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TRENDS & UPDATES

55recyclinginternational.com | November/December | 2019

wHo will tRiumpH at tHe euRopean papeR
Recycling awaRDs?

by next year, eu coun-
tries have to realise a
recycling rate for paper
of 74%. It is hoped the
annual European Paper
Recycling Awards can
give the industry the
boost it needs to meet
this target. Companies
can now apply to enter
the competition.

Every two years, the European Paper Recycling Awards honour
innovative projects, initiatives or campaigns that change the way
paper is recycled. Entries for the industry-wide contest, organised
by the European Paper Recycling Council, will be accepted until
Friday 22 November.
The awards have two categories: one is Information & Education
and the other is Innovative Technologies and R&D. The competi-
tion is open to any organisation based in Europe, including
schools, universities, NGOs, national and regional authorities, com-
panies and associations.
Eligible projects, initiatives or campaigns will be evaluated on the
following criteria: relevance and originality; achievements; capacity
to reproduce the project, and cost-effectiveness.
The awards ceremony will take place in February 2020 at the
European Parliament in Brussels. Jytte Guteland MEP, a Swedish
politician and member of the Parliament’s Environment, Public
Health and Food Safety committee, will host the event.

will leaDing pRoDuceRs Do enougH to cut viRgin plastics?
waste concerns and a call for more recycling are gradu-
ally inspiring big brands to reduce their plastics produc-
tion while including more recycled content. Recently,
Unilever has made a commitment to halve the use of virgin
plastic in its products globally by 2025.
The multinational currently uses 700 000 tonnes of new
plastic every year and says more than 100 000 tonnes cut
from this total will come from reusable and refillable for-
mats, ‘no plastic’ packaging solutions and a reduction in
the amount of plastic in existing packs.
It will also be using more secondary plastics in its packag-
ing. Even so, ceo Alan Jope defended the use of plastic in
a BBC interview, saying it was a ‘terrific material’.
‘This is part of responding to society but also remaining rel-
evant for years to come in the market,’ he said. ‘We pro-
foundly believe that sustainability leads to a better financial
top and bottom line.’
In 2018, Unilever used nearly 5 000 tonnes of post-consum-
er recycled plastic in its packaging, typically HDPE and PET.
It has a global commitment to include at least 25% recy-
cled content in its packaging by 2025.
Unilever says it is focusing on using lighter, stronger and
better materials which have a lower environmental impact.

‘We aim to optimise materials each time we redesign our
packaging or develop concentrated or compressed ver-
sions of our products,’ its website says. ‘It can take signifi-
cant investment and ingenuity to reduce the amount of
material in a pack, even by just one gram. However, the
return on investment is worth it when our innovations suc-
cessfully reduce the packaging and waste impact in our
value chain, result in material cost savings and are more
attractive to our consumers.’
Recent packaging innovations include:
A three-litre bottle for the Omo laundry detergent brand in
Brazil with a formula six times the concentration of the
original so it can be diluted in people’s homes. This
reduced the volume of plastic used by 75%.
Lightweighting initiatives in skin care product packaging
across the Vaseline, Dove, Pond’s, St. Ives and Simple
brands reduced plastic content by around 1,100 tonnes in
2018.
Laminated ice cream cartons survive freezer temperatures
but have a low recycling rate. Unilever has worked with an
ink supplier and carton converter in China to develop a matt
UV varnish to replace the film, offering the potential to cut
packaging waste in China by around 300 tonnes per year.

Raising tHe stanDaRD foR textiles anD mattResses
new certification
schemes for recycling
textiles and mattresses
are being promoted in
the UK – said to be one
the most comprehensive
of its kind in the world.
In September, the
Trader Recycling
Universal Standard
(TRUST) scheme was
launched by charities
concerned that improp-

er or illegal practices within the used textile or similar supply chains could
have a severe impact on their reputation. Such activity, in employment,
health and safety, or environmental practices, could be anywhere in the
world.
At the launch, Robin Osterley, chief executive of the Charity Retail
Association, said: ‘Things are changing for charities and people are going to
want to know about your supply chain and what goes on there.’
The charities that have signed up to TRUST so far represent 2 500 retail out-
lets, one-third of all such shops in the UK. Each member pays a fee of
around £2 500 (EUR 2 875) to cover two years’ membership with audit costs
paid separately. Once accredited, a business will go on a publicly available
register and website. Accreditation is repeated every two years.
The scheme was one of two highlighted by Alan Wheeler, director of the
UK’s Textile Recycling Association, at the latest BIR convention in Budapest.
The other is the Register of Approved Mattress Recycler (RAMR) that is due
to be launched formally next year.
Wheeler told delegates that too many operators were doing business ille-
gally, running sites that took gate fees for mattresses, piled them up and did
nothing to recycle them. ‘It was the wild west,’ he said.
As with TRUST, RAMR has a two-stage accreditation process with significant
non-returnable joining fees. Audits are carried out by independent con-
cerns, although in this case it is three-yearly requirement. A 30% target for
recycling mattresses has been set and Wheeler believes the scheme could
help if the UK Government added mattresses to its extended producer
responsibility (EPR) regime in the next five years.

Recycling & Recovery

Eddy Current magneetscheiders scheiden ferro en
non-ferro metalen uit grote bulk- en afvalstromen.
Door nieuwe technieken extra hoog rendement.

[email protected]
goudsmitmagnets.com

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