A voice for plastics amid the environmental clamour
Despite investments in recycling initiatives and technology it seems that the plastics industry is just not getting its message across: the average consumer still believes that plastics are unrecyclable. Now, the APME, often criticized in the past for not doing enough in the environmental arena, is determined to take a lead and demonstrate that plastics are being recycled, a message which its members individually have so far failed to convey. APME director Nancy Russotto explained how an association of plastics manufacturers, whose business brings them little contact with the end-user, plans to reach the consumer.
'We don’t envisage advertising, instead we will communicate via active groups. We need to develop a greater involvement with specifiers such as packaging companies and fillers whose business brings them a lot closer to the final purchaser. The packaging industry is under pressure to supply environmentally friendly packaging and for the consumer recycling is very important, so plastics must be seen to fulfill these needs.’
Although the consumer may remain determinedly unconvinced, the trend among legislators is no longer to point the finger specifically at plastics. 'When I began working on this subject three years ago plastics were seen as the waste problem. Now there is a far greater understanding of the waste problem and the waste stream and all its components are being addressed as a whole. Apart from the Swiss ban on PVC coming into force in November — which we still hope to prove unjust and get reversed — recent legislation has not discriminated against plastics,’ states Russotto.
This increased emphasis on the entire waste stream has brought the APME into close contact with other materials manufacturers and operators in the packaging market. A multi-materials grouping, the Ad Hoc Packaging Legislation Group, has been set up to provide a unified voice to the EC’s environment directorate, DGXI, on its packaging directive, a first proposal for which is expected in the autumn. ‘All materials industries have a keen interest in seeing a packaging waste directive that will provide long term solutions, and all feel threatened by legislation that does not recognize the need for packaging,’ says Russotto.
Hoping to influence the content of the directive, the group has just sent the Commission a letter containing 20 points which it considers essential for inclusion in the legislation. Paramount is that waste management should be the co-responsibility of public authorities and all levels of private industry and trade this was a major failing of the recent German decree on the prevention of packaging waste which the APME is currently taking up with the Commission. Another important principle is the need for more than one system of managing waste to be included in order to take account of the methods required by different materials in the waste stream.
One area the APME wants the EC to address is finding methods to finance recycling. Russotto, who herself heads an APME task force on economic and fiscal incentives, emphasizes the need for funding to establish an infrastructure of sorting and recycling plants. ‘There are all sorts of possibilities being considered, including diversion credits where savings on landfill costs are credited to recycling initiatives, and favorable taxes on recycled goods.
What sort of system is most appropriate is still under debate but the ultimate aim must be to stimulate better waste collection as well as recycling. Our job is to identify areas where funding will be necessary.’
The APME sees its role not as an initiator of recycling schemes - its members are in a better position to do that —but very much as a gatherer, coordinator and disseminator of information. 'We have instigated many major research programmes and now have a lot of good, sound facts about plastics in the waste stream. We currently have four academic experts from different countries drawing up eco-balances for plastics materials and we hope they will be able to agree on methodology to produce more definitive results than similar studies done in the past.'
Although recycling is the more talked about area of waste management, the APME sees incineration as also having a major part to play. ‘It would be impossible to manage waste properly without incineration, however in many European countries the use of out-dated plants without the proper pollution abatement equipment has led to a reaction against incineration. We hope that by providing more information on the subject it will gain the acceptance it doesn’t currently have. Probably as recycling develops people will more readily accept incineration for that element of waste it is not practical to recycle.’
As well as conducting its own research the APME performs a co-ordination role for its 43 member companies. 'We have a body of plastics waste executives from each of the member companies who meet regularly to exchange information and identify areas where more work needs to be done. We have also set up 12 task forces to look at specific environmental questions such as co-mingled plastics, degradable, energy recycling and labeling systems.’
So how serious is the environmental threat to the plastics industry now? ‘There is still a threat but it is more of a shared one, borne equally by all materials manufacturers. The challenge now is to ensure that increased awareness continues, for with greater understanding of the complexity of environmental issues, eco-balances and the overall environmental impact of a product, the debate will move in an increasingly positive direction for the plastics industry. As life-cycle analysis develops the benefits of plastics will become more apparent.’
Source : European Plastics News, May 1991
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