trends and frontiers in recycling plastics: circular economy, challenging materials and complex...

M: Nina Goodrich Sustainable Packaging Coalition@greenblueorg

Bridget CrokeClosed Loop Fund@LoopFund

Karen BandhauerThe Recycling Partnership @RECYPartnership

Trends and Frontiers in Recycling Plastics: Circular Economy, Challenging Materials and Complex Economics

#SB16SD #ActivatingPurpose

Diane HerndonNestlé Purina PetCare@Purina

Tough Bag RecyclingThe Journey Towards Sustainable Packaging

4

Ingredients Contribute Most to Purina’s Total Footprint

Property of Nestle Purina PetCare (NPPC) - Confidential, not to be disclosed to any third party without NPPC permission.

= benefit / credit*Credits are due to recycling materials at their end of life (Land use credits are due to paper recycling, others are primarily due to aluminum recycling)

5

Property of Nestle Purina PetCare (NPPC) - Confidential, not to be disclosed to any third party without NPPC permission.

= benefit / credit*Credits are due to recycling materials at their end of life (Land use credits are due to paper recycling, others are primarily due to aluminum recycling)

However, Packaging Impact is Important to Consumers Because it is What They Touch

Product packaging creates significant concern among consumers as its impact is a visible reminder of the amount of waste society

produces.(Q.19 - % consumers indicating they are concerned about packaging filling up landfills)

43% of GP are concerned about packaging filling up landfills

75%LOHAS

46%NATURALITES

15%DRIFTERS

62%CONVENTIONALS

17%UNCONCERNEDS

% consumers indicating they are concerned about packaging filling up landfills

Denotes high index vs. GP (≥ 120)

Nestlé Commitment to Improved Packaging:

Our approach to packaging is aligned with The Nestlé Policy on Environmental Sustainability and focuses on five areas:

• The systematic use of ecodesign tools to assess environmental performance across the product life cycle;

• Continuing to optimize the weight and volume of our packaging;

• Leading the development and use of renewable materials;

• Supporting initiatives to recover used packaging and address littering; and

• Using recycled materials where there is an environmental benefit and where it is appropriate.

Purina has been Improving our Packaging and Informing Consumers about Package Recycling for Many Years

Evolving Packaging Lightweighting

Pails, cans, bags Save materials and

transportation Provide same product

protection Less waste to landfills

New Materials Exploration Bio-plastics Mono-resins Pressed pulp jug All polypropylene tough-

bags All High-Density

Polyethylene litter pouches – recyclable at store

http://www.bing.com/shopping/purina-tidy-cats-scoop-immediate-odor-control-formula/p/DCE4B867A354DF035012?q=tidy+cat&lpf=0&lpq=tidy+cat&FORM=EGCA&lppc=16

Helping Consumers to Recycle Packaging or Dispose of Properly – Purina.com

Labeling for Recyclability

Corrugated and paperboard trays and packages are labeled and aluminum and steel cans are labeled

Labeling guidelines follow the FTC Green Guide Moving to How2Recycle labeling system for most packages as they refresh

or for new products

Facebook.com/Purina

Earth Day St. Louis 2013Purina.com

Recyclebank.com

Consumer Recycling Communications Through Purina.com, Social Media, Promotions and Events

The Plastics ChallengeFlexible Plastic Packaging Currently Presents Processing Challenges for Today’s Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs)

• Flexible plastics like shrink wrap and pet food bags are harder to separate and channel to post consumer markets

• Films can get tangled; cause downtime and significant expense

• Some flexibles like pouches may be multi-material, complicating sorting

• Flexible pouches are likely to sort with flat items like paper resulting in contamination of other streams of materials and devalue commodity bales

The Next Frontier: Joining with Other Major CPG Companies to Open the Bottleneck at the Community MRFs

Work with other CPG companies to open the bottleneck Allow more flexible plastics to make it through the MRF sorters Make the business case that will motivate MRFs to make a

market out of recycled resin

CONSUMERS

RECYCLED RESIN

END USER

MATERIAL RECOVERY FACILITIES

Pet food bags = ~1% of plastics waste stream

Types of Flexible Packaging in Pilot

16 Hosted by: Foundation for Chemistry Research and Initiatives, [email protected],

Phase 1 MRFF Partners:

mailto:[email protected]

Research Questions for Flexible Package Recycling

Single stream

collection?

The Road is Long……But we are making progress, learning from best practices and trying new things ourselves and with partners.

• Packaging improvements• Consumer awareness• Evolving the community recycling infrastructure

Pitch: If you have exposure to flex plastics recovery challenges, please join us for Phase 2 of the MRFF pilot. Contact Emily Tipaldo for more information: [email protected] or download the flyer here .

mailto:[email protected]

Circular Economy: Connect At The Hubs

START.Karen Bandhauer, Projects Director

RECYCLINGPARTNERSHIP.ORG

Test beds for circular economy.

20

RECYCLINGPARTNERSHIP.ORG 21


Whoneeds

packaging?

CONSUMERSDEMANDVALUE,

CONVENIENCE,AND

ACTION


BIG IDEA: SHAMPOO NEEDS A VEHICLE

EVERY CIRCULAR ECONOMY

SYSTEM

NEEDS REVERSE LOGISTICS

TO THRIVE


COMMUNITIES ARE COLLECTION HUBS FOR CONSUMER PACKAGING.

24

25

Circular Economy: One Hub at a Time

ACTION.


Contamination with Non-

Recyclables

Insufficient Access

and Lack of Funding

Confusing or Missing

Education and Outreach

KEY BARRIERS:

Operations Disconnected

From Education

4

8


KEY SOLUTIONS:41

2

3

4

Growing Curbside Recycling Access with GrantsProviding Free Technical Support

Developing Tools for CommunitiesDesigning Leading Education Programs

27


Circular Economy: One Hub at a Time

VALUE.28


~7000 217%

MORE

Materials Added:

CardboardCartonsPlastics

EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN: Carts Plus


94%: “I recycle!”

Metrics: • Recyclables in the trash and recycling• Contamination level in the recyclables

MASSACHUSETTS: Contamination Education Programming

Toolkit to assist Commonwealth in reducing contamination and increasing participation

2,800,000

12


2015 RESULTS SUMMARY Just the beginning of delivering measurable and lasting impacts…

115,000CARTS DELIVERED

WITH 80,000 MORE COMING

1.2 MillionCONTRACTED HOUSEHOLDS

7:1LEVERAGE OF

FUNDING

71ACTIVE

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

$11MMTOTAL

RECYCLING INVESTMENT COMPLETED


OUR ACTION PARTNERS

14


RECYPartnership

recyclingpartnership

the-recycling-partnership

recyclingpartnership

Karen Bandhauer 970.672.7660 [email protected]

Drop off your business card if you want to participate in the informational webinar of our work at the end of June.

Bridget Croke, VP Closed Loop Fund@bridgetcroke, @loopfund

DRAFT - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL | CLOSED LOOP PARTNERS | PAGE 35

COLLECTION SORTATION

END MARKET DEVELOPMENT

The Closed Loop Fund unlocks recycling value by providing 0% and low interest loans to cities and companies to build recycling infrastructure.

WE INVEST IN:

SCALABILITY

FINANCIALS REPORTING

TONNAGE

CRITERIA:


End Market Development:

The Closed Loop Fund is committed to $21 million+ in investment in end market developmentEND MARKET

DEVELOPMENT


Incubate

Leveraging additional financial mechanisms to invest in gap areas across the circular economy

Sample Partners

Focus Areas

Food Waste: Research & GrantsFilm Plastic: Research & GrantsElectronics: Research Multi-family Housing: Pilot

$100m debt fund that invests in scaling recycling through municipal infrastructure, private companies, materials and packaging.

Sample Investors

Sample Investments

(currently in raise)

Investors

Family offices, institutions, individuals interested in strong financial returns and positive social impact.

Sample Projects

Commercialize Scale


Difficult Plastic Types

END MARKET DEVELOPMENT

Easier More Difficult


PET

The Situation: • Easy to mechanically recycle• Strong market• Most PET is downcycled

What’s Needed: • Higher level of circularity• Companies need to invest R&D and capital

into improving circularity

Innovations:


Polypropylene

The Situation:• Strong markets• Not cost effective to sort by color• Most recycled PP not food grade• Low supply, need to aggregate

What’s Needed: • Brands to engage recyclers at design stage • Companies need to become the end market• Companies need to work with suppliers and

recyclers to help them understand specs

Innovations:


Polystyrene

The Situation: • Weak markets• Low supply, need to aggregate

What’s Needed: • Brands to engage recyclers at design stage • Companies need to become the end market• Companies need to invest in the solution

Innovations:


Flexible Plastics – PE and multi-material

The Situation: • Difficult to sort with current technology• Virgin PE cheap• Multiple materials hard to separate

What’s Needed:

• New designs• Companies need to become end markets• Companies need to invest in material

innovation• Companies need to invest in the solution

Innovations:

THANK YOU!

#SB16SD #ActivatingPurpose

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trends and frontiers in recycling plastics: circular economy, challenging materials and complex...

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