Education, Awareness, Collection and Sorting, collaborative initiatives with local and central governments, as well as brands and retailers Infrastructures in place to collect, sort and recycle consumer packaging Recyclable Partnerships Ellen MacArthur Foundation, CEFLEX, Materials Recovery for the Future, Ocean Conservancy, many others Collection, sorting, recycling works in practice and at scale Designed to be Recyclable Innovation

21 Flexible packaging collection and recycling in Europe today Not separately collected Not recycled Some collected Waste to energy or exported or landfilled Most collected Some recycled 100% Collection of flexible packaging Some recycled Sustainable end markets for all secondary materials from recycled flexible packaging Polyolefinbased, Paperbased, Aluminumbased materials + all recyclable materials separated and sorted into separate streams

22 Engagement with industry, policy makers and crossvalue chain organisations is critical

23 CEFLEX Project Stakeholders MATERIAL PRODUCERS FLEXIBLE PACKAGING CONVERTERS

24 CEFLEX Project Stakeholders: Can you spot the retailer? BRAND OWNERS AND RETAILERS COLLECTORS, SORTERS AND RECYCLERS SUPPLIERS, END USERS AND OTHERS

25 Look out for further developments on Oct 29th +200 Orgs

26 Please get in touch