Sustainable plastics on mass events theory and practice

Polish Packaging Research and Development Centre Poland, 02-942 Warsaw, 11 Konstancińska Street PACKAGING AND ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT Tel. +48 22 842 20 11, Fax: +48 22 842 23 03, http://www.cobro.org.pl Sustainable plastics on mass events theory and practice Prof. Hanna Żakowska COBRO Poland Ljubjana, September 2012

European Football Championships of 2012 and London Olympics 2012 provides a good opportunity to highlight compostable packaging WHY? Compostable packaging (cups, trays, plates etc.) can be successfully used during various mass events

Compostable Packaging on Mass Events Can substitute traditional plastic packaging (from nonrenewable resources), which, in Poland are mostly landfilled with other municipal waste They are usually produced from renewable and sustainable resources Can be processed into compost, which is cheaper than material recycling and energy recovery

Packaging Waste on Mass Events Mass events require gastronomic services for inhabitants, event enthusiasts and tourists. Gastronomic services for a significant number of consumers are directly linked to increased number of packaging waste, mainly from plastics Waste has to be collected and sorted in a short time, in order to recycle it If one could use compostable single use packaging, the waste can be collected together with food residues and composted altogether.

Compostable Packaging Manufactured mainly from biodegradable resources Conform to industrial composting standards

Compostable Packaging Requirements 1. Chemical Composition No substance that are harmful to the environment. Level of heavy metal contents and other hazardous elements within standardized limits. 2. Biodegradability More than 90 % exchange of polymer carbon into CO 2, in maximum of 180 days. 3. Disintegration during composting Quick disintegration of the material 4. Eco toxicity Positive results from testing of the compost quality 5. Labelling Labelling according to certification scheme, allows the inhabitants to identify and collect the waste in organic waste bins

Source: European Bioplastics Biodegradable Polymers Production

Closed life cycle of compostable packaging FROM CRADLE TO CRADLE

Biodegradable packaging materials Polymers from renewable resources Starch and different starch derivatives PHA s PLA Cellulose Mixtures of wood and other natural resources Polymers from petrochemical resources Synthetic aliphatic polyesters Synthetic and half-synthetic aliphatic co-polyesters Synthetic aliphatic-aromatic co-polysters Polymers soluble in water on the basis of poly(vinyl alcohol)

Due to material properties, production capabilities and price, currently most popular biodegradable materials are listed below: PLA Polylactic acid Polymer-starch compositions Next Generation Cellulose films

PLA packaging

PLA bottles

PLA cup composting process Day 17 33 47 19 21 24 26 28 383 0 Source: EARTHFIRST PLA

Starch materials

Next generation Cellulose films

Examples from the Polish market

Pricing examples http://www.ecomaster.com.pl Biotrem wheat bran material Compressed wheat bran. 100% biodegradable, 100% compostable, can also be fed to domestic animals 20 cm plate flat plate 20cm plate, 50 pcs. Price: 40 PLN = 10 23cm plate, 50 pcs. Price: 40 PLN = 10 PLA cup 200/250 ml 200 ml cup, 50 pcs. Price: 20 PLN = 5

Sustainable Packaging and Mass Events

Sydney 2000 PLA cup (Cargill-Dow) Bags for selective collection from Mater-Bi Salt Lake City 2002 Paper cups coated with Mater-Bi Beijing 2008

Turin 2006

Turin 2006 Delivery of waste to the composting plant

London 2012 Zero Waste Olympics concept: Reuse, Recycling/Composting of more than 70% waste Zero waste on landfills Materials according to sustainable development policy Packaging with OPRLs (On Pack Recycling Label)

London 2012 Compostable packaging: Only used when substitutes cannot be recycled easily or cannot be reused Only materials with compostability certificate, and produced according to sustainable development policies

London 2012

London 2012 *

London 2012

London 2012 Legacy System can be used in other mass events, both national and international System can be implemented by other cities/countries

EURO 2012 Waste Matematics

Number of mass events in Poland 10880 10222 7281 7799 2008 2009 2010 2011 [Source: Raport BIM Komendy Głównej Policji za rok 2011]

Sales of mass events in Poland 27% 43% 30% Artistic and entertainment events Sport events Football [Source: Raport BIM Komendy Głównej Policji za rok 2011]

Projected EURO 2012 attendence DATA MIASTO MECZ ILOŚĆ OSÓB 08-06-2012 Warsaw Poland - Greece 58 500 08-06-2012 Wroclaw Russia Czech Rep. 43 308 10-06-2012 Gdansk Spain Italy 43 615 10-06-2012 Poznan Ireland Croatia 43 269 12-06-2012 Wroclaw Greece Czech Rep. 43 308 12-06-2012 Warsaw Poland Russia 58 500 14-06-2012 Poznan Italy Croatia 43 269 14-06-2012 Gdansk Spain Ireland 43 615 16-06-2012 Wroclaw Czech Rep. Poland 43 308 16-06-2012 Warsaw Greece Russia 58 500 18-06-2012 Gdansk Croatia Spain 43 615 18-06-2012 Poznan Italy - Ireland 43 269 21-06-2012 Warsaw? 58 500 22-06-2012 Gdansk? 43 615 28-06-2012 Warsaw? 58 500 Total 726 691

EURO 2012 Waste Matematics Forecasted packaging waste per one EURO 2012 fan 300 grams Bottles and cups for bevarages, trays for food, secondary packaging etc.

EURO 2012 Waste Matematics 300 grams of waste x 726 691 fans = 218 tons of waste Which equals to annual waste of a small Polish municipality

EURO 2012 Waste Matematics Warsaw s Fan Area On Defilades Square Capacity of 100 000 fans Forecasted total capacity of 2 million fans during whole 25 days of EURO Forecasted use of 40 containers a day Daily waste of - 84 000 m 3

EURO 2012 Waste Matematics Cubature of Warsaw s stadium: 1 000 000 m 3 Which means that during 25 days of EURO 2012, waste from Warsaw s Fan Area alone can fill: 2 Stadiums!!

EURO 2012 Waste Matematics It is forecasted that: 80% Of generated waste, will not be collected selectively

EURO 2012 Waste Matematics 100% Of compostable packaging waste can be industrially composted