Weekly Bulletin on Circular Waste Management in Africa & EU #46-2023

South Africa

According to The Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa,? PASMA, 61% of paper and paper packaging (1.25 million tons) was recycled in 2022. Metal packaging has the highest recycling rate of 76%, while glass is 44%, with the recovery of various plastics trailing at 43%.? Checkers' Sixty60's paper grocery bag return program is a great example. The first to use paper bags for online delivery, Sixty60 also enables customers to send their used bags back with the driver. More to read https://www.mediaupdate.co.za/publicity/155117/sa-consumers-prefer-paper-packaging-and-want-more-packaging-return-programmes .

France

PET film company Evertis and chemical company Indorama Ventures are collaborating to make PET thermoforms more circular.?The partnership aims to use flake from recycled PET thermoforms to produce PET film suitable for food packaging trays. Indorama Ventures is commercially producing RPET flakes from post-consumer thermoforms at its Verdun facility in France after six years of testing and development. That will increase the amount of RPET available and help bolster the use of Post Consumer Recyclate (PCR) in thermoforms and films because the technology has the potential to divert more than 50 million post-consumer PET thermoforms from landfill or incineration each year. More to read: https://resource-recycling.com/plastics/2023/04/18/indorama-evertis-work-on-pet-thermoform-circularity/

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EU & Other countries

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The European Parliament and European Council have agreed to ban the export of ?plastic waste to non-OECD countries. The ban will come into effect two and a half years after the Parliament and Council formally approve the regulation change. However, it is disappointing to not see a total export ban on shipments and not even a ban on hazardous and mixed plastic waste to Turkey, which is the largest importer of EU's plastic waste EU agrees to ban exports of waste plastic to poor countries. More to read: https://rethinkplasticalliance.eu/news/important-step-towards-ending-waste-colonialism-eu-agrees-to-ban-the-export-of-its-plastic-waste-to-non-oecd-countries/

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The International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) position for a Just Transition for Waste Pickers under the UN Plastics Treaty is out. For IAWP it is imperative that member states include detailed mandates for a just transition throughout the UN plastics treaty, including in a dedicated article on just transition and actionable guidelines in a annex. This would represent a crucial step in recognizing waste pickers and acknowledging their historic contributions to plastic pollution reduction. More to read: https://globalrec.org/document/just-transition-waste-pickers-un-plastics-treaty/

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Tetra Pak and Lactogal have now launched an aseptic beverage carton featuring a paper-based barrier. This is part of a large-scale technology validation, involving around 25 million packages and currently ongoing in Portugal. Made of approximately 80% paperboard, the package increases the renewable content to 90%, reduces its carbon footprint by one third (33%1) and has been certified as Carbon Neutral by the Carbon Trust?. In this technology the main evolution is in the barrier layer and the the polyethilene is still present. More to read: ?https://www.tetrapak.com/about-tetra-pak/news-and-events/newsarchive/tetra-pak-and-lactogal-cut-carbon-footprint-of-aseptic-cartons-for-milk?utm_campaign=&utm_medium=SocialPost&utm_source=linkedin&utm_content=Our%20latest%20collaboration%E2%80%99s%20set&utm_term=EC%20Approval,Innovation&spredfast-trk-id=sf270267845

·?????? Analysis of Life Cycle Assessment studies on single-use and reusable packaging for dine-in and take-away, influencing the discussion on PPWR. More to read: https://www.aware.polimi.it/?p=3579

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New OECD publication on EPR: New Aspects of EPR: Extending producer responsibility to additional product groups and challenges throughout the product lifecycle. This paper presents a discussion of relatively novel applications of EPR to additional product groups (plastic products beyond packaging, textiles, construction materials, and food waste) and to environmental impacts (design considerations, pollution and littering) that occur throughout the product lifecycle. Based on select case studies, this report evaluates the successes and challenges that early adopters of applying the EPR approach to new product groups or additional environmental impact categories have experienced. It reviews the arguments for further application of EPR, possible limitations and provides guidance on when and how to best apply an EPR. More to read: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/new-aspects-of-epr-extending-producer-responsibility-to-additional-product-groups-and-challenges-throughout-the-product-lifecycle_cfdc1bdc-en

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Is reuse really better than single use? What about industry-funded LCAs? Yes, reuse is really better than single use. Well-designed reuse systems can reduce waste at source, cut energy, emissions, resource and water use, while also creating new green jobs and business opportunities! That's in line with the waste hierarchy and extensive independent scientific literature. Unfortunately, the single-use industry is aggressively pushing misleading Life Cycle Assessments to confuse policy makers. These studies are based on cherry picking scenarios, are intransparent and clearly biased against reuse. That's why 58 experts in life cycle assessment have urged caution around using packaging industry-funded LCAs to make general conclusions in the sector. More to read: https://eeb.org/library/faq-packaging-regulation-sorting-through-the-trash-talk/

SUEZ and Circular Fuels Limited (CFL) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly develop a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) alternative to liquid petroleum gas (LPG) at CFL's upcoming Teesside facility in UK. Through the agreement, SUEZ and CFL will work together to produce renewable and recyclable dimethyl ether (rDME), a low-carbon liquid gas which allows off-grid households and businesses reliant on LPG to decarbonise their energy use. The plant will use feedstock sourced from both household and commercial outlets. Non-recyclable waste will undergo a pre-treatment process, resulting in the creation of a refuse-derived fuel. This fuel will then be employed in an advanced gasification process to generate syngas and synthesised into renewable and recycled carbon DME. More to read: https://resource.co/article/suez-enters-partnership-deliver-uk-s-first-waste-low-carbon-lpg-facility

The adoption of AI is still in its infancy but there are a number of trials and early adopters of the technology with positive results, like WEEE (AI could learn what critical materials are contained within the WEEE) and this would really help to improve the value of any sorted stream. AI would also help with the sorting of textiles that is also a challenge. More to read: https://resource.co/article/how-ai-recycling-technology-can-transform-circular-economy

the rate of circular material use in 2022 increased by a measly 0.1 percentage points compared to 2021 in the EU. You might say that's better than nothing. Or you could say that, given the statistical distortions, it's really nothing. In any case, the EU is still a long way from a circular economy — despite all the efforts. The Netherlands reached 27% and France 19%. More to read: https://www.recycling-magazine.com/?utm_source=RMNL%5F231117%5FEN

The world circular economy forum will take place in Brussels in April 2024, with online participation open to everyone. While featuring the most impactful circular solutions from around the world, WCEF2024 also includes sessions that comprise the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference 2024 (ECESC) curated by the Belgian EU presidency team including site visits to circular economy companies in Belgium. More to read: https://www.sitra.fi/en/projects/wcef/

Circular economy: new recommendations for national authorities to increase the return of used and waste mobile phones, tablets and laptops. The set of policies are available in this document. More to read:https://environment.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-10/C_2023_6618_1_EN_ACT_part1_v3.pdf and https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/circular-economy-new-recommendations-national-authorities-increase-return-used-and-waste-mobile-2023-10-06_en

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