Recycling Materials

Recycling Materials Position Paper

Landfills are piling up with waste, while simultaneously machines are at a standstill because the necessary raw materials are not available. Recycling still offers challenges at the moment but could be the solution to solve both problems. It's time to start using our waste as a resource.

The basic phases in recycling are the collection of waste materials, their processing and manufacturing into new products, and the purchase of those products, which may then themselves be recycled. Still, it can be challenging for companies to choose the right recycling materials. In the long run, organizations should be focusing on materials that are more sustainable but in the short run we also need to meet the demands of the market. Businesses must remain efficient and continue to operate. Therefore, it’s critical to realize the importance of recycling and focus on how we can change today's waste into tomorrow's resource.

The challenges of the recycling materials

The benefits of plastic include its versatility, hygienic, lightweight, flexibility, and high durability. Globally, it is the most commonly used material for packaging. However, one of the major challenges is that plastic is expected to triple in the oceans by 2040 because less than 15% of plastic packaging is recycled today.

With other materials, however, we are already further along. For aluminium beverage cans there is a high recycling rate of 96% and in Japan the "horizontal recycling," whereby cans are recycled into new cans, is widespread. But there is also room for improvement. According to the latest estimates, less than 60% of aluminium used in can bodies and lids is recycled and the aluminium is still used mostly for lids. The reason for that is to ensure certain qualities, such as material workability and lid strength.

However, climate change has made reducing CO2 emissions a social issue, and aluminium users need to adapt. The most effective way to accelerate the reduction of CO2 emissions from aluminium cans is to increase the use of recycled aluminium. Also, CO2 emissions during the production of recycled aluminium ingots are approximately 3% of those of new ingots which in turn supports the motive of reducing emissions. If we look at other materials such as steel, over 88 percent of steel is recycled into new products but there is still a space for improvement as stainless steel is almost 100% recyclable.

Picking the right recycling material

Considering the above, selecting the right recycling material for your product might seem daunting. But there are solutions in the market that will help considerably as Guillaume Perben, CEO & co-founder at Composite Recycling and Svetlana Panteleeva, Principal Research Analyst at OPIS, explained at the latest SUSTAINX roundtable. The key factor is how efficiently a recycling material can be recycled.

Svetlana pointed out that the process of collecting plastic waste has accelerated in the last years. Legislation, infrastructure, packaging design, and customer behaviour are key driver of this development. The EU most of all is at the forefront of sustainability regulations.?A growing number of European countries are now planning to introduce deposit return schemes and analytics show a significant increase in recycling compared to landfills over the past years.

Companies like Composite Recycling are making this development possible by revolutionizing the recycling of boats. Every year in Europe, 60'000 to 120'000 boats reach the end of their useful life. 2'000 of these are recycled, while another 6'000 to 9'000 are abandoned in unsightly ways. It has been estimated that 95% of boats under 30 meters are made of Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic, which is hard to recycle because fibres and resin cannot be separated. The technology of Composite Recycling now separates the resin from the fibre and makes the process more energy efficient. After the process, the fibres can be recovered and sold as new raw material. As Guillaume explained, the process parameters and output specs are specifically designed for ease of reuse. To close the loop, reclaimed and cleaned fibres are recombined with new resin to make new composites.

A major priority for EU Governments and organizations must be to develop more efficient recycling technologies such as these, in order to increase sustainability and the availability of raw materials. Major developments are already being made in the fields of paper and plastic, and when it comes to aluminium, even the foil used in laminate packaging will soon be recyclable.

In the end, picking the right recycling material boils down to efficiency and turning waste into a resource for tomorrow. Technological advances in the processing of paper, plastic, and metal are leading to significant advancements in environmental sustainability - and these innovative techniques improve quality of life for everyone.