Kickstart: A plastics nod to the EU's new packaging rules

The European Union's new packaging waste directive could give a boost to recycled-content plastic, and in the minds of some plastics leaders, that's good for business.

Reuters and other media are reporting that the new rules, which the EU is reportedly set to unveil today, will set recycled-content targets of 30 percent by 2030 for plastic beverage bottles and 35 percent for many other types of plastic packaging.

It also will reportedly set reuse targets for packaging for 2030 and 2040. For beer and soft drink containers, it would be 10 percent by 2030 and 25 percent by 2040, for example, and it envisions companies setting up joint programs for reusable packaging.

A massive proposal like that is certain to generate questions and lead to changes, so the final version may look different, but the general concept is one that some in the plastics industry like.

Marco ten Bruggencate, the president of the trade group Plastics Europe, told an audience at the K 2022 show in Germany that policies like that are good for the virgin resin industry's new business models.

He specifically singled out the new EU packaging directive in an interview after his speech there, saying that as the plastics industry transitions to investing much more in recycling, those policies will be key to stimulating demand for recycled materials and justifying those recycling investments.

Along the lines of what ten Bruggencate said, Plastics News and our sister publication Sustainable Plastics see a lot of announcements from companies about efforts to make more sustainable use of materials.

One came across our desks this week on the Japanese decorative molding components supplier Nissha Co. Ltd. making a capital investment in Finnish biocomposite materials supplier Sulapac Ltd. and deepening their materials partnership.

The companies say they use Sulapac's materials as a "drop-in solution" in existing plastics machinery and mass production and thus far have made jars for cosmetics, supplements and dry foods like spices.

They say they plan to expand product offerings, but a Nov. 29 news release from Nissha adds a cautionary note to investors in the public company: It says the impact of the announcement on Nissha's business, which has 150 molding machines in factories around the world, will be "negligible" in its current fiscal year.

Sulapac says its materials have a lower carbon footprint than traditional, oil-based virgin plastics.

Our pages recently have noted other announcements aimed at sustainable materials.

My colleague Karen Laird highlighted another Finnish company, Orthex, using waste plastic collected in coastal zones to make buckets and other household products, and they say the plastic used has a carbon footprint that's 94 percent less than traditional virgin plastic.

Jim Johnson also noted packaging giant Amcor Ltd.'s new sustainability report says the company will triple its recycled-content target in packaging to 30 percent by 2030.

And finally, the Los Angeles Times has this look at two environmental scientists who went from researching ocean plastic to opening a zero-waste market.

The Nov. 27 story says that Jessica Walden and Chris McGuire, both doctoral students and a married couple, opened the Amis de le Terre Zero-Waste Market in Costa Mesa in September and operate it while completing their studies.

The impetus, according to the store's website, is to create a bulk-buying, refillable option for pastry and baking staples and cut back on plastic packaging.

Both are doctoral students at UC Irvine's Department of Earth System Science and said they were motivated by their oceanographic studies and inspired by seeing refill stores elsewhere. Their pint-sized market is a few doors down from a full-service, zero-waste grocer, perhaps giving their startup a small leg up.

McGuire told the LA Times that their academic work led to the commercial venture.

"Every time I collect a shot glass worth of water and can find hundreds of these tiny pieces of plastic — no matter where you get the sample from — you realize the problem is much bigger than the public understands," he said.