Addressing the

Challenges of
Plastic Pollution,
including in
the Marine
Environment,
Using Circular
Economy Methods
CONSIDERATIONS RELEVANT
TO SUCH AN APPROACH
A working paper

UNIDO – United Nations Industrial Development Organization

Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency Unit
Vienna, Austria, April 2019, updated November 2023

©UNIDO 2023. All rights reserved.

This document has been produced without formal United Nations editing. The designations employed and the
presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the
part of the Secretariat of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) concerning the legal
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This document may be freely quoted or reprinted but acknowledgement is requested.

2
 Executive summary

PREFACE
Plastics are versatile materials, being inexpensive,
light, easily shaped and durable, which have
brought immeasurable benefits to many areas of
life. They are used in numerous industrial sectors,
including packaging, health care, construction,
automotive, aviation, agriculture, logistics and
storage, consumer goods, clothing and many more.
As a result, plastic products have seen a huge and
rapid rise in production, from almost nothing in the
early 1950s to a little over 400 million tonnes/year
as of 2015, with no signs of abatement in the rate of
growth: it has been estimated that under a Business 1950-2015
As Usual scenario, an extra 26 billion tonnes of
plastic products could be produced by 2050.

by 2050
extra Only The remaining

26 bn 30%
of virgin plastics
are still in use.
70%
have become
waste.
tonnes of plastic products could
be produced

Primarily made from fossil fuels, plastic materials between 1950 and 2015, only 30% are still in use.
are valuable and embody our world’s limited The remaining 70% have become waste. Only a little
natural material resources (in addition to oil, under 2% of this waste has been recycled. Of the
much energy, mostly non-renewable, and water) remainder, 14% has been incinerated and 84% has
and come with sunk investment costs that may either been deposited in landfills and dumps or is
be reused to create fresh economic value. Yet polluting the terrestrial and marine environments.
this value is not reflected in their fate. In 2015, a This constitutes a huge loss in economic terms and
little over 300 Mt of plastic waste was generated, is alarming with respect to the potential harm that
amounting to 74% of the total primary plastics this could mean to humans, animals and plants in
production in that same year. For certain product our ecosystems.
categories, this percentage was even higher:
97% and 88% for plastic packaging and plastic The concerns raised by the rapidly growing
consumer and institutional goods, respectively, problem of plastic pollution, including in the
reflecting the short to very short lifetimes of many marine environment, have recently led to the
of these products. Very little of this plastic waste decision to develop an international legally
is being recycled and reused in new products. Of binding instrument to tackle this plastic pollution.
the 8.3 billion tonnes of virgin plastics produced An Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee

3
has been convened with the task of developing d. selection of additives that are not or less toxic
the instrument. Discussions in the Committee are and/or do not interfere with the recycling
ongoing. processes;
e. designing for the use of less plastic in the
product;
CIRCULAR ECONOMY f. designing products that use one or a small
PRACTICES FOR COMBATING number of polymers that are easy to separate
during recycling.
PLASTIC POLLUTION, Note that design decisions are intimately linked to
INCLUDING IN THE MARINE the circular business model which a company will
adopt with respect to circularising its products.
ENVIRONMENT
During the manufacture of plastic
The objective of this paper is to contribute to the packaging and of the products
ongoing discussions, highlighting how resource using this packaging, as well as of
efficiency and circular economy concepts can other single use plastic products,
provide useful pathways forward. The paper factory management can
focuses in particular on packaging and other single implement the Resource Efficient
use plastic products, which make up the largest and Cleaner Production (RECP) methodology to
portion of today’s plastic pollution. The adoption prevent loss of plastic raw materials and of the
of circular economy practices, in conjunction with plastic products themselves into the environment
optimisation of landfill management, will help to (the RECP methodology can also be used to
substantially reduce the amount of these types make manufacturing operations generally more
of plastic products most likely to leak into the resource and energy efficient).
terrestrial and marine environments.
During the various transportation stages which
All the actors along the value chain of plastic occur throughout the value chain – of raw
packaging and other single use plastic products materials to the points of manufacture, of the
have circular economy practices which they can products from their point of manufacture to their
adopt. In the production stage of the manufacture point of sales, of discarded products to recycling
of these products, two circular economy practices
predominate.

Product design is fundamental

to circularising any product,
since products must be designed
to easily and at least cost pass
through the cycles which are
relevant to them. With respect
to plastic packaging and other single use plastic
products, product designers could consider the
following design options:

a. scrutinising the necessity of plastic packaging

(or of any other type of packaging), or the need
to use single use plastic products;
b. selection of renewable, biodegradable and
compostable materials to use instead of the
plastic;
c. designing for the use of recycled plastic to
make up at least a portion of the total plastic
used;

4
facilities, of recovered plastic to new points of c. switch the plastic packaging they use to
manufacture – transporters can also use the RECP packaging made from biodegradable or
methodology as a circular economy practice for compostable materials.
minimising the loss of products during transit as Businesses offering food and beverages to go
well as for minimising the use of tertiary plastic could also consider the same set of circular
packaging which they use. economy practices as for the retail sector, but
tailored to their business models. Thus, they
Many other businesses in the service sector could:
are heavy users of single use plastic products.
However, two stand apart because their “use” a. eliminate the use of single use plastic
primarily consists of passing on the single use products, by, e.g., encouraging customers
plastic products to consumers, who are then left to come with their own coffee mugs or by
with the problem of what to do with these products joining a programme offering reusable mugs;
once they discard them. These are the retail sector
and businesses offering food and beverages to b. reduce the amount of plastic used in their
go. Both of these have specific circular economy single use products, by, e.g., choosing to
practices which they could adopt. purchase their products from manufacturers
which have light-weighted them;
Retailers could consider the following circular c. switch to offering their customers single
economy practices for reducing the amount of use products made of biodegradable or
plastic packaging they use: compostable materials, e.g., offering straws
made with compostable materials.
a. eliminate the use of plastic packaging
In the use stage, consumers
altogether, by, e.g., encouraging consumers to
have a number of circular
come with their own reusable containers;
economy practices available
b. reduce the amount of plastic packaging they to them to reduce the amount
use, by, e.g., selling products which normally of plastic packaging and other
include a lot of water in a concentrated liquid single use plastic products they
form instead, or as tablets, with the customer use. Decisions they make at the point of sale
adding the necessary water at home; are particularly important in this case. They
can choose purchasing options which reduce, if
not eliminate, the amount of plastic packaging
and other single use plastic consumer products
they purchase. For instance, they can choose to
do their shopping with their own reusable bags
and containers (if the retail stores they use
allow this), or they can join programmes which
offer to deliver them their produce in reusable
containers. Once they have used these plastic
products for their original purpose, consumers
can extend their useful lives by reusing them in
a variety of ways; note, though, that the impact
here will be modest, because of the limited way
in which these products can be used. Once they
have finished using these products, the main
action consumers should take is to properly
discard the products – this is taken up again
below.

Note that while the focus here is on household

consumers, all actors in an economy are also
at least in part consumers. Businesses and
other entities in the service sector purchase

5
goods which are packaged in plastic packaging where discarded products have a recognised value
or purchase other single use plastic products, in the marketplace, private waste pickers have
and use them to deliver their services (e.g., stepped in and can very efficiently collect these
the healthcare sector, the hospitality sector). types of discarded products. Large numbers of
Manufacturers also purchase goods which they people are involved in these informal operations,
use to make their products; at least part of these allowing them much-needed income. The trend is
will come in plastic packaging. Farmers and other for developing countries to adopt the operational
primary producers also purchase specialised models used in the developed countries, which
single use plastic products or other goods to grow is squeezing out the informal waste pickers, who
their produce; some of the latter will come in are losing their major source of income with
plastic packaging. The circular economy practices no alternative available. Some reports indicate
outlined above are equally applicable to these that this is having the unintended consequence
consumers. of putting strong pressure on the new waste
management infrastructures, resulting in their
Once plastic packaging and other inadequate functioning. It has been argued that
single use plastic products have it would be better to formalise the informal waste
completed their useful life and pickers and integrate them into the new waste
are discarded, recycling is the management infrastructures or into the new
circular economy practice of structures created by the move to circularity.
choice. The objective is to deliver
back into the economy recovered plastic of a high As for the recycling itself, currently the more
quality that can be reused to manufacture new common type of recycling operation is mechanical
plastic products. There are two key requirements recycling. This operation is not very costly.
which have to occur upstream of the recycling Increasingly, however, plastic products, especially
to maximise the effectiveness of the recycling plastic packaging, are containing multiple
operations themselves. First, as many as possible polymers, and the current technologies have
of the discarded single use plastic products need difficulties separating these different polymers
to be separated out from the rest of the household from each other. The result is not very pure low-
waste which consumers are discarding (this is the quality recovered plastic. In addition, mechanical
category of waste to which most single use plastic recycling cannot currently separate out the various
products belong). This is best done at source by the additives included in plastics. As a result, as a
consumers, but it does require waste separation particular batch of plastic is subjected to recurring
programmes to be in place for them to use. If these cycles of recycling, more and more additives,
are not in place, the separation will need to be as well as other impurities, will accumulate in
done after mixed household wastes are collected, the material, increasingly reducing the value of
either mechanically or by hand; generally, this the plastic as well as possibly making it more
is not as effective since the resulting separated harmful to the health and safety of consumers.
plastic stream is more contaminated and leads to This puts a limit on the amount of times plastic
a recovered plastic with a lower quality. can be recycled. An emerging alternative to
mechanical recycling is chemical recycling. Here,
The second key requirement chemical processes convert discarded plastic
for proper recycling is that back to virgin feedstock for the production of
household wastes be widely plastics or other chemicals. Chemical recycling
collected. In developed countries, allows for the removal of additives and other
governments have put in place the impurities, but it requires considerably more
necessary rules and regulations to effort and therefore energy input. It must always
govern collection and have developed specialised be remembered that while recycling may be
collection vehicles and other infrastructure to do economically and environmentally beneficial, it
it. As a result, the great majority of household does not necessarily come at low risk to human
wastes are collected. In developing countries, health and the environment. In the specific
this governmental oversight is much weaker and case of recycled plastic, recycling operators can
much household waste is either not collected at themselves become a serious source of terrestrial
all or only fitfully collected, resulting in much and marine plastic litter by allowing plastic
household waste being dumped. At the same time, materials to escape from their operations. Thus,

6
the promotion of recycling must go hand-in-hand extending the responsibility for the end-of-life
with the development of the necessary regulatory stage of products to the producers.
framework and its enforcement, along with the Final disposal, which is the least desirable option
needed training of operators on good operating in a circular economy, will nevertheless continue
practices. to represent the main waste management solution
for waste plastic packaging and the waste of other
With today’s technologies, it is almost impossible single use plastics for a good number of years to
not to have a plastic waste fraction that cannot come, as economies undertake the transition to
be reused in making new products of the same circularity. How well these wastes are managed
quality as the original products. Downcycling in countries’ waste collection, incineration, and
(the production of lower-quality products) is landfilling operations will greatly influence how
an option for these types of plastic streams. much plastic escapes into the environment, both
One notable development in this regard is the terrestrial and marine.
emerging practice of using low-quality plastic
materials as a component of road paving, or any
other products expected to have a long lifespan.
However, such products may allow potential leaks
of microplastics and potentially eco-hazardous
additives into the environment during use.

The report points to examples which already exist, IN THIS WORKING PAPER
in both developing as well as developed countries,
This Executive Summary precedes a short
of many of the circular economy practices that
introduction to the issue of plastics,
have been outlined above, as well as to examples
especially plastic packaging and other single
where circular economy practices are in the
use plastic products (Chapter 1), which is
process of being trialled. Government policies will
followed by a discussion of the source and fate
be key to ensuring that such examples are scaled
of these kinds of plastic products (Chapter
up and come into general use. While the menu of
2). This is followed by a general introduction
policies aiming to retain plastics in the economy
to the Circular Economy (Chapter 3). Chapter
for as long as possible will vary across countries,
4, by far largest chapter, discusses how the
the strategies for designing them could be guided
circular economy practices outlined in the
by the following core principles:
previous chapter could be applied along the
value chain of plastic packaging and other
a. “Closing the front door” by preventing some
single use plastic products, considering the
products ever entering markets in the first
product design, manufacture, transportation,
place, e.g., bans on the production and/or sale
retail, use, and end-of-life stages. Examples
of certain types of plastic packaging and other
are given of where the cited circular example
single use plastic products;
practices are already being used or are being
b. Providing incentives for the perpetual use trialled. Possible policy responses are given
of plastic materials, through a variety of for how to promote the scale-up of such
actions ranging from support for R&D, to the examples. Recognising that final disposal of
creation of conditions for the development waste plastic packaging and other single use
of technological solutions for enhanced plastic products will continue for a while,
recycling, to creating a level playing field for the chapter closes with a brief mention of
recycled (secondary) plastics, to facilitating how waste management practices could be
investments in preferred technologies and improved so as to minimise the leakage of
businesses, to support for technology transfer, plastic waste into the environment. Chapter
and to support for citizens’ education; 5 contains a summary of strategies proposed
c. “Closing the back door” by adopting measures and some final thoughts on how loops could
that discourage leakage of plastic materials be closed in a circular plastics economy.
from the system, e.g., the creation of the
necessary collection, sorting and separation
systems and recycling facilities, measures for

7
8
 Table of contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS 9
GLOSSARY 10

1 INTRODUCTION 13

2 THE SOURCE AND FATE OF PLASTIC PACKAGING AS WELL AS OTHER

SINGLE USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS 15
2.1 Plastics production and waste generation 15
2.2 Most commonly used polymers in plastic packaging 16
2.3 The use of additives in plastic packaging 18
2.4 The flow of plastic packaging and other single use plastic products from the
economy into the environment 18

3 CIRCULAR ECONOMY – AN INTRODUCTION 19

4 CIRCULAR ECONOMY PRACTICES FOR ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGE OF

REDUCING PLASTIC POLLUTION 24
4.1 Circular economy practices in the manufacturing stage 26
Product Design 27
Resource efficiency and Cleaner Production 31
4.2 Circular economy practices to reduce the plastic waste generated during
transportation 38
4.3 Circular economy practices to reduce the single use plastic products passed on to
consumers at points of sale in the service sector 39
4.4 Circular economy practices to reduce the plastic waste generated by consumers 49
4.5 Circular economy practices to increase recycling of single use plastic products
discarded at the end of their useful lives 51
4.6 Final disposal 60

5 CONCLUDING REMARKS 64

REFERENCES 66

9
 Glossary NOTE: This glossary focuses on terms which are used
in the context of a circular economy. It is primarily
based on the glossary of terms developed by the
Ellen Macarthur Foundation.1 Where other sources
are used, these are cited separately.

Anaerobic digestion: Composting:

Microbial breakdown of organic matter in the Microbial breakdown of organic matter in the
absence of oxygen. In a circular economy, presence of oxygen. In a circular economy,
anaerobic digestion can be used to convert food composting can be used to convert food waste
waste and by-products, sewage sludge, and other and by-products and other biodegradable
biodegradable materials into digestates (or materials into compost, which can be used as a
‘biosolids’), which can be used as soil enhancers, soil enhancer.
and biogas.

Durability:
Biological cycle:

The ability of a product, component or material

The processes – such as composting and anaerobic to remain functional and relevant when used as
digestion – that together help to regenerate intended. Durability often applies to the physical
natural capital. The only materials suitable for attributes of a product (its ability to resist
these processes are those that can be safely damage and wear), though with some products
returned to the biosphere. durability can be technological (for example the
ability of software to be upgraded many times),
and it can be emotional (for example the ability
of certain clothes to stay desirable over time).
Circular Economy:

Extended Producer
A systems solution framework that tackles global Responsibility (EPR):2
challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss,
waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles,
driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, An environmental policy approach in which a
circulate products and materials (at their hig hest producer’s responsibility for a product is extended
value), and regenerate nature. It is underpinned by to the post-consumer stage of a product’s life
a transition to renewable energy and materials. cycle. An EPR policy is characterised by:

The transition to a circular economy entails 1. the shifting of responsibility (physically and/
decoupling economic activity from the consumption or economically; fully or partially) upstream
of finite resources. This represents a systemic towards the producer and away from
shift that builds long-term resilience, generates municipalities; and
business and economic opportunities, and 2. the provision of incentives to producers to take
provides environmental and societal benefits. into account environmental considerations
when designing their products.

10
 Linear Economy: Recycle:

An economy in which finite resources are extracted Transforming a product or component into its
to make products that are used – generally not basic materials or substances and reprocessing
to their full potential – and then thrown away them into new materials. Embedded energy and
(“take-make-waste”). It is a wasteful and polluting value are lost in the process. In a circular economy,
system that degrades natural systems. recycling is the last resort action.

Maintain: Refurbish:

Keep a product in its existing state of quality, Return a product to good working order. This
functionally and/or cosmetically, to guard against can include repairing or replacing components,
failure or decline. It is a practice that retains the updating specifications, and improving cosmetic
highest value of a product by extending its use appearance.
period.

Regenerative production:
Non-virgin materials:

Regenerative production provides food and

Materials that have been previously used. This materials in ways that support positive outcomes
includes: materials in products that have been for nature, which include but are not limited
reused, refurbished or repaired; components to: healthy and stable soils, improved local
that have been remanufactured; materials that biodiversity, improved air and water quality. In
have been recycled. Also referred to as secondary agriculture, regenerative production schools of
materials. thought include agroecology, agroforestry, and
conservation agriculture.

Recyclability:
Remanufacture:

The ease with which a material can be recycled in

practice and at scale. Re-engineer products and components to as-
new condition, with the same, or improved,
With respect specifically to plastic packaging, level of performance as a newly manufactured
packaging or a component thereof is recyclable one. Remanufactured products or components
if postconsumer collection, sorting and recycling are typically provided with a warranty that is
is proven to work in practice and at scale. A equivalent to, or better than, that of the newly
package can be considered recyclable if its main manufactured product.
packaging components, together representing
more than 95% of the entire packaging weight,
meet this requirement, and if the remaining minor
components are compatible with the recycling
process and do not hinder the recyclability of the
main components.3

11
 modification. Small adjustments and cleaning of
the component or product may be necessary to
Repair: prepare them for the next use.

Operation by which a faulty or broken product or Reverse logistics:

component is returned back to a usable state to
fulfil its intended use.

Supply chains dedicated to the reverse flow

of products and materials for the purpose of
Repairability: maintenance, repair, reuse, refurbishment,
remanufacture, recycling, or regenerating natural
systems.
The ease with which a product or component can
be repaired.
Sharing:

Repurpose:
The use of a product by multiple users. It is a
practice that retains the highest value of a product
by extending its use period.
The process by which an object with one use value
is transformed or redeployed as an object with an
alternative use value.4
Technical cycle:
Resource Efficiency and
Cleaner Production (RECP):5
The processes that products and materials
flow through in order to maintain their
The continuous application of preventive highest possible value at all times. Materials
environmental strategies to processes, products suitable for these processes are those that
and services in order to increase efficiency and are not consumed during use, such as metals,
reduce risks to humans and the environment. RECP plastics and wood. In the technical cycle, the
addresses the three sustainability dimensions opportunities to maintain and generate value
individually and synergistically: a) heightened come through retaining the greatest proportion
economic performance through improved of the energy and labour embedded in the
productive use of resources, b) environmental product. This is achieved, in order of value, by:
protection by conserving resources and minimising maintaining, repairing, prolonging, sharing;
industry’s impact on the natural environment, reusing and redistributing; refurbishing and
and c) social enhancement by providing jobs and remanufacturing; and recycling.
protecting the wellbeing of workers and local
communities.

Virgin materials:
Reuse:
Materials that have not yet been used in the
economy. These include both finite materials (e.g.,
The repeated use of a product or component iron ore mined from the ground) and renewable
for its intended purpose without significant resources (e.g., newly produced cotton).

12
 Introduction

01
Introduction

Plastics are versatile materials, being institutional products. The remainder see use
inexpensive, light, easily shaped and durable, in transportation, electrical and electronic
which have brought immeasurable benefits to products, and a wide variety of other products.
many areas of life. As a result, plastic products
have seen a huge and rapid rise in production, Primarily made from fossil-fuels, plastic
from almost nothing in the early 1950s to a little materials are valuable and embody our world’s
over 400 million tonnes/year as of 20156, with no limited natural resources (in addition to oil,
signs of abatement in the rate of growth: it has much energy, mostly non-renewable, and water).
been estimated that under the Business As Usual Yet this value is not reflected in their fate. Of
scenario, an extra 26 billion tonnes of plastic the 8.3 billion tonnes of virgin plastics produced
products could be produced by 2050.7 between 1950 and 2015, only 30% are still in use.
The remaining 70%, or 5.8 billion tonnes, have
Currently, some 36% of all plastic products become waste. Of these 5.8 billion tonnes, it is
are used in packaging. Another 16% are used estimated that about 0.5 billion tonnes have been
in building and construction. A further 14% collected for recycling, but because of the poor
are used in textiles and 10% in consumer and quality of the waste and technical limitations in

1950-2015 by 2050

8.3 bn 12 bn
tonnes of virgin plastics tonnes will have been
produced. The remaining 70% have landfilled or dispersed in
Only 30% are still in use. become waste. the natural environment.

13
 Introduction

the recycling technology only 0.1 billion tonnes, the same or similar quality applications, with
or a little under 2% of total plastic waste, has another 8% recycled into lower quality uses that
actually been recycled. Of the remainder, 14% are generally not recyclable after use, and the
(0.8 billion tonnes) has been incinerated and 84% remaining 4% lost as process losses. 14% of the
(4.9 billion tonnes) has either been deposited in waste plastic packaging is incinerated, possibly
landfills and dumps or has been dispersed into with energy recovery, 40% is landfilled, and
the natural environment.8 If current production 32% is dispersed into the environment.10 Much
and waste management trends continue, by 2050 of the latter make up the 9-14 million tons of
roughly 8 billion tonnes of plastic waste will have plastic waste which it is estimated entered the
been recycled, 12 billion tonnes incinerated and oceans in 2016.11 Many of the other single use
another 12 billion tonnes landfilled or dispersed and short-lived plastic products show the same
in the natural environment.9 environmental fate profile.

The concerns raised globally by the rapidly

growing problem of plastic pollution have recently
led to a decision to develop an international
legally binding instrument (ILBI) to tackle plastic
pollution, including in the marine environment.
In 2022, the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA)
adopted a Resolution in which it decided to
Plastic packaging
convene an Intergovernmental Negotiating
is the largest use
Committee (INC) with the task of developing
of plastic. the ILBI. The INC has met twice to date and will
continue meeting until a text of the ILBI has
been developed for submission to the UNEA for
Plastic packaging is the largest use of plastic approval.
(almost 45% of plastic resin production is
destined to its manufacture). Plastics are very The objective of this paper is to contribute
effective as a material for packaging products to the discussions of the INC, highlighting
due to their low weight, high strength, durability, how resource efficiency and circular economy
and flexibility. Yet, with their short lifespan, concepts can provide useful pathways forward
commonly ending after only a single use, plastic in efforts to reduce plastic pollution, including
packaging products put considerable pressure on in the marine environment. The paper focuses
waste collection, recovery and disposal systems. in particular on packaging and other single use
It has been estimated that 14% is collected for plastic products, which make up the largest
recycling, but only 2% is actually recycled into portion of this pollution.

14
 The source and fate of plastic packaging

02
The source
and fate
of plastic 97%
packaging packaging

as well as
other single The manufacture of plastic
88%
use plastic
products was globally
dominated by four use
sectors in 2015: packaging

products (146 Mt, 36%), building and

construction (65 Mt, 16%),
textiles (47 Mt, 14%) and consumer
and institutional products (42 Mt, 10%).
In terms of waste generated as the proportion
of annual production, packaging led with 97%,
followed by 88% for consumer and institutional
2.1 Plastics production products. With respect to total annual plastic
waste generated, packaging (47%), textiles (14%)
and waste generation and consumer and institutional products (12%)
emerged as top contenders, see Figure 1. This is
In 2015, global production of plastic products a reflection of their short to very short lifetimes:
made from primary, or virgin, plastic resins and 1, 5, and 3 years on average, respectively. On
fibres was 407 million metric tons (Mt)12 and is the other hand, while building and construction
expected to double by 2030, and to double again used a good proportion of the plastics products
by 2050. This figure does not include bio-based manufactured, it was responsible for a
plastics, for which total production was about substantially smaller proportion of the plastic
4 Mt in 201513, approximately 1% of total annual waste generated, a result of these products’
production of fossil fuel-based plastics. considerably longer lifetimes (35-40 years on
average).

15
 Plastics use Primary production Waste generation
sector (% of total) (% of total plastic waste)
The source and fate of plastic packaging
Packaging

Building & 36%

Figure 1: Importance of plastics use sectors in97%
construction production and waste generation, 2015
47%
Textiles

Consumer &
16% 20%
institutional products
4%
Transportation 14%
Plastics use 14% 71%
Primary production Waste generation
sector
Electrical/ (% of total) (% of total plastic waste)
Electronic products 10% 88% 12%
63%
7% LEGEND
Industrial machinery 6%
Packaging 4% 72% 4%
33% 1% 0% Waste generation
% (% of production
Other 12% 13% in use sector)
Building & 81%
36% 97%
construction
47%
Textiles

Consumer &
16% 20%
institutional products
4%
Transportation 14%
14% 71%

Electrical/
Electronic products 10% 88% 12%
63%
7% LEGEND
Industrial machinery 6%
4% 72% 4%
33% 1% 0% W
% (%
Other 12% 13% in
81%

Source: Based on Geyer, et al, 2017.

Of the 8.3 billion tonnes of products manufactured

with virgin plastics between 1950 and 2015, only 2.2 Most commonly
30% are still in use. The remaining 70%, or 5.8
billion tonnes, have become waste. Of these used polymers in
5.8 billion tonnes, it is estimated that about 0.5
billion tonnes have been collected for recycling, plastic packaging
but because of the poor quality of the waste and
technical limitations in the recycling technology A range of plastic polymers are produced. Figure
only 0.1 billion tonnes, or a little under 2% of 2 shows the levels of production of the most
total plastic waste, has actually been recycled. Of commonly used plastic resins and fibres (as well
the remainder, 14% (0.8 billion tonnes) has been as the additives used in plastic products) in 2015.
incinerated and 84% (4.9 billion tonnes) has either
been deposited in landfills and dumps or has
been dispersed into the natural environment.14

16
 The source and fate of plastic packaging

Figure 2: Global primary plastic production (in million metric tons) by polymer type, 2015

PP: Polypropylene
LLD, LDPE: Linear Low Density, Low
million tonnes Density Polyethylene
80 PP & A fibers: Polyester, Polyamide and
Acrylic fibers
HDPE: High Density Polyethylene
60 PVC: Polyvinyl Chloride
PET: Polyethylene Terephthalate
PUR: Polyurethane
PS: Polystyrene
40

20

0
PP LD/LDPE PP/ HDPE PVC PET PUT PS Additives
A fibers
Source: Geyer et al., 2017, as reported in Our World in Data, https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/plastic-production-polymer

Overall, the largest application sector for plastic of packaging products, as shown in Table 1. It
resins is packaging, with a share of almost 45% of is this mix of different plastics, along with the
total production. However, different plastic resins use of additives, which create challenges in the
are used to differing degrees in the production separation and recycling of packaging waste.

Table 1: Polymers used in packaging

PLASTIC RESIN % OF RESIN PRODUCTION FOR PRODUCTION FOR PACKAGING, MT

PACKAGING

LLD, LDPE 67.5% 43.6

PET 100% 32.6

HDPE 57.1% 30.0

PP 38.9% 26.5

PS 2.3% 7.4

PVC 7.7% 2.9

PUR 2.4% 0.6

Source: Geyer, et al, 2017.

17
 The source and fate of plastic packaging

These different plastic resins are also used A number of additives used in plastic products
for different types of packaging: in general can have hazardous characteristics.15
While such additives are typically selected in a
• LLDPE and LDPE is used in such products way that their undesired characteristics do not
as plastic bags, trays, containers and food impact during the intended use phase, they can
packaging films. pose serious issues at the end of life. In addition,
the difficulties of separating out additives pose
• HDPE is used in such products as milk a serious impediment to mechanical recycling,
bottles, freezer bags, shampoo bottles, and which is currently the most prevalent form of
ice cream containers. plastic recycling (see below Section 4.5).
• Much of PET is used for the production of
bottles, but it is also used for other products

2.4 The flow of plastic

such as dispensing containers for cleaning
fluids and biscuit trays.
• PP is used in such uses as microwave dishes,
ice cream tubs, potato chip bags, and bottle packaging and other
caps.
• PS is commonly used for disposable cutlery,
single use plastic
in food packaging such as yogurt containers,
lids, trays, and bottles. In its expanded form
products from the
it is used for disposable hot drink cups, and
filling for packaging in the form of blocks or
economy into the
beads. environment
• PVC is little used in packaging; its main used
is as food packaging, to ensure easy, gas- Plastic packaging as well as other single use plastic
tight packaging for fresh fruits, vegetables products escape from land-based activities in the
and meat, as well as in stretch film. economy and into the environment mainly because
they are mismanaged once they become waste:
• As Table 1 indicates, PUR is hardly used at
all in packaging. • They are deposited in non-sanitary landfills or
dumps, where the proper protection systems are
not in place, so the wastes, particularly the lighter
forms of packaging wastes, can be blown or
2.3 The use of additives washed away into the surrounding environment;

in plastic packaging
• They are inefficiently collected or are not
collected at all, particularly in rural areas where
waste collection and management systems are
The properties of all plastic products are usually missing, and they simply get blown or washed
enhanced by a variety of additives to an average away into the environment directly at the point
amount of 7% by weight. Packaging is no exception. of use;
The three most common additives to plastic
• These routes into the environment are enhanced
packaging, in order of importance, are oxygen
because of the lack of segregation at source in
scavengers, UV stabilisers, and antistatic additives.
many localities, meaning that plastic wastes are
Oxygen scavengers help to extend product life and
mixed in with all other types of waste, making any
improve product appearance by absorbing and
form of waste management other than landfilling
removing any oxygen left in the closed packaged
or dumping extremely difficult if not impossible.
product. In recent years, innovations have
enabled oxygen scavengers to be impregnated Once these wastes have escaped into the terrestrial
into laminates, cards, films, bottles, plastic lids environment, they can enter waterways, either
and closures. UV or light stabilisers protect the directly or indirectly via sewage systems, and from
package and their contents from the damaging there can then be carried into the seas and oceans.
effect of ultraviolet and infrared radiation from Alternatively, if landfills and dumps are sufficiently
sunlight. Antistatic additives eliminate or lessen close to coasts, the wastes can be blown or washed
the build-up of static electricity in the packaging. directly into seas or oceans.

18
 Circular Economy – an Introduction

03
Circular
Economy – an
Introduction It is a new way of creating value, by extending
product lifetimes and relocating waste from
the end of the value chain to the beginning – in
effect, using products and their resources more
efficiently and for a longer time by using them
Prior to describing how the transition to a circular more than once. Systemic innovation is at the
economy can lessen the amount of plastic core of circular economy practices.
packaging and other single use plastic products
escaping into the environment and polluting both Circular economy practices ensure that products
the terrestrial as well as the marine environment, and the resources which make them up are
it will be helpful to review the basic principles put to productive and efficient use within the
underlying a circular economy and how those economy over and over again. The retained
principles apply to these kinds of products. value in products and the resources which they
contain thereby create business opportunities,
A circular economy has been defined as “a income, and jobs many times and not only once
systems solution framework … based on three as in today’s linear economies, where products
principles, driven by design: eliminate waste usually end up in landfills at the end of their one
and pollution, circulate products and materials and only life. Figure 3 shows the various circular
(at their highest value), and regenerate nature”.16 economy practices which can be adopted.

19
 Circular Economy – an Introduction

Figure 3: Importance of plastics use sectors in production and waste generation, 2015
CIRCULAR ECONOMY PRACTICES

Reduce
Technical materials
Biological materials

Design

Regenerate

Remanufacture

Recycle Collect

Reuse/ Sharing

Repair

Material supply Manufacture Distribute Use Segregate

A circular economy starts at the product During the manufacture of products and their
design stage by the design team thinking in a component parts, manufacturers will adopt
forward-looking way about how the product resource efficiency and cleaner production
and its component parts could be more easily (RECP) practices which reduce the overall
maintained, repaired, reused, remanufactured environmental footprint of manufacture by
and recycled so that both the product and reducing inefficiencies in material and energy
its constituent materials have a longer, more use as well as the amount of GHG emissions,
productive lifetime. Product designers also pollution and waste which are generated.
look backward, by giving consideration to how Actors in distribution chains will do the same,
recycled raw materials can replace virgin raw with transporters reducing their environmental
materials in the production of new products and footprint during the transport of products to
their component parts. wholesalers and retailers, and wholesalers and
retailers reducing the environmental footprint
associated with their sales to consumers.

20
 Circular Economy – an Introduction

For their part, consumers will adopt a number of

circular economy practices.

• At the point of sale, they can make a number

of decisions. They can choose to only purchase
products when they really need them. They can
decide to purchase the services of products
rather than the products themselves through
rental, leasing or sharing arrangements. They
can choose to purchase products which are
durable and highly efficient. They can encourage
the reuse of products, thus extending the useful
lives of products, by choosing to purchase
second-hand products rather than new ones.
• During use itself, they can adopt a number of
practices. They can use and consume their
products efficiently and in a manner that
minimises GHG emissions, pollution and waste.
They can maintain their products according
to the guidance given by manufacturers. They
can choose to have their products repaired
when broken rather than throw them away and
purchase a new product.
• Finally, once the products have reached the
end of their useful lives, there are a number of
practices which they can adopt. They can place
the products they no longer need but still work
into the second-hand market. They can send
those products which can be remanufactured to
remanufacturers (or to refurbishers if they can
be refurbished). They will choose to properly
segregate the remainder of their discarded
products so that they can be properly recycled.

21
 Circular Economy – an Introduction

In the final cycles, remanufacturers will their engines and hydraulics – some of the most
remanufacture products as efficiently as valuable of an automobile’s components – are
possible, ensuring that any parts which they remanufactured to a quality level equivalent to
will no longer use are recycled properly. For that of new automobile engines and hydraulics
their part, recyclers will extract the constituent (again, designers can ensure that the design of
materials from the discarded products they automobiles allows for the easy remanufacturing
receive in the most efficient and least polluting of these components). After remanufacturing,
way, ensuring at the same time a stream of high- engines and hydraulics can start a new life
quality recovered material which can go back to in another automobile. All other parts of old
a new product with as high a value as the original automobiles can instead be extracted for reuse
product from which it came. In the case of waste as spare parts in other automobiles or even
biological materials, recyclers will extract the as parts in new automobiles. Any remaining
constituent nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, components of old automobiles which cannot
potassium, other nutrients) as well as carbon be reused can be directed to recycling facilities
from these materials, using industrial processes where the constituent steel and other materials
such as composting and anaerobic digestion, can be recycled into making parts for new
with the nutrients going back to the land to automobiles or other products, thus avoiding the
support regenerative primary production. inefficiencies and environmental externalities
linked to the mining and processing of virgin
Many of these circular economy practices are materials.
already in use to a greater or lesser degree for
long-lived products: from durable consumer With plastics, on the other hand, the picture is
goods such as washing machines and furniture mixed. Some plastic products such as those used
to high quality shoes or clothes that do not fall in buildings (e.g., PVC windows, doors and water
out of fashion very quickly or fall apart after a pipes, outside panelling), automobiles (e.g.,
few uses, to industrial, agricultural, road, marine many parts under the hood, bumpers outside
and air transport, electrical, electronic and and in the passenger cabin, including seat
healthcare equipment, to the buildings that we textiles), healthcare (plastic parts of magnetic
live and work in. A good example is automobiles. resonance imaging (MRI) devices), long-lived
During their manufacture, the factories can consumer goods (e.g., plastic garden chairs
adopt RECP practices to reduce manufacturing and tables, plastic shelves in refrigerators,
inefficiencies and waste. So, too, can the actors the seats in office furniture) are made to last.
in the distribution chains for automobiles. At the With respect to circular economy practices,
point of sale, consumers can decide to purchase these long-lasting, durable plastic products
their own new automobile, or a used automobile, and their parts and components are similar to
or not to own an automobile at all but take part other durable consumer goods and many of the
in sharing or leasing schemes for automobiles. circular economy practices shown in figure 3 can
During the use of automobiles, their owners be used with them: they can be repaired, reused,
can make sure that they are used efficiently. refurbished and recycled depending on the type
They can also ensure that they are properly of plastic polymers used to make them.
maintained and repaired (they can be assisted in
this by designers ensuring that the automobiles’ Other plastic products have short to very short
design allows for easy maintenance and repair). lifetimes and are discarded almost immediately
If owners no longer need their automobiles but in today’s linear economies. This is particularly
they are still functioning, they can ensure that the case for plastic packaging (e.g., plastic
they enter the second-hand market to continue beverage bottles, cling wrap, candy wrappers,
their useful lives. At the end of automobiles’ containers for fast food, cleaning and personal
lives, their owners can ensure that they go care products), as well as other single-use
to remanufacturing. For maximum efficiency, plastic products (e.g., cutlery, plates, straws,
this will require the distribution sector to shopping bags). Also in this category are short-
establish reverse logistics systems to bring old lived consumer goods containing plastic such as
automobiles to remanufacturing facilities, where inexpensive clothing or trainers that go out of

22
 Circular Economy – an Introduction

fashion and favour rapidly or fall apart quickly traps). For these products, the circular economy
through normal wear and tear. Other examples practices which can be adopted are a smaller set
are plastic products that cannot stand up to the than those shown in Figure 3. Figure 4 shows the
forces of nature for very long (e.g., fishing gear set of practices for plastic packaging and other
that gets lost in open seas such as plastic fishing single-use plastic products in particular.
nets, ropes, floats, oyster spacers, baskets, crates,

Figure 4: Circular Economy Practices for plastic packaging and other single use plastic
products
CIRCULAR ECONOMY PRACTICES – PLASTIC PACKAGING

Reduce

Design

Recycle Collect

Reuse

Material supply Manufacturing Distribution Use Segregation

Nevertheless, even in these cases we can use alternatives which are long-lived. We can then
these circular economy practices to extract much ensure that plastic leakage into the environment
more value of the value embedded in these short- is prevented during production and distribution,
lived plastic products than we do now. We can as well as during product use and service delivery,
start from product design so that these types of through greater efficiency practices. Finally, we
plastic products and their constituent materials can maximise the amounts of discarded products
are more durable, are made from renewable going to recycling as well as maximise the
materials rather than non-renewable fossil fuels, amounts of recovered plastic by innovating on
are non-toxic, are easily recyclable. We can also the technologies used for recycling. How we do all
make systemic innovations, designing and using this is the topic of the chapter that follows.

23
 Circular economy practices

04
Circular
economy
practices for during transport and distribution, including
from theft at the retailer’s display. It is also

addressing
used to promote the brand and instil trust in
the consumer about the product. The packaging
may also carry information about the product

the challenge it contains. In some societies the aesthetics of

packaging is a value in itself. The packaging’s
purchaser is a business entity, mostly producers

of reducing of food, beverages, shampoo, toothpaste,

detergent and similar products, aimed at the

plastic
consumer market.

When the end user has consumed the meat,

pollution
the vegetables, the candy bar, the toothpaste,
the shampoo, the packaging has completed its
function and, given that most plastic packaging
is used only once, it immediately loses all of its
value to the consumer and is discarded.17

Other single use plastic consumer products such

Plastic packaging and other single use plastic as plastic bags, utensils (forks, knives, spoons,
products make up a considerable portion of cups, straws, etc.), as well as sanitary and
all plastic pollution, including in the marine personal care products, similarly have very short
environment. Their main characteristic is their life spans. They are designed to be used once,
very short life spans, driven by the fact that they after which the consumer is expected to discard
have been designed to have a single use before them.
they are discarded.
This chapter will follow these plastic products
Like all packaging, plastic packaging protects through the different stages their life cycle.
the product it encloses from external influences These consist of the following:

24
 Circular economy practices

STAGE 1:
the manufacture of the products and, in the case of plastic
packaging, of the goods which will be encased in plastic packaging.

• Note that the life cycle of the materials making • Should chemical recycling18 of plastics become
up the products (the monomers of the plastics an important route in the recycling of plastics in
and, upstream of that, the raw materials from the future, then the operations involved in the
which the monomers were derived; the various chemical recycling can be included in this type
chemicals and their upstream starting raw of analysis; these are very similar to the current
materials in the case of the additives) has operations for manufacture of the monomers
already started upstream of this stage. However, and the plastic resins.
since, in a circular economy, the principle is to • Note, too, that in any event the upstream
have future packaging and other single use manufacturers of the plastic resins will get
plastic products made from recycled plastics, involved to some degree in Stage 1, since the
these currently earlier stages in the materials’ physical properties of the resins used can
life-cycle will not be covered here because influence the (re)design of the plastic products
they are part of these products’ life cycle in of concern here.
a linear economy. Nevertheless, it is good to
remember that some of the circular economy • In a good number of countries, goods that
practices discussed in this report – notably are already packaged are imported, in which
resource efficiency and cleaner production – case this stage will not be relevant; both the
are equally applicable to these earlier stages in manufacture of the packaging and the packaging
the currently linear life cycle of the underlying of the goods will take place in the exporting
materials. countries. Importing companies will be involved
in Stage 2, as part of the distribution networks.

STAGE 2:
the distribution of the products from their point of manufacture (or
importation) to the point of sales.

• This stage is composed of two quite different and single use plastic goods can be delivered
activities, the transportation of packaged to the consumer by van (or the consumers
goods, and their sale in supermarkets, shops, or themselves transport the goods home in their
other retailers. As a consequence, the circular car). As for Stage 4, the discarded packaging and
economy practices which can be adopted are other single use products are transported to the
relatively different. Therefore, the two activities recycling facilities, and the plastic which these
will be discussed in separate sections. facilities recover is transported to manufacturers
• Note that transportation is to be found in of plastic products. The circular economy
all of the other stages. With respect to Stage principles outlined for transportation in stage
1, recovered plastic is transported from the 2 are equally applicable to these other phases
recycling facilities to the manufacturers of of transportation, except for the transportation
the plastic products, and plastic packaging is of wastes, which have special characteristics;
transported to the sites where they will be used these will be discussed under Stage 4.19
to package goods. In Stage 3, packaged goods

25
 Circular economy practices

STAGE 3:
the use of the products.

While many of the consumers of packaged goods products as well as single use plastic products
and single use plastic products are households, to use in their food services, coffee shops will
it is important to remember that consumers purchase many single use plastic products, hotels
can also be commercial, institutional, or even and other entities with meeting facilities will
manufacturing entities. For instance, restaurants purchase bottled water to offer at the meetings,
and canteens will purchase many packaged food and so on.

STAGE 4:
the recycling of the products once they come to the end of their
useful lives.

For each stage, the circular economy practices

which can be usefully adopted will be examined; 4.1 Circular economy
examples will be provided where such practices
are already being employed; and the possible practices in the
and already existing regulatory frameworks will
be identified aiming to facilitate the uptake of manufacturing stage
such practices.
Two critical circular economy practices come into
The examples given are not meant as an play at the manufacturing stage:
endorsement of any particular manufacturer or
practice, but only as an illustration of the current • The design of the products;
technical possibilities and trends. Moreover, • The adoption of more efficient manufacturing
the authors were not in the position to verify processes.
the different claims made by manufacturers or
Since these are very different from each other,
others about the performance characteristics of
they will be considered separately.
products and processes.

26
 Circular economy practices

4.1.1. PRODUCT DESIGN Circular economy practices to

circularise plastic packaging and
Preface other single use plastic consumer
A key circular economy practice to be undertaken products through design
in the manufacturing stage is the design of the
product (or its redesign, if it is already on the With respect to plastic packaging, different design
market). Design for plastic packaging and other questions would need to be considered depending
single use plastic consumer products (or their on which step in the manufacturing stage is being
alternatives) is critical in determining what kind considered.
of circular economy practices could be used
in later stages of their lifecycle and how well The manufacturers of plastic packaging would
these practices could work. Design decisions are need to consider the following design decisions:
intimately linked to the business model which the
company will adopt with respect to circularising • Is it possible to reduce the amount of plastic
its products. used in the packaging (light-weighting)?
• Is it possible to use recycled plastic in the
Various actors are involved in the (re)design of packaging?
plastic packaging and other single use plastic
consumer products. With respect to plastic • Can this packaging be made from one polymer
packaging, design decisions can be made at two rather than different polymers, e.g., can caps
steps in the manufacturing stage. be made from the same polymer as the bottles
they close?
• They can be made by the manufacturers of the • Is it possible to eliminate the use of hazardous
plastic packaging itself. They will often do this chemicals as additives? Not only could these
in collaboration with producers of the plastic chemicals impact the health of consumers, they
resin, because the latter are very familiar with could also make the packaging unsuitable for
the properties of their plastics. In these cases, mechanical recycling, hence requiring chemical
the design decisions will normally take it as a recycling to extract the useful polymers or
given that plastics will continue to be used in the only allowing their burning in waste-to-energy
packaging product – unless the manufacturers facilities;20
of the packaging decide to radically change their • Is there a mechanism to manage the plastic
business model and start making non-plastic packaging after its use to maintain some
packaging. economic value?
• Alternatively, the design decisions can be made The companies using the plastic packaging to
by the companies using the plastic packaging to package other products would need to consider
package the products they make. In this case, the the following design questions:
most common design decision is to move away
from packaging made with plastics produced • Is it possible to replace packaging made with
from fossil fuels to packaging made with plastics produced from fossil fuel with packaging
alternative materials. Usually, the companies using an alternative material (e.g., bio-plastic
will work with the manufacturers of these or other renewable material21, or a more
alternative types of packaging. These decisions easily recyclable material) that offers similar
could be driven by signals they receive from functionality? Any alternative packaging should
their clients in the retail sector, who are looking both be likely to reduce the amount of plastic
for products with circular packaging. which is discarded and, ideally, have no other
With respect to other single use plastic consumer (significant) environmental disadvantages;
products, the situation is slightly simpler.
• Can the packaging be replaced with reusable
Product (re)design decisions are taken by the
and more durable plastic packaging to render it
manufacturers of the product, although here
suitable for multiple uses and a longer lifetime?
too their (re)design decisions could be driven by
Could this also result in a new business model?
signals they receive from their clients in the retail
sector who are looking for circular products.

27
 Circular economy practices

• Is it possible to eliminate thin films? Eliminate • Is it possible to reduce the amount of plastic
multilayer packaging or use an easier to recycle used in these products (light-weighting)?
multilayer packaging? Eliminate certain colours • Can the fossil-fuel-based plastics used in these
used in plastic? All these are challenging to deal products be replaced with bio-based plastics or
with in mechanical recycling and are likely to with other materials altogether, subject to the
lead to the recovered plastic having a low value; latter having more favourable lifecycle impacts
• Is it possible to reduce if not totally eliminate compared to the former?
the packaging (plastic or otherwise) used for the • Is it possible to use no/fewer and less harmful
product? additives in the plastic used in these products?
In the case of other single use plastic consumer
• Is it possible to use recycled plastics in these
products, the manufacturers of these products
products?
should consider the following design questions:

Examples

Design for biodegradable packaging and single-use products

Kaneka of Japan has launched Green Planet™, the brand name of PHBH (poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-
co-3-hydroxyhexanoate))22, a 100% bio-based, biodegradable material which is a polyester
made through microbial fermentation. PHBH has similar properties to polyethylene (PE) and
polypropylene (PP) and is an alternative to these fossil-based polymers. It has been certified
for use in food packaging and as being compostable (home composting) and biodegradable in
the marine environment.

Californian Newlight Technologies produces AirCarbon™, a brand name of polyhydroxybutyrate

(PHB), by running seawater containing dissolved air and carbon dioxide through a bioreactor
which houses marine microorganisms. PHB is a naturally occurring polymer that is biodegradable.
It is being used to manufacture home-compostable straws, compostable cutlery, as well as
dishwasher-safe premium cutlery.23

Nihon-Cornstarch24 has a biodegradable polymer, polylactic acid (PLA), on the market that is
suitable for making agricultural mulch films, but also ball point pens and paints.

Sulapac, a Finnish company, produces a compostable and biodegradable material made from
the wood industry’s side streams and plant-based binders. The company has joined forces with
various other companies to make packaging for them and more recently to make biodegradable
straws which can be used for up to 24 hours without getting soggy.25

Evoware in Indonesia uses seaweed for making single-use food sachets and wrappings26 that,
at the end, can be dissolved or eaten. The raw material, seaweed, is used without additives.
The same company has also come up with a material from the South Asia fig tree that holds
liquid and can be used for personal care products and applications in medical supplies such as
hygienic encasements for medical instruments.

28
 Circular economy practices

Full Cycle Bioplastics, Elk Packaging, and Associated Labels and Packaging have all created bio-
based compostable plastics made from organic waste combined with cellulose-based materials
made from plant matter, as a replacement for multilayer packaging for food and other consumer
products.27

Saathi is India’s first biodegradable sanitary pad made from banana fibres with zero chemicals28
that is also affordable for low-income women; in addition, the materials are sourced locally,
reducing environmental impacts from transportation.

The German company Tecnaro GmbH produces a material called Liquid Wood, a biodegradable
material, combining natural wood fibres with lignin, a by-product of the pulp and paper industry.
Liquid wood has properties of plastic in terms of design and manufacturing, is highly durable,
and withstands combined tensile and compressive loads. In addition to use as packaging, Liquid
Wood can be used in various household items.29

Design for less material use

Plastic products are becoming less material intensive. According to a report by BVK30, the weight
of a yogurt cap has halved since the 1970s, and the average weight of a plastic bag in Germany has
dropped by nearly one third from ten years ago.

Design for easier recycling

Multi-layer plastic products are challenging for recycling, yet innovations are showing a possible
way forward.

Aronax Technologies Spain,31 a winner of the Circular Materials Challenge,32 provides an

alternative concept to multilayer packaging by using a magnetic additive, which makes it easier
to identify and separate layers of packaging during recycling. The particles, which play a role
similar to the aluminium coating used in multilayer materials today, can be recovered and
reused. This technology can be used to replace multilayer packaging for toothpaste tubes, food
and drink containers.

The University of Pittsburgh has used nanotechnology to create multilayer food packaging from
a single polymer, namely, polyethylene33, combining it in layers with different properties. The
material replaces multilayer packaging containing PET, polyethylene and aluminium. The new
technology enables easy re-processing of the materials without separation steps.

The mixing of different plastic polymers in the same product also poses challenges for recycling.
However, redesign is helping.

29
 Circular economy practices

In Israel, UNIDO brokered a partnership between a number of local subsidiaries of the global
brands Danone and Nestlé, TMIR (operator of the country’s EPR scheme and owner of its
waste sorting plant), and several actors in the value chains. The objective was to redesign the
packaging used for food products (yoghurt/salads) to find a plastic with which to make sleeves
to substitute the current PETG sleeves, which would allow the PP packaging to be properly
detected by the optical sorting system at the waste sorting station and diverted to proper
recycling. Sleeves made from PO were found to satisfy the requirements. The local subsidiaries
are currently at different stage of now bringing their products using the new sleeves to the
market, and one is considering the use of PO sleeves on other of its products.34

Design for use of recycled plastic

New World Recycling in South America is producing bottles using recycled plastic PET, for one
of the world’s largest soft drink companies. The company produces the recycled PET using
a food-contact compliant process. As a result, around 300 million PET bottles a year are no
longer discarded, but are recycled in a closed-loop process (bottle-to-bottle) back into valuable
consumer beverage containers.35

Governments can also use their existing

Policy responses
programmes which promote R&D to support
Key options in the circular (re)design of stakeholders searching for new design solutions in
plastic packaging and other single use plastic this space. Governments can also help businesses
consumer products will be the use of alternative cross the so-called “valley of death” between the
materials (recycled plastic, or biodegradable R&D and start-up phase and full-scale operation,
and compostable plastics, or other non-plastic by offering them access to government-funded
alternatives), or the use of alternative products demonstration programmes and low-interest
altogether. loans or loan guarantee schemes. Where
governments have National Innovation Strategies,
On the supply side, government support for they should ensure that these strategies cover
innovations and start-ups will be critical for the issue of finding solutions to plastic pollution,
the development of alternative materials including in the marine environment, by plastic
and products. If governments already have packaging and other single use plastic consumer
programmes which support incubation and products.
similar efforts, they can use these to focus on
supporting new businesses which are developing Governments can also help to grow the demand
alternatives to plastic packaging and other single for alternative materials and products in a
use plastic products. Alternatively, they can create number of ways. In their public procurement
new incubation programmes for this purpose. One programmes, they can set as one of the criteria
successful, but small-scale, example is UNIDO’s to be met that any single-use products, or the
Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP), packaging of any packaged products, which they
supported by the Global Environment Facility purchase are made either with recycled plastic
(GEF), which is aimed at SMEs. This global multi- or with biodegradable or compostable plastic,
stakeholder partnership leverages the power or with other alternative material. With respect
of innovation and entrepreneurship to address to single-use products, they can reject such
resource and energy efficiency challenges. products and require instead that they are multi-
However, to create sufficient impact on this use. Governments also need to put in place the
particular issue, innovation support programmes necessary standards (along with the requisite
need to be on a larger scale and receive support certification systems) to build the market’s trust
for a longer timeframe. in the efficacy and viability of the alternative

30
 Circular economy practices

materials and products. Governments can also use • During the manufacture of products where the
fiscal incentives (e.g., removing subsidies on the final step is to insert the product into plastic
virgin raw materials used to make plastic, taxing packaging:
these raw materials, reducing the tax burden on • There can be improper handling and
alternative materials and products) to reduce processing of the packaging, leading to some
the cost of the alternatives with respect to the packaging being spoiled and becoming waste;
plastic currently used.
• There can be improper management of stocks
in the factory’s stores, so that the incoming
plastic packaging is spoiled and has to be
4.1.2. RESOURCE EFFICIENCY discarded, as can outgoing product (together

AND CLEANER PRODUCTION

with its packaging).
• In all productive sectors where raw materials,
Preface components, and other inputs are received in
plastic packaging:
Irrespective of the design decisions which have • When those inputs get fed into the
been taken, the factories involved in the value manufacturing operations, the plastic
chain of plastic packaging and other single use packaging will be removed and – unless it is
plastic consumer products can take steps to designed to be reused – it will be discarded.
reduce, if not eliminate, the plastic wastes which
In all cases, if the plastic waste streams are poorly
they generate in their manufacturing operations.
managed, they can escape into the environment
These wastes can be generated in a number of
and become land-based or marine litter.
ways.36

• Poor handling of plastic pellets: Circular economy practices to reduce

• Plastic pellets are the most common raw single use plastic waste generated
material for the manufacture of all plastic during manufacture
products. These pellets can be lost at all
steps of the supply chain: at the plastics The waste generation described above can
manufacturers, during their transportation be reduced, if not eliminated, using the
to factories making the plastic products, Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production
and finally during the manufacture of the (RECP) methodology. RECP applies preventive
products. Due to their small size (2-5 mm), technologies, techniques, and practices, as well
they easily escape from waste management as total productivity management, to processes
systems and get washed into sewers or and products in the manufacturing and other
waterbodies, ending up as marine litter.37 productive sectors, with the triple aims of
• During the manufacture of plastic packaging increasing efficiency and improving resource
and other single use plastic consumer products: productivity, reducing environmental impacts,
and fostering human health and wellbeing. In
• Various steps in the manufacture of plastic
practice, RECP is always a win-win strategy for
products generate waste: during start-up
the factories which adopt it. It will improve their
of continuous operations, when there are
financial bottom line (by reducing their costs).
process disruptions, excess plastic trimmed
It will also reduce their environmental impacts
off products, etc.. More modern types of
(by reducing their consumption of resources
equipment allow for the reuse of these
and reducing their GHG emissions, pollution and
wastes. Where this is not done, or where
waste). Finally, it will reduce their impacts on
the equipment is too old, waste plastic is
human health (by reducing the exposure of their
generated;
workers and/or their local communities to toxic
• There can be improper management of and hazardous substances) and/or it will improve
stocks in the factory’s stores, so that either workplace conditions.38
incoming plastic raw materials or outgoing
plastic products are spoiled and become
waste.

31
 Circular economy practices

More broadly, RECP makes good business sense. processing, building materials, textiles and
In addition to the cost savings just mentioned, chemicals, across both the developed and the
there are productivity enhancements through developing world. While the RECP methodology
the reduction of non-product outputs (i.e., waste, was developed for use in the manufacturing sector,
emissions, discharges). There are improvements in it can be equally well applied in all productive
product quality from better controlled processes. sectors.
There is greater organisational efficiency
and effectiveness derived from greater staff RECP is operationalised through the deployment
motivation and better business processes. Finally, of an assessment process through which sources
the adoption of RECP by a company supports its of wastage and its causes are identified, options
Social License-to-Operate, i.e., it helps in ensuring for the reduction of this wastage are developed,
a greater acceptance by government, the local and those options are subjected to economic,
community, and the markets of the company’s technical, and environmental assessments. The
business practices and operating procedures. options which come out best in the assessments
are implemented. The types of possible options,
Over the years, the application of the RECP which are a variety of managerial, technical and
methodology has shown convincing results in operational measures, are shown in Figure 5.
multiple manufacturing sectors such as food

Figure 5: RECP methods

Good Input Material Better Process Equipment

House-keeping Change Control Modification

Resource
Efficient &
Cleaner
Production

Technology Onsite Reuse & Production of Product

Change Recycling Useful By- Modification
products

32
 Circular economy practices

The RECP methodology has a high degree of the type of operations they run, to eliminate loss
relevance for actors along the plastics value chain. of raw materials, while also preventing defects
Processes of particular relevance are extrusion in products. Often, these measures include the
(used for manufacturing films and sheets), blow installation of additional quality monitoring
moulding (used for the production of bottles, systems. For certain processes such as injection
containers, toys and houseware), and injection moulding, production waste can be reintroduced
moulding (used for the production of packaging, into the production process. Table 2 gives
bottle caps, toys, combs). Companies can and additional examples.
often do take numerous measures, subject to

Table 2: Possible RECP options for minimising plastic waste in manufacturing39

RECP PRACTICE DESCRIPTION EXAMPLES

1Good Maintain a clean, organised and • Avoid mix-ups in material labelling,

Housekeeping productive (“neat”) workplace to especially for additives.
eliminate avoidable wastage.
• Make sure that no plastic waste is
brought in during material delivery.
• Seal waste containers to avoid spills
during transport.
• Prevent mixing waste from the
production process with other kinds of
waste.
• Properly maintain equipment to
prevent plastic material losses during
breakdowns.

2Input Choose inputs that are efficient, Change to more recyclable or

Material Change effective and/or pose minimum biodegradable and compostable inputs.
harm to the environment and
human health.

3Better Monitor and control processes Establish Standard Operating Procedures

Process Control and equipment so that they (SOPs) and ensure that they are followed.
always run at highest efficiency
and with lowest wastage.

33
Circular economy practices

4Equipment Make existing equipment more Depends on the type of plastic production.
Modification efficient and less wasteful.

5Technology Change over to new technology Depends on the type of plastic production
Change that is more efficient or produces • 3D printing technology.
less waste.
• Change over to more modern models of
the technology.

6On-Site Use waste generated by Internal recycling depends on the type of

Reuse and processes for similar or plastic technology.40
alternative purposes in the • In injection moulding, grinders are
Recycling company. positioned close to injection presses
that generate plastic waste in order to
recover, crush and reintroduce the plastic
waste into the production process.
• In rotary moulding, plastic waste is
ground, screened and reintroduced into
the process.
• In thermoforming, material for recycling
is ground, extruded and reintroduced
into the production chain as granules.

7 Production Convert a waste generated by Categorise and keep an inventory of

of Useful By- processes to a suitable use plastic (and other) waste as the first step
elsewhere. to understanding potential use by the
Products company or other partners along the value
chain.

8Product Redesign the product to reduce • Reduce thickness of packaging.

Modification its environmental impact during • Avoid hazardous additives or additives
production, use and/or disposal, which make recycling more difficult.
without compromising product
quality. • Shift to biologically sourced raw material
and material with easier recyclability.

34
 Circular economy practices

The importance of operational control in the minimise material and energy losses. They are
broader plastics industry is widely recognised. using such practices as the use of intelligent
In several countries, plastics companies are sensors, improved plans and designs to eliminate
employing principles of smart manufacturing human error, and increased flexibility in
and better operational control under the banner production. These fit well within the broader RECP
of Industry 4.0 to achieve productivity gains and methodology.

Experience

The following three case studies41 on the use of activity centre. The programme’s activities benefit
the RECP methodology in the manufacture of eight countries in the Southern Mediterranean:
plastic packaging and other single use plastic Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon Morocco,
consumer products all are outputs of the Palestine and Tunisia. The programme focuses
SwitchMed initiative, which is funded by the on policy development, demonstration activities
European Union and implemented by UNIDO, and networking opportunities. It supports policy
UNEP’s Economy Division, and MedWaves, UNEP’s makers, eco-innovative SMEs, industries, start-ups
Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP) regional and entrepreneurs in the eight focus countries.

Reducing the amount of packaging used

An SME manufactures various milk-based products, which are placed in PE packaging. During a
RECP assessment of the company’s production lines, it was discovered that the PE acquisition
contracts included requirements that went beyond the standards recommended by ASTM
International. The contracts required the PE thickness to be 75 μm ± 5% and the width to be
325 mm ± 5 mm, whereas the ASTM standard recommends a PE thickness of 75 μm ± 2 μm
and a width of 320 mm ± 1 mm. This deviation from the standard was leading to unnecessary
overconsumption of packaging materials. The company was using 5.65-6.15 g PE packaging per
litre of product, depending on the supplier, instead of 5.32 g/litre if it kept to the ASTM standard.
Company management decided to revise its PE packaging procurement contracts to incorporate
the dimensional requirements recommended by ASTM. Management also decided to introduce
a systematic dimensional inspection of the incoming packaging and to return to suppliers any
non-compliant packaging. This reduced excessive use of PE packaging by 33.1 tonnes/year, or
14.4% of the PE purchased. This translated into savings of a little over €36,700/year.42

A company manufacturing household detergents and bleach undertook a RECP assessment.

Among other steps in the manufacturing process, the team assessed the step where the pallets
with the finished goods were stretch-wrapped using an automatic wrapping machine before the
pallets were stored in the warehouse. It was discovered that the stretch-wrapping equipment
was based on outdated technology, which was causing high losses of wrapping material. In
addition, the stretch wrapping film which this equipment could use could not be less than 23
μm thick. Company management decided to purchase more modern equipment that includes
a prestretching mechanism which allows for a better stretch of the film before it is applied to
the pallet. The new wrapping equipment can use shrink wrap film as thin as 17 μm, leading to
additional reductions in the amount of wrapping film used. By reducing wastage of the film
and the thickness of this film, overall reduction of film was 10 tonnes/year. This translated
into annual savings of very nearly €27,000/year. The capital investment of installing three new
wrapping machines was €12,000, so the payback on this investment, at half a year, was very
good.43

35
 Circular economy practices

Increasing the use of recycled plastic in plastic packaging

A company which manufactures PET containers, both for household use and for food
applications, decided to undertake a RECP assessment. During the assessment, it was
discovered that all the PET containers use virgin PET for their manufacture. It was decided
to assess the viability of using recycled PET at least in the manufacture of the containers
for household use, given the much lower price of recycled PET. It was determined that this
option could be viable for levels of 20% or so of recycled PET in the final product. Company
management therefore decided to adopt this option. Its implementation required the
installation of a diverting valve at the PET dryer, as well as modifications of the raw material
delivery system to facilitate the delivery of virgin PET and recycled PET. Substituting 20%
of the virgin PET with recycled PET led to total annual savings €15,000/year. The cost of
purchasing a diverting valve was also €15,000, so the payback, at one year, was good. In
addition to the environmental benefit of using recycled PET instead of virgin PET, there was a
reduction in upstream CO2 emissions since the production of recycled PET has a significantly
smaller carbon footprint than the production of virgin PET.44

Industry associations are also making efforts

Policy responses
to help their members move towards cleaner
operational practices. For example, following the In several countries, RECP practices are widely
launch of the Plastic Strategy by the European known and are followed not only by individual
Commission, the industry non-profit association enterprises but also at a larger scale such as in
Plastics Europe published the “Plastics 2030 – whole industrial parks or along supply chains.
Voluntary Commitment”, with a focus on striving Related experiences are also available in several
towards resource efficiency as well as increasing developing countries, often supported by
reuse and recycling, and preventing plastic national RECP centres, by organisations such as
leakages into the environment.45,46 For its part, UNIDO and UNEP demonstrating the benefits of
the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) RECP and piloting large-scale approaches, and by
has launched the Zero Net Waste programme further developing methodologies and guidelines,
that supports its members in identifying waste including for eco-industrial parks.
reduction opportunities.
However, upscaling is challenging since the
Companies from the plastics industry are also necessary investments, albeit typically profitable,
taking part in various programmes to reduce are competing with other more profitable and
leakage of plastics into the environment, focusing tangible ones such as capacity enlargements.
on preventing losses. For example, within the Adjustments to the policy framework with the
international programme Operation Clean objective of facilitating the uptake of RECP
Sweep,47 companies from the plastics industry practices would therefore be helpful. The major
have committed to practices that prevent the areas where policy intervention can be considered
loss of pellets. The programme involves all the are as follows:
actors along the supply chain – manufacturers
of plastics, processors, distributors, logistic and • Since a major driver behind the uptake of RECP
recycling companies. They focus on a range of good by companies is their desire to reduce their
housekeeping practices such as identification operational costs, it is important that they
of potential sources of pellet leaks (loading and pay the true costs of using raw materials and
unloading), installation of retainers (including of generating waste and pollution. On the one
for waste), training, monitoring, and engagement hand, this means that governments should
with partners along the supply chain.

36
 Circular economy practices

strictly enforce their environmental and health Technical and Vocational Education and Training
regulations to ensure that companies are (TVET) schools to run RECP-related courses, or
paying the proper costs of generating waste they can work with industry-run TVETs to ensure
and pollution. On the other hand, it means at they also run offer such courses.
a minimum that governments should remove • Another barrier to the adoption by companies of
subsidies from all material (and energy) inputs the optimal RECP options is that these require
which companies use, so that they pay the the use of technologies or materials which are
true cost of these inputs. It could also mean not found in the national market and need to
governments modifying their fiscal instruments be imported. Many companies, especially SMEs,
such as sales tax, VAT, environmental charges, find it difficult to identify and then import
or tariffs, on raw materials and semi-finished such technologies or materials. In this case,
goods, especially where these can be used to governments can adapt programmes they
prioritise the use of recycled raw materials, already have in place to promote the inflow of
of semi-finished goods made with recycled industries, processes, technologies, materials,
materials, and of remanufactured and reused and products. Specifically, governments can
parts. modify the funding of these programmes so
• A major barrier to the uptake of RECP by that support is given to the new RECP-related
companies is that, despite all the efforts which challenges, i.e., supporting the inflow of the
have been made over the decades, there is still cleaner technologies and cleaner materials. In
a considerable lack of knowledge about how certain cases, the desired cleaner technologies
to implement RECP and what RECP options are or cleaner materials cannot be sourced from
available. This is particularly true for MSMEs. another country, or they need to be adapted to
Governments can help to fill these information local conditions, in which case local R&D might
and knowledge gaps by ensuring that various be needed. Governments can adapt programmes
services are made available to companies, free which they already have to promote R&D,
or at a reduced cost: modifying the focus of these programmes to
• Awareness-raising courses are made support new RECP-related challenges.
available, to start the process of knowledge • Access to capital is another barrier to the uptake
and skills building in companies; by companies of RECP. As the case studies
• Training courses are run, to build up in given above demonstrate, Implementing RECP
companies the necessary skills in assessment options often requires the company to invest.
methods and (sector-specific) technical Since companies cannot always source the
solutions; funds internally, they need to borrow money
on the capital markets. However, this can be
• Information is made available to companies challenging, especially for MSMEs: (a) their
on methods (e.g., guidelines, manuals) borrowing costs tend to be higher, because banks
and technical solutions (e.g., case studies, see them as higher risk; (b) the amounts they
information on specific technologies); need are not generally very large, which makes
• Audits/assessments can be offered to them even less interesting to banks; (c) loan
companies. officers are very often not familiar with RECP,
so they perceive the risks of lending to be even
To help in these efforts, governments can higher. In this case, governments can adapt an
establish and support industry support approach which has already been used in other
institutions, especially for the MSMEs, that would contexts, namely they can make low-interest
act as a “one-stop shop” for all of the support credit lines available through commercial banks
services listed above, providing ongoing support that are aimed at RECP-related investments,
to companies during their implementation of or they can offer credit guarantee schemes to
RECP. In addition, or alternatively, they can use banks for such types of investments.
existing government-run training institutes like

37
 Circular economy practices

4.2 Circular economy sales, it also plays an important role in all other
stages of the circular lifecycle. For instance, the

practices to reduce plastic raw materials will be transported to the

sites where they will be used to make packaging

the plastic waste or other single use plastic products. Consumers

will transport the packaged goods and single use

generated during plastic products to their homes or places of work

in their car. Alternatively, and increasingly now

transportation as consumers purchase ever more of their goods

online, retailers will have these goods delivered
by van to homes and workplaces. Once plastic
Preface packaging and other single use plastic products are
discarded, they will be collected and transported
Once products are manufactured, they need to be to recycling facilities. Once these facilities have
moved from the point of their manufacture to the recovered the plastic in the incoming recyclate,
point where they will be sold to consumers. In the it will be transported back to manufacturers to
case of plastic packaging, transporters will first reuse to make new plastic products. The circular
transport the packaging from the factories where economy practices outlined below are relevant to
it has been manufactured to the factories where all the phases of transportation where products
it will be used to package other products, and are being transported. However, the transport of
then it will transport these packaged products waste plastic also has some special characteristics
to the point of sale. In the case of other single which will be discussed in section 4.5.
use plastic consumer products, transporters will
transport them from the factories where they
have been manufactured to the point of sale.
Circular economy practices to reduce
Depending on the volumes being transported, single use plastic waste generated
the distances being covered, the transportation during transportation
infrastructure available, and the urgency of the
demand, transportation can take the form of vans, Transporters can adopt two broad circular
trucks, trains, ships, and airplanes. economy practices to reduce the amount of waste
plastic packaging and waste single use plastic
It is in the economic interest of transporters to consumer products which they generate during
ensure that as much of the products they carry transportation.
reach their destination unspoiled and unharmed
(in an “as made” condition). However, spoiling, • They can adopt the RECP methodology to
breakage, and other harm to the products can assess their operations and see where they are
occur, through the mishandling of products generating plastic waste, why they are generating
during the transportation itself, during loading it, and what options are available to them to
or unloading, or during other forms of handling, reduce it.48 While the RECP methodology was
for instance at intermediate warehousing of initially developed for use in the manufacturing
the products. Transporters also use their own sector, it can be equally well applied –perhaps
packaging, so-called tertiary packaging. Examples with some modifications – to any commercial
of such packaging include slip sheets, pallets, activity.
stretch wrap, strapping labels, etc. Some of these • They can redesign the tertiary packaging which
types of packaging are made from plastic. This they use, to reduce the amount of packaging
type of packaging will often be discarded once the they use, especially where they use plastic
products have been delivered to the point of sale. packaging. Possible options are light-weighting,
using packaging made with materials other than
As noted earlier, although transportation is a key plastic, using plastic packaging that includes
component in the distribution sector, moving recycled plastic, and switching to reusable
as it does manufactured goods from their place tertiary packaging.
of manufacture (or of import) to the point of

38
 Circular economy practices

Experience Policy responses

Policy responses are much the same in this case
as they are in the case of promoting resource
efficiency in manufacturing, i.e.:
Stretch wrapping was invented in the 1970s
as a way of unitising a load for shipment, • Strictly enforce environmental and health
i.e., building one large load on a pallet to regulations, to ensure that companies are
be transported rather than many small paying the proper costs of generating waste and
loads. Stretch wrapping also minimised pollution; remove subsidies from all material
products from moving and shifting during (and energy) inputs which transport companies
transportation, a major source of product use, so that they pay the true cost of these
damage. The economic advantages were such inputs.
that it was rapidly adopted throughout the
transportation sector.49 • Build up the knowledge and skills of
transportation companies of how to go about
However, poor practices in the application assessing their over-consumption and waste
of stretch wrapping can considerably reduce generation, and identifying what options are
the ability of stretch wrap to protect palleted available to them to reduce these.
loads. Therefore, proper training of workers • Help transportation companies identify and
involved in stretch wrapping is critical. In source from other countries solutions which
addition (as was described in one of the RECP are not available to them in their country, help
experiences above), the stretch wrapping them with any R&D which they might need to
technology used can impact on the stretch undertake to identify and develop solutions.
wrap’s viability. Therefore, attention needs to
• Help transportation companies access the
be given to the type of technology which is
capital they might require to fund their resource
being used.50
efficient options.
While stretch wrap reduces wastage from

4.3 Circular economy

product damage, it does create a waste stream
of its own when the single use stretch wrap

practices to reduce
is removed upon arrival at the warehouse of
the point of sale and is discarded. Various

the single use plastic

alternatives to stretch wrap exist, although
they too generate a certain amount of waste

products passed on to
at arrival. It can also be that stretch wrap
is being used in cases where it is not really

consumers at points
required. Assessments are necessary to
determine from a lifecycle perspective which

of sale in the service

would be the best approach to use in any
particular situation.51

Discarded stretch wrap can be quite easily sector

recycled, since it is normally made from LDPE.
However, warehouse workers need to be Preface
properly trained to ensure that the discarded
wrap is well handled (e.g., it does not get Many Many businesses and other entities in
mixed up with other wastes), and there needs the service sector consume plastic packaging
to be a programme which will collect this and other single use plastic products as part
discarded wrap.52 of their business model. In this sense, they act
as consumers and will be further considered in
section 4.4 below.

39
 Circular economy practices

However, there are a number of businesses in the UK supermarkets used a little over 650,000 tonnes.
service sector which stand apart because their Bottled drinks made up the largest percentage, at
“use” of single use plastic products primarily 42%, with just three categories – carbonated drinks,
consists of passing these on to consumers, who milk and bottled water – making up one-third.
are then left with the problem of what to do with Processed food to eat at home made up 21%, fresh
these products once they discard them. These are produce and cleaning products 11% each, while
a) the retail sector, particularly supermarkets, and ready-to-eat food and personal care products
b) businesses offering food and beverages to go. made up 7% and 6%, respectively. The remaining
These will be the subject of this section, where the 2% were made up of miscellaneous products.
focus will be on how these businesses can reduce The order changes when the number of units of
the amount of plastic packaging and other single packaging used is considered, reflecting diversity
use plastic consumer products they transfer to in the size and weight of plastic packaging used.
consumers through the services which they offer These same supermarkets used 56.5 billion units of
(and which consumers then have to deal with plastic packaging, of which processed food to eat
when they discard them). at home made up 28%, followed by fresh produce
at 26%, bottled food at 20%, food ready to eat at
As shown in chapter 2, there has been a steep 19%, cleaning products and personal care products
increase in the use of plastic packaging, and the at 3% each, and miscellaneous products at 1%.The
development of the retail sector has been a major retail sector is also involved in the management of
cause in this increase, being heavy users of so- the tertiary packaging which transporters use, since
called primary and secondary packaging.53 The this packaging is often removed in the stockroom
increase in the use of most plastic (and other) of retail stores and ends up having to be managed
packaging is the result of how the retail sector by them.
has developed, especially supermarkets. Instead
of having the shopkeeper taking products from The retail sector is also involved in the
shelves behind the counter and weighing out the management of the tertiary packaging which
amounts the consumer is asking for, as was the transporters use, since this packaging is often
case in shops the world over before World War II, removed in the stockroom of retail stores and
products are now made available to consumers ends up having to be managed by them.
in standardised packaged units, which they can
take off the shelves of a supermarket or a shop
themselves in “self-service” style and bring to the
check-out desk. As a secondary effect, packaging PLASTIC FORKS,
has become an inherent part of the advertising SPOONS & KNIVES

40bn
of the brand and has also become a way of
making available to the consumer information
about what the product contains.54 Standardised
units of packaged products also make it easier to every year
transport the products over long distances. used & discarded

With respect specifically to supermarkets, the use

of plastic packaging has also been very important
in their management of fresh produce. Not only
can fresh produce be offered in standardised
packages, but the use of airtight plastic
sleeves on fresh produce can also significantly
reduce the rate of decay of this produce, while
plastic’s sturdiness protects the produce during PLASTIC STRAWS

25.3bn
transportation and its lightness minimises the
fuel costs of transportation.55

Greenpeace UK has undertaken a study of the every year

use of plastic packaging in UK supermarkets and used & discarded
how the use of this packaging can be reduced.56 In
terms of weight of plastic packaging used, in 2019

40
 Circular economy practices

For their part, businesses offering food and • The most radical is for supermarkets to eliminate
beverage to go make heavy use of single use the plastic packaging they use altogether.
plastic products: plates, cutlery, clam shells, and • In the fresh fruit and vegetable section,
so on for the food they serve; cups, caps, glasses, where much plastic packaging is used, this
bottles, straws, stirrers etc. for the beverages they means stocking the fruit and vegetables loose
serve. It has been estimated that Americans use rather than in plastic trays or protected by
and discard 500 million plastic straws a year, while individual plastic net sleeves.62 Supermarkets
the figure stands at 25.3 billion a year in Europe.57 can adopt various practices in this case. They
40 billion plastic forks, spoons, and knives are used can encourage consumers to come with their
and discarded every year.58 500 billion plastic cups own reusable containers. In order to maintain
are used and discarded every year,59 many of these freshness if airtight plastic sleeves are no
coming with plastic caps and stirrers. longer used, systems which periodically mist
certain vegetables with water can be adopted.63
Circular economy practices to reduce Alternatively, supermarkets can spray certain
the amount of plastic packaging and fruit and vegetables with a new material made
with plant waste, which acts as a protective
other single use plastic consumer seal against bacteria attack as well as loss of
products being offered to consumers moisture, and is perfectly safe to eat.
• In other fresh food sections (fish and seafood,
The retail sector cheese, bakery), supermarkets can encourage
customers to come with their own reusable
The practices described below specifically have containers.
supermarkets in mind, although the principles • In the dry-goods section and in the drinks
behind them apply equally well to any retail store, section,64 supermarkets can offer customers
large or small, regardless of the products which refills of their own reusable containers which
they sell. they bring to the store. Alternatively, they can
join programmes where customers do their
With respect to plastic packaging, supermarkets refilling through an online programme which
are rolling out, piloting, or assessing a number uses standardised reusable containers. Unless
of circular economy practices to reduce the the products are sold under the supermarket’s
amount of this packaging which they use as own label, this would require supermarkets to
part of the products which they offer for sale to work together with the manufacturers of the
consumers.60,61 products to obtain their agreement to, and
participation in, such programmes.
• Where supermarkets sell products in
multipacks, they can eliminate the multipacks
PLASTIC CUPS and sell the products individually; if they give

500bn
consumers purchasing multipacks a discount,
they can offer the same discount when
the same number of individual products is
every year purchased.
used & discarded • At the check-out counters, supermarkets
can eliminate plastic bags, either replacing
them with, e.g., paper bags, or encouraging
consumers to come with their own bags.
Supermarkets can also eliminate the use of
plastic bags in deliveries of online shopping.
• Supermarkets can also reduce the plastic
packaging they use:
• Where products include a lot of water (e.g.,
liquid cleaning products), supermarkets can
offer the product instead in a concentrated

41
 Circular economy practices

liquid form, or as tablets, or as reusable working with the manufacturers of the products
pouches, with the customer adding the they sell in their stores and/or the manufacturers
necessary water at home. This lessens the of the plastic packaging in which these products
amount of packaging required (and reduces are sold. It could also require them to work with
transportation costs). Unless these products the relevant standardisation bodies to create
are supermarkets’ own brands, this would standards defining terms such as “recyclable”,
require them to work with the manufacturers “compostable”, “biodegradable”.
so that the latter offer the supermarkets these • In the particular case of the fresh produce
products in the desired form. section, they can make biodegradable bags
• They can work with their suppliers to ensure available to consumers in the place of plastic
that the plastic packaging they do use is light- bags, in which to place the loose produce.
weighted to the greatest extent possible. With respect to other single use plastic consumer
• Supermarkets can ensure that whatever products which are sold under supermarkets’
remaining plastic packaging they do use is brand name, and where therefore they are
recyclable or compostable/biodegradable – and responsible for the product design, supermarkets
is clearly labelled as such. This could well require can consider the following design questions:

Can the single-use plastic

products currently being
offered to consumers be
replaced with more durable,
multi-use products made with
plastic or other material?

Can they be replaced with

products made with more
easily recyclable or renewable
alternative materials?

42
 Circular economy practices

Where supermarkets sell the single use plastic • They can reduce the amounts of plastics used
consumer products of other brands, they can in the single use products they offer to their
encourage the latter to consider the same design customers.
questions, or they can opt to identify alternative • They can choose to purchase their single use
products which they could sell in their place. plastic products from manufacturers which
have light-weighted them.
Businesses offering food and beverage • They can ensure that whatever remaining single
to go use plastics they offer to their customers is
compostable / biodegradable and/or recyclable
These businesses can adopt similar circular and/or is made from (at least a certain
economy practices to those outlined above for percentage of) recycled plastic.
the retail sector:
• They can work with the designers of the single
plastic products they use to make them out
• They can eliminate the use of single use plastics
of biodegradable bioplastics.
altogether.
• They can use alternative single use products
• They can simply stop offering customers
made of a completely different material, e.g.,
some of the single use plastic products which
wood.
they used to give them with their food and
beverage, e.g., straws. • They can substitute single use products
made with difficult-to-recycle materials,
• They can encourage their customers to come
e.g., expanded polystyrene, with equivalent
with their own containers, e.g., coffee mugs,
products made with easier-to-recycle plastic.
or they can create or join a programme
offering refillable containers. • They can work with the designers of the single
use plastic they use to increase the amount
• At check-out, they can eliminate plastic bags,
of recycled plastic used in their manufacture.
either encouraging customers to come with
their own bags or using, e.g., paper bags.

Experience in the retail sector65

Elimination of packaging

Several supermarkets have been eliminating packaging from a number of their counters. The
US supermarket Trader Joe’s recently eliminated plastic packaging around apples, potatoes
and tomatoes. Aldi in the UK has stripped the plastic from their tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes
and aubergines, and are rolling out the programme for cabbages and cauliflower. Morrisons
in the UK offers plastic-free fruit and vegetables in 60 stores. Sainsbury’s has eliminated
plastic trays from asparagus, sweetcorn, tomatoes, carrots and herb pots.

As part of making fruit and vegetables available loose, a number of supermarkets are
encouraging their customers to bring their own reusable bags. They are also encouraging
customers to use reusable containers at other counters. Metro in Quebec, Canada, allows
its customers to bring their own reusable containers and zipper bags to take produce from
the deli, meat, ready-to-eat meals, fish and seafood, and bakery counters.66 Asda in the UK
encourages their customers to bring their own reusable bags in which to put their fruit and
vegetables. Morrisons in the UK has been allowing customers to fill their own containers with
items from the meat and fish counters since 2018. Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, also in the UK,
allow customers to bring their own containers to the meat, fish or cheese counter.67

43
 Circular economy practices

The same has been happening to some degree with dry goods and liquid goods. This approach
was started by zero-waste stores, the first of which came into operation in the UK in 2007.
These are specialised stores with no packaging, offering instead a range of loose produce for
sale. Most of these stores stock everyday items such as rice, pasta, pulses, nuts, and spice.
Some will also offer refillable washing-up liquid, haircare, laundry detergent, and liquid soap.
Other possible items are loose tea, oils, and sauces. Customers bring in their own containers
and fill them up with the desired amount of produce, and they are then charged by the weight
of the produce they have taken.68 Some mainstream supermarkets are beginning to adopt this
approach. After testing the approach in one of its branches, focusing on pasta, beer on tap,
and pick ‘n’ mix frozen fruit, Waitrose in the UK has been rolling out the scheme to other of its
branches. Morrisons has been trialling a refill scheme for produce such as pasta, seeds and
frozen fruit. Asda in the UK has also been trialling a refill scheme for loose products such as
pasta, rice, tea, coffee and cereals. Customers can bring their own containers or buy reusable
containers in store and use these.

The UK supermarket chain Tesco has been trialling the removal of wrapping from multi-packs
while still giving the offered discount for the equivalent number of single packs. If it works,
other options would then include scrapping multipack tins and getting rid of binders on beer
cans. Aldi in the UK has scrapped plastic packaging on multipacks of tinned tuna.

Many supermarkets the world over have been eliminating the use of plastic bags, both within
their supermarkets and for their home delivery orders. For instance, in South Africa Shoprite,
Woolworths, as well as Spar have focused on phasing out-single use plastic shopping bags,
while Pick n Pay has been running a “Make Plastic Bags Extinct” campaign since 2008. Many
of these retailers have also got involved in other segments of the lifecycle, for instance in the
installation of plastics sorting facilities, and in giving out information to consumers.

Corrigan Corporation is the US leader in offering misting systems to supermarkets for their
vegetable produce sections. The company has been marketing its systems since the late 1970s.
There is 80% penetration in the US market, but very little penetration in other parts of the
world.

A number of US supermarkets are using a protective, edible coating made by the US company
Apeel69 on some of their fresh produce to increase their shelf-life without using packaging.
Some UK supermarkets are trialling this approach. An Israeli agri-tech start-up has developed
its own biodegradable coating, Sufresca.70 Made up of natural food ingredients, this creates
a breathable coating on fresh produce, partially blocking the exchange of gases that lead to
decay.

The following are two examples specifically accessible areas of London. This is part of a range
about bottled water. They are happening outside of measures taken by the mayor to reduce the
of the retail sector, but if successful will reduce number of single-use plastic water bottles used
retail sales. The Mayor of London has partnered in London and provide free access to healthy
with Thames Water to install a network of more tap water.71 While the quality of drinking water in
than 100 drinking water fountains in busy and London is good, this approach can also be used,

44
 Circular economy practices

with variations, in places where the quality of service system has been created, which offers
drinking water is less good. In the southern region water to consumers in certain places. They collect
of Brazil, the quality of drinking water has been the water in their own containers and pay for the
steadily decreasing over the years. This has led water which they take. To assure consumers that
to a growth in the purchase of bottled water. To the water is of drinkable quality, it is purified
counteract this trend, a use-oriented product- through reverse osmosis.72

Reduction in the use of packaging

The UK company Splosh offers products for washing machines, dishwashers and personal
use. The products are initially delivered in reusable bottles. Subsequent orders then come in
pouches filled with concentrated liquids. These can be poured into the bottles and diluted
with tap water. Using concentrates in pouches reduces discarded plastic packaging by around
90%. In addition, the pouches can be returned to Splosh for reprocessing into other products,
which completely eliminates plastic waste.73

Procter & Gamble has created a line of plastic- and water-free products called “DS3 Clean”
swatches. The swatches are the size of a tea bag and foam up when mixed with water, making
them much lighter and easier to transport than traditional products. This innovation removes
80% of the weight, 70% of the space, and 75% of the emissions compared with traditional
products. The product line includes laundry detergents, surface and toilet cleaners, as well
as personal care products.74

Use of reusable packaging

Terracyle in the US has launched Loop75, an e-commerce platform, in partnership with Procter
& Gamble, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever, Mars, Clorox, Coca-Cola, Mondelēz, Danone and about a
dozen smaller brands. The European retailers Carrefour and Tesco, logistics company UPS and
resource management company Suez are also engaged in the system. Loop brings back the
old “Milkman” model by delivering cleaning, personal care and food products bought online
in reusable packaging. Packaging is returned in tote bags provided by Loop and refilled.

The Chilean company Algramo, working with multinational consumer product companies like
Unilever, Nestlé, and Colgate-Palmolive, has built up a system that allows its customers to
refill branded household products like washing-up liquid, clothes washing liquid, and general
cleaning products by using smart powered dispensing machines located in supermarkets
along with packaging chipped with RFID which they purchase from Algramo. Customers credit
their account through an app and bring their smart packaging to an Algramo dispenser. The
machine will recognise the packaging and dispense the right product at the desired quantity
without the need for login or payment. This allows the normal packaging used in these
products to be completely eliminated. It also means that the brands can sell their product
at considerably lower bulk prices (packaging represents about 30% of the overall price). The
company plans to extend its network of dispensers, installing them in convenience stores and
service stations.76,77

45
Circular economy practices

A number of Indonesian start-ups are offering the same or similar service:

• QYOS is partnering with Algramo to set up the same system in Indonesia.

• Working with brands, Alner provides them with returnable and reusable packaging which is
suitable for a wide array of products, from household cleaners to personal care items and
food products, and which can be used up to 20 times. It has set up a number of community-
based points of sale at locations such as waste banks, warung stores, and other retail
locations, where consumers can purchase the products in the reusable packaging. In the same
places, it installs reverse vending machines, which customers can use to return their used
packaging and receive cash back for each piece of Alner packaging they return. Alner provides
the community the necessary training and support to manage this system. It operates state-
of-the-art cleaning facilities to ensure that all returned packaging is thoroughly cleaned and
sanitised before it is returned for refilling.78
• Siklus offers consumers a home delivery solution. Using the company’s app, consumers can
order the product they need. A specially-designed motorcycle will come to the house, and
consumers, using their own packaging, can get a refill.79

A number of Ghanaian companies are also offering a similar service:80

• Sava Shea Co. Ltd., a cosmetics company, sells its products in big refillable containers to
regular customers, who then transfer the product to smaller containers at home. Once the
refillable containers are empty, they can go back to have them refilled. The company also
offers a more traditional deposit scheme, whereby it gives a 10% discount to customers who
return their cosmetics containers in good order (i.e., no serious scratches or blemishes).
• The start-up SPEX Smart Pack Exchange Co. Ltd. has partnered with a number of restaurants
and delivery companies to deliver prepared meals at home. The food is delivered in stainless
steel containers, which are taken back to the company for washing and disinfection when a
user orders their next meal.

Use of packaging made with alternative materials

Many supermarkets now offer biodegradable plastic bags in the fresh produce section instead
of plastic bags, in which customers can put loose produce.

In North American supermarkets, it is routine to offer customers paper bags at check-out

instead of plastic bags. Some supermarkets will sell reusable bags made of a variety of
materials. Note that it is not always clear that these alternatives are actually better than
plastic bags from an environmental point of view. The key to any alternative (and indeed
to plastic bags) is to reuse them over and over again, which requires bags which are sturdy
enough to withstand extensive reuse.81

46
 Circular economy practices

In Ghana, a number of companies – Shea Butter Boss, Bubune Skin Care, Nyca Pro Enterprise
– offer their products in biodegradable containers made from coconut shell. Such containers
are two to three time more expensive than plastic containers, leading to an overall increase
in the cost of products of 20 to 40%, but the companies’ promotion of these products as being
more natural has a following in the market.82

Making plastic packaging more easily recyclable

The South African retail business Pick n Pay features recyclable packaging in its PnP Green
range.

A number of UK supermarkets have removed black plastic from all their own-label ranges.
In terms of recyclability, black plastic is problematic because it is not detectable by most
sorting machines. Its presence in the recycling stream also makes it more difficult to recycle
other types of plastic. This, coupled with the fact that there are few uses for recycled black
plastic due to its lack of colour versatility, means that there is little incentive to create better
sorting technology to address the problem.

Again because of difficulties in recyclability, a number of supermarkets in the UK have switched

from PVC and polystyrene trays to recyclable alternatives.

Coffee drinkers pay a deposit when opting for the

Experience with businesses offering reusable cup and can return the empty cup to
food to go any RECUP partner in exchange for their original
deposit. RECUP partners pay a membership
Important efforts have been made by businesses service fee to finance the operation of the deposit
in the food and beverage sector which traditionally scheme and have access to a mobile app. All
have included single use plastic products in their RECUP partners are required to clean and reuse
service offerings. For example, Starbucks has the cups returned to them. There are 25,000+
stopped providing plastic straws. KFC, Danone and participating stores. RECUP is currently expanding
Nestlé have joined the move towards elimination the system by testing it with bigger partners, such
of single-use plastic. Many retailers, which also as McDonalds and Deutsche Bahn..83
now offer food and beverages to go, are acting
on the single use plastics that go with this. For
instance, the South African retailers Shoprite, Policy responses
Woolworths, and Spar have been phasing out
Governments have a number of policy instruments
their offerings of single use straws and cutlery.
available to them to encourage retailers and
businesses offering food and beverages to go
The company RECUP offers a reuse scheme to cafés
to reduce, if not eliminate, their use of plastic
and coffee chains in Germany, as an alternative
packaging and other single use plastic consumer
to their using single-use plastic coffee cups.
products.84

47
 Circular economy practices

• Governments can use various regulatory • They can set up a deposit-refund scheme for
approaches: certain types of single use plastic products,
• They can ban or restrict the use of certain most commonly plastic beverage bottles. In
single use plastic products, e.g., at least the deposit-return schemes for single use
84 countries restrict the retail distribution plastic beverage bottles, a small deposit
of plastic bags (for more details, see85), is added to the price of the product and
mostly in tandem with restrictions on their returned to the customer upon its return.
manufacture or import; at least 22 countries Such schemes are being implemented in 40
ban specific products, such as plates, cups, countries and 21 US States in some form.
and utensils, while 16 countries ban specific These schemes have tended to increase
polymers, most commonly polystyrene and recycling of bottles to 80-95%.86
expanded polystyrene. • They can use their public procurement
• In the case of plastic bags, they can regulate to help create markets for alternatives to
their thickness, looking to restrict or ban the products with plastic packaging and other
use of very thin bags (at least 38 countries single use plastic products. For example, in
have such regulations). countries with feeding support programmes
for children in school (e.g. milk, other
• They can regulate the material composition nutritious foods), governments could prepare
of certain single use plastic products (e.g., the criteria used in the call for bids to favour
pushing for the adoption of biodegradable options which reduce or eliminate single-
plastic bags or bags containing a minimum use plastic packaging (such a policy could be
percentage of recycled plastic). twinned with other government awareness-
• They can promote the adoption by consumers raising programmes that have the students
of reusable alternatives. collect and sort remaining waste at schools,
as part of their education).
• They can institute Extended Producer
Responsibility regulations covering single As can be seen from the examples give above,
use plastics – this will be dealt with in more the retail sector is ripe for the development
detail in section 4.4. of new circular business models. Governments
can encourage, facilitate and support these
• They can set legally binding national targets new business models. While the specific public
on the reduction of single use plastic policies that will best facilitate the introduction
products. of new circular business models depend on the
• They can use market-based instruments: particular area of service/application, the general
principle would be to identify and remove the
• They can levy a fee on single use products at
main barriers and risks and introduce incentives
the point of sale, e.g., at least 30 countries
for the entrepreneurs developing the business
have instituted a levy or charge on plastic
models (as well as for the consumers to whom
bags given to consumers; at least 29
these models are aimed). In general, information
countries have enacted some type of tax on
about new business models would need to be
other single use plastics, either as a special
disseminated and partners across the value chain
environmental tax, waste disposal fees or
would need to be encouraged to actively seek
charges, or in the form of higher excise taxes
information and act on it. Public policy might
for single-use plastics.
extend support – financial, technical and scientific
• They can provide incentives for consumers to – to the partners who aspire to pilot new circular
be provided with reusable alternatives. models.

48
 Circular economy practices

4.4 Circular economy • Manufacturers also purchase goods which

they use to make their products (so-called

practices to reduce operational inputs). At least some of these will

come in plastic packaging (e.g., cleaning fluids).

the plastic waste • Farmers and other primary producers also

purchase products to produce their goods, and
generated by some of these will come in plastic packaging
(e.g., some of the pesticides and fertilisers they
consumers use); farmers also use large quantities of single
use plastic sheets.

Preface Nevertheless, the rest of this section will focus

on household consumers, although it should be
As figure 4 shows, consumers are critically kept in mind that the circular economy practices
important actors in circularising the flows of and policies which are described below are often
plastic packaging and other single use plastic just as applicable to these other consumers in the
consumer products. Like all other actors in the economy.
circular economy, they can help to minimise
material flows by using these plastic products Although consumers have a key role to play in
efficiently. But it is only consumers who can also the circularisation of economies, they can be
minimise the flows of these products by choosing greatly helped – or impeded – in playing this
to purchase alternatives to these products which role by decisions taken upstream of them in the
are not made of plastic or which are made at value chains. Thus, as we have seen from the
least partially with recycled plastic, or which are previous section, consumers “voting” with their
made with less plastic, or to purchase versions wallets at the points of sale, deciding to purchase
of these products which are durable and multi- a particular product or service, or to reject it,
use. It is also only consumers who can increase can be greatly influenced by the choices – or
the recycling of these products once they are lack thereof – made by retailers and businesses
discarded by choosing to place them in recycling offering food and beverage to go. Through their
programmes. decisions, the latter can make it easier – or harder
– for consumers to adopt the circular practices
Note that the term “consumers” is normally described above: opting for non-plastic products,
understood to mean individuals, often living in of for plastic products (partially) made with
households, who purchase products for their own recycled plastic and/or less plastic, or which are
private use and consumption. However, all actors durable and reusable rather than single use, or
in an economy are also at least in part consumers: which are easily recycled. As such, retailers and
businesses selling food and beverages to go have
• Businesses and other entities in the service a significant role in influencing circular choices
sector purchase goods which are packaged by consumers, especially as these businesses
in plastic packaging or purchase other single become increasingly large and global in their
use plastic products; these are then used to reach.
deliver their services. The healthcare sector,
for instance, consumes large quantities of Consumer concern about single-use plastics
single use plastic products. The more common and choices are impacted by a variety of factors,
such items are gloves, masks, and disposable including price and availability of alternatives
protective clothing; intravenous solution bags or measures that prevent access to single use
and administration systems; disposable plastic items. For instance, a survey by Ipsos MORI in
syringes; and nappies. The hospitality sector is 2018 in the UK for King’s College Polling Club
also an important user of goods packaged in found that almost all of the respondents were
plastic packaging and of other single use plastic concerned about the effects of plastic waste
products. on the environment. Respondents were ready

49
 Circular economy practices

to make environmentally sound choices, but • Decisions at the point of sale are particularly
without paying extra or avoiding suppliers with important in this case. They can choose
unsustainable practices. They preferred actions purchasing options which reduce, if not eliminate,
directed at other actors along the supply chain, the amount of plastic packaging and other single
e.g., taxing retailers for unrecyclable products, use plastic consumer products they purchase.
municipal governments increasing their spending • Once they have used the single use plastic
on recycling, naming and shaming those lacking products for their original purpose, consumers
in recycling efforts.87 can extend their useful lives by reusing them in
a variety of ways, either for their intended use
Circular economy practices to reduce or – through repurposing – for another use.
the amount of single use plastic • Once the single use plastic products have come
products used and discarded by to the end of their useful lives, the main action
consumers should take is to properly segregate
consumers
these discarded products (if segregation
As just mentioned, household consumers can programmes are available to them), to maximise
adopt a number of strategies to reduce the their chance of being recycled properly, or at a
amount of plastic packaging and other single use minimum ensure that these products do not get
plastic consumer products which they use and littered or otherwise leak into the environment.
then have to discard. This will be dealt with in the next section, on
recycling.

Examples

At the Point of Sale

With respect to plastic packaging, and as detailed in section 4.2.2., consumers can choose to do
their shopping with their own reusable bags and containers (if the retail stores they use allow this;
they can pressure their stores to allow it if they do not). They can choose to use refill stations in
their retail stores if the latter offer this service (and can pressure them if they do not). Alternatively,
they can join programmes which offer to deliver them their produce in reusable containers.

With respect to single use plastic consumer products, they can simply refuse such products when
they are offered them. Alternatively, as detailed in section 4.3.1., they can choose to join programmes
which offer reusable alternatives (e.g., reusable cups for hot beverages). They can choose to take
their custom to businesses which offer more compostable or more recyclable alternatives to the
single use plastics they have accepted in the past.

During Use

The internet is replete with sites that give consumers suggestions on how to reuse single use
plastics in an artisanal way: “60 ways to reuse plastic bottles”,88 “40 brilliant ways to Reuse
Plastic Cups for a Greener Planet”,89 “28 Creative Ways to Repurpose and Reuse Plastic Spoons”,90
“10 Uses for your Old Plastic Plates”,91 and so on. Practically speaking, however, these kinds of
reuses can only have marginal impacts on the amount of single use plastic products which
consumers discard, given the limited number of reuse options and the sheer quantity of these
products which consumers end up with.

50
 Circular economy practices

In relation to bulk consumers, green (or

Policy responses
sustainable) public or private procurement has
Consumer education is an important factor the potential to become a powerful instrument,
in guiding consumers to select products and albeit so far with mixed results due to difficulties
services that could reduce the amount of in clearly defining objectives and actions
plastic packaging and other single use plastic in a forward-looking approach – a complex
consumer products in use. Multiple campaigns undertaking in itself. On the other hand, a case
accompanying the introduction of desirable study example from a Swedish public entity
products have been considered successes. has shown the potential to shift the focus from
However, in the absence of continuous effort, consumption of products to services provided
consumers might only temporarily adopt with the help of this instrument.94
the action. For example, in South Africa the
levies on single use plastic bags did not result As was made clear in section 4.3, partners along
in consumers necessarily choosing more distribution networks play a significant role in
environmentally sound alternatives. Initially, the facilitating circularity practices by consumers.
levies did lead to a drop in consumers accepting Some of them, such as large retailers, have
plastic bags in stores. After a while, however, already proven impactful in minimising plastic
they simply integrated the levies into their pollution. Thus, the policies discussed earlier,
purchasing budget. Generally, as in the case of when applied to them, could also indirectly put
any required behavioural change, consultations consumers in the position of being able to adopt
prior to actions as well as ongoing feedback on circular practices.
results from introduced actions and leadership
by high-level decision makers have proven to be
important for success.
4.5 Circular economy
While well-designed campaigns are necessary
for facilitating consumer choices, attention also practices to increase
has to be given to education. The UN Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development (2005- recycling of single
2014),92 with its Global Action Programme on
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), use plastic products
focused on developing competencies that enable
critical choices, including those in the area of discarded at the end of
consumption/use. Governments can empower
users of products and services by mainstreaming their useful lives
ESD and consumer education through formal
and informal educational curricula. Assessment Preface
of policies and practices, consultations with key
stakeholders, national/regional and sectoral In a circular economy, end-of-life is defined
guidelines for implementation of education as the moment where discarded products are
for sustainable consumption could lead to collected and then sent on to facilities where
mainstreaming sustainable consumption the material resources embedded in those
practices. Experience with such action exists in products are extracted and brought back into the
Indonesia.93 manufacture of new products through recycling
– or in the case of biological materials through
Incentive schemes can play a useful role in their use to regenerate ecosystems. In the specific
encouraging good habits in consumers. For case of plastic packaging and other single use
instance, as has already been noted in section 4.3, plastic consumer products, this means managing
deposit-return schemes have tended to improve correctly the three main steps in the overall
returns and recycling levels of plastic bottles recycling chain: collection, sorting, and recycling
quite significantly. proper.

51
 Circular economy practices

In many countries, these three steps are often recycling of single use plastics generally finishes
not happening well, usually when there are there. In many legal systems, commercial and
insufficient stimuli, normative or financial, to keep business entities are instead responsible for also
these, potentially useful, resources in circulation hiring the transporters which haul their plastic
in the economy. In other words, the poor recycling (and other) wastes away and for choosing the
levels for discarded single use plastic products companies which will recycle the plastic (and
is often the result of market failures. Economic other) wastes.
considerations are possibly the most serious
impediment to the return of low value, fast moving
plastics into the material loop. Some of these are
Collection
listed below:
The next step in the cycle is the collection from
households and other sources of the separated
• The currently mostly low waste tipping fees
plastic streams for their onward transfer to
for landfills discourage the more expensive
the sorters and recyclers. This is another phase
collection, sorting and recycling operations; the
of transportation in the circular lifecycle, but
seemingly obvious solution of simply increasing
as mentioned in section 4.2, it differs from the
tipping fees will not work because operators
other phases in one important way. In all the
begin to circumvent the fees by illegally dumping
other phases of transportation, the goods that
the wastes;
are being transported have a recognised value
• A level playing field does not exist between in the marketplace, so it is in the interests of
recycled (secondary) plastics and virgin plastics; the transporters to take the goods to the correct
the latter benefit from the huge fossil-fuel drop-off point and to lose as little as possible of
subsidies;95 the goods in transit. Historically, many discarded
• Plastics recycling is not always enjoying the products were also considered to have value and
benefits of economies of scale, being hamstrung were extensively recycled, but in the richer, more
by poor cooperation from consumers and the developed countries, this is not generally the
lack of the collection and separation systems case anymore. Many types of discarded products
and infrastructure that recycling requires. are perceived to be waste and thus have no value,
indeed to have negative value since it costs to
have them disposed, which is an incentive to
Circular economy practices to dump them illegally. This has led these countries
maximise the recycling of discarded to enact laws and regulations strictly controlling
single use plastic the transport of waste: waste transporters must
be permitted; there are regulations governing the
design and operation of the vehicles transporting
Separation at source the waste, to ensure, among other things, that
waste is not lost in transit and becomes litter;
The recycling cycle starts with the consumers. there is a waste manifest system, which allows
Where governments have introduced regulations the government to control where wastes have
requiring separation at source, consumers can been taken, from the point of generation to the
minimise the amount – and therefore the cost – drop-off point, to ensure that the wastes have not
of the downstream sorting which is later required been dumped and that they have been handed
by properly separating in their homes or in their over to entities which are also permitted. The
businesses discarded plastic packaging and other collection of household or domestic wastes,
single-use plastic consumer products.96 In turn, which is the category to which discarded plastic
the efficiency with which consumers segregate packaging and other single use plastic products
depends on consumers’ level of awareness of generally belong, is normally the responsibility
the problem and their willingness to act on it. As of municipal governments, which either do the
far as individual consumers living in households collection directly or contract it out to permitted
are concerned, their responsibility for supporting private companies; in cases where the segregated

52
 Circular economy practices

PET is a popular
target for
these informal
operators. In
Western Cape,
South Africa,
waste pickers
recover 90% of
discarded PET.

53
 Circular economy practices

plastic wastes are subject to Extended Producer South Africa employs 30,000 people, the informal
Responsibility (EPR) regulations, this responsibility sector employs two to three times this number.
is instead taken on by the EPR consortium – see These informal operators often work under often
below. These countries now have in place a poor health and safety standards.
well-defined formal collection infrastructure for
household waste, with specially designed bins Greatly flexible in their organisation, these
and bin bags to hold the waste and vehicles to informal operators and aggregators show a high
take the waste. To the extent that governments degree of adaptation to changing circumstances.
have put in place requirements for separation at Nevertheless, the emergence of more formalised
source, the collection vehicles collect discarded collection systems in cities in the developing
plastic separately and deliver these to sorters and countries is leading to their disappearance, as
recyclers. they increasingly come under regulatory pressure
and are subject to falling profit margins. Some
In many developing countries, on the other reports indicate that this is having the unintended
hand, regulations governing the collection and consequence of putting strong pressure on the new
disposal of household waste are still weak. As waste management infrastructures, resulting in
a consequence, there this little if any formal their inadequate functioning.103 It has been argued
collection infrastructure, leading to much that it would be better to formalise the informal
dumping of household waste. However, contrary collectors and aggregators and integrate them
to the developed countries, a good number of into the new waste management infrastructures
discarded products still have value and informal or into the new structures created by the move to
collectors and aggregators have stepped in to take circularity, in, e.g., reverse logistics and washing
advantage of this economic opportunity. They services.104 South Africa has developed guidelines
play a serious role in capturing the value which for the integration of the informal waste pickers
discarded products still have and contribute to into the formal economy.105 UNIDO has been
high rates of recycling for some streams, including supporting the implementation of the guidelines
discarded plastics. In urban China, for example, for the integration of the country’s pickers.
informal waste collectors account for an estimated
17-35% of municipal recycling.97 In Saudi Arabia,
the informal sector is largely responsible for the
Recycling
country’s waste recycling.98 The role of informal
The final step in the cycle is the recycling itself,
recyclers is particularly notable in the area of
often preceded by a further sorting step to remove
some plastics. For instance, the informal sector in
extraneous materials which have become mixed
India has a significant role in recycling of post-
in with the plastics. Sorting is definitely needed
consumer plastic waste (as well as in the running
if discarded plastic is mixed with other wastes:
of the waste management system in general). PET
household wastes in many countries are still
is a popular target for these informal operators.
collected all mixed together, and even a number of
For instance, in Western Cape, South Africa, waste
segregation programmes allow discarded plastic
pickers recover 90% of discarded PET.99 Estimates
to be mixed with materials from which they can
suggest that informal recyclers save up to 30%
easily be separated mechanically, e.g., metals.
of landfill space by diverting materials from final
disposal. In so doing, they reduce collection and
Currently, the more common type of recycling
transportation costs, resulting in cost savings for
operation for plastics is mechanical recycling.
municipalities.100
In this operation, the discarded plastic products
are mechanically sorted into fractions of similar
Large numbers of persons are engaged in these
polymers for reuse, particularly the thermoplastics.
informal collection operations. Up to 2% of the
Sorting technologies use a combination of
populations in Asian and Latin American cities
automated and manual processes. Near infrared
makes their living by scavenging recyclables.101
(NIR) technologies are used to determine the
Estimates for India show that about 1% of the
polymer type, with optical colour recognition
urban population is engaged in the informal
sorting plastics into clear and coloured fractions.
recycling sector.102 While the formal waste sector in

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 Circular economy practices

Numerous other sorting technologies and Data on costs, efficiency, environmental

processes can be used, including X-rays, density, impacts, scalability and intellectual property
electrostatics, melting point determination, rights in respect of chemical recycling could
hydrocyclones, selective dissolution, as well not be assessed as part of this work. However,
as manual sorting. Plastics can then be ground chemical recycling does currently have a large
into flakes, which can be further separated using environmental footprint, especially with regard
sink/float methods, air elutriation and heat to its high energy requirements. The GHG
discoloration for further optical separation.106 emissions generated when producing one tonne
of plastic through plastic-to-plastic operations
While this operation is not very costly, there are (including collection and sorting) is 19% lower
some critical gaps. One is the lack of sorting than the emissions of producing one tonne of
methods at scale to differentiate food-grade virgin plastic that is later collected, sorted and
plastics (which command higher prices) from incinerated. However, the emissions are 10%
other recyclates. Accurate polymer marking higher when compared to producing one tonne
systems would allow such sorting as well as aid of virgin plastic that is later collected, sorted and
with another critical gap, the sorting of multi- landfilled. Chemical recycling also has serious
layered materials. Mechanical recycling has unknowns: unproven yields and economics
mounting difficulties with ever-growing number for certain applications in some geographies.
of products containing multiple polymers in their Chemical recycling capacities are currently very
components or multiple-layer plastic products low; assuming reasonable investment scenarios,
made of different polymers. The result is not it is estimated that by 2040, chemical recycling
very pure, low-quality recovered plastic. A third could provide a solution for about 5% of the
critical gap is that mechanical recycling cannot plastics volume in short-lived products. While this
currently separate out the various additives may seem relatively small, it could be targeted
included in plastics. As a result, as a particular at plastics that cannot be recycled mechanically
batch of plastic is subjected to recurring cycles and have no better solution. In sum, if and when
of recycling, more and more additives, as well as chemical recycling’s environmental sustainability
other impurities, will accumulate in the material, is demonstrated through LCA studies as well as its
increasingly reducing the value of the plastic as economic feasibility, it can become a synergetic
well as possibly making it more harmful to the solution to mechanical recycling for products
health and safety of consumers. This puts a limit that mechanical recycling cannot manage,
on the amount of times plastic can be recycled. including films, mixed polymers, low-value and/
or contaminated plastic.108
Recent publications emphasise that there
are a number of upcoming technologies and A third alternative is so-called thermal recycling,
processes that have the potential to deal with the or, put more simply, using plastic waste as fuel so
consequences of unsustainably designed plastics. as to recover its energy content. However, since
One of these is chemical recycling,107 which is just this is in effect a final disposal practice, it will be
now emerging out of the experimental phase. discussed in section 4.6.
Here, chemical processes convert discarded
plastic products back to virgin feedstock (the One of the often-neglected facts in the discussions
original plastic monomers or the feedstock used of circularity is that in the process of recycling,
to make the monomers in the first place) for the a material gradually loses its quality. It can
production of plastics or other chemicals, as an remain in the material loop but not necessarily
alternative to virgin fossil based raw materials; for the production of the same line of products,
depending on the process used, the resulting especially if quality requirements for the initial
products might also be used to produce fuels. product are higher than those which the recycled
Chemical recycling allows for the removal of material can provide. Thus, the material is
additives and other impurities, but it requires downcycled to a less valuable use. Recycling of
considerably more effort and therefore energy plastics clearly faces this challenge. One notable
input. development in this field is the emerging practice

55
 Circular economy practices

of “immobilising” plastic waste by using it as a Upcycling of discarded plastic to a more valuable

component in construction materials, for instance use than the original through recycling is also
in road paving, or any other products expected to possible in principle, although in practice this
have a long lifespan. While such practices might would depend on whether the requirements
be better than the disposal of plastics in a landfill, of the higher value product are met by the
the question of plastic safety is often neglected secondary raw material. For instance, the safety
and these practices may allow potential leaks of the residual additives in the upcycled plastic
of microplastics and potentially eco-hazardous would define its suitability for food packaging,
additives from the plastic components of the new medical applications, children’s products (toys
products during use. Finally, when these products or clothing) as well as other applications with
eventually come to the end of their lives (e.g., the particularly strict requirements for the materials
road goes through complete repaving, and the old used.
surface material is discarded) they will probably
end up in a landfill.

It must always be remembered that

while recycling may be economically
and environmentally beneficial, it does
not necessarily come at low risk to
human health and the environment.
This is especially true in countries
where the recycling infrastructure is
not yet adequately developed, where
regulations are not yet fully formulated,
or where recycling operators are not
fully compliant and the government’s
enforcement capabilities are weak. In
the specific case of waste plastic, it is
important to remember that recycling
operators can themselves become a
serious source of terrestrial and marine
plastic litter by allowing plastic waste
to escape from their operations. It is
therefore important to ensure that
the promotion of recycling goes hand-
in-hand with the development of the
necessary regulatory framework and
its enforcement, along with the needed
training of operators on good operating
practices.

5656
 Circular economy practices

Examples

Separation at source

In 1991, the municipal government of the city of Curitiba, in Brazil, created a programme called
“Cambio Verde” (Green Exchange), where citizens are encouraged to bring their segregated
organic and non-organic recyclable wastes (the latter stream including much discarded single
use plastics) to over 100 waste stations. The wastes can be exchanged for bus tickets, food, and
school-books. Participation among Curitiba households is high, reaching about 70%.110

Germany has one of the highest recycling rates in Europe for its municipal waste, reaching about
70%. Recycling this waste starts at the household. Already, the majority of German citizens
are zero-waste inclined. Their efforts are made easier by the country’s waste segregation
programme. Households have six separate garbage bins, one for plastic, one for clear glass, one
for green glass, one for brown glass, one for paper waste, and one for organic and food waste.111

Collection

Plastic Bank and Henkel have recently opened three plastic waste collection centres in Cairo.
At these centres, waste collectors and other people can turn in collected plastic waste and
be paid for it. Plastic Bank then reprocesses the material into “Social Plastic”® which can be
reintegrated into products and packaging. Henkel is already using Social Plastic® in several of
its products. All the bottles in its Beauty Care brand Nature Box are made of 98% Social Plastic®.
The PET bottles of its Laundry & Home Care Pro Nature cleaners are 100% recycled plastic, of
which up to 50% is Social Plastic®.112 To date, the partnership has prevented 10 million kg of
plastic waste from entering the environment.113

Wecyclers in Nigeria, in partnership with Unilever and Fair Plastic Alliance, is a pioneer in door-
to-door waste collection. It has over 17,000 subscribers, paying them N15 per kg of collected
discarded PET bottles (there is a school in Ajegunle where the students pay school fees with
discarded plastic bottles). The company collects about four tonnes of discarded plastics daily,
providing a reliable supply of materials to the local recycling industry.114

RecyclePoints in Nigeria is a waste collection and social benefit venture that collects PET plastic
bottles and containers, pure water sachets, LDPE nylon packaging, HDPE packaging containers,
among other types of discarded plastic, for further reprocessing into secondary raw materials.
It operates an incentive-based scheme whereby consumers are rewarded with “points” when
they hand over discarded plastic. They can accumulate the points and use them to shop for
household items offered through the iRecycle store.115

57
 Circular economy practices

Recycling

Mechanical recycling: PET is currently one of the most recycled plastics by mechanical recycling.
The worldwide leading company in the recycling of PET bottles is the India-based company
Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. The company has PET recycling facilities not only in India
but also in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Philippines, France, the Netherlands and Poland.
The company produces a total of 11.3 Mt/year of PET and PTA116 products, making Indorama the
biggest PET bottle manufacturer worldwide. By 2050, the company has pledged to increase the
rPET capacity to 0.75 Mt/year, equivalent to 50 billion PET bottles a year. The target for the long
term is 25% rPET in production overall.117

Chemical recycling: DEMETO, a European consortium, is working on chemical recycling of the

fraction of waste PET which is difficult to recycle mechanically, as well as polyester. The core
technology used by the consortium has been created by GR3N, a Swiss-based startup. The
technology turns the waste into ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. The latter can be used
to again produce PET, even food grade PET, because the technology separates out all the
additives.118 PET Refine Technology of Japan (a member of the JEPLAN Group) is also focusing
on PET, using its BRING Technology™ which depolymerises the plastic back to the monomer
BHET (bis-2-hydroxyethyl terephthalate). This can then be purified to meet the standards for
high quality bottle grade PET.119 BASF’s ChemCycling project uses pyrolysis to transform waste
plastics (as well as automobile tyres) into pyrolysis oil. The pyrolysis oil can then be used as a
feedstock to produce new plastics or other chemicals (or it can be used as a fuel).120

Another line of innovation relates to transforming non-recyclable waste into fuel. Rays Enserv
in India has developed an Advanced Supercritical Thermal treatment technology to convert
polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene plastic waste into usable low-sulphur synthetic
fuel.

Policy responses are not monitored and producer compliance is

not enforced), targets (voluntary/ obligatory), and
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes ways of calculation.121 While their impact has been
have been an important policy response with felt at the post-consumer stage, the schemes
respect to packaging waste in general. Such in their original form do not provide sufficient
schemes have been introduced in a number incentives for redesigning products towards
of developed countries, and create economic greater recyclability (largely, it is weight that is
incentives for manufacturers and importers of privileged) and so do not necessarily promote
packaging products to minimise their use. In many recycling over other alternatives when they are
cases, EPR schemes have driven the set-up of discarded. Notable exceptions are the Producer
better plastic collection and recycling systems. It Responsibility Organisations (PROs) CITEO in
is difficult to compare the various schemes in use France and CONAI in Italy, which apply higher
because they vary in coverage (type and number EPR fees to non-sortable and non-recyclable
of products covered), type of responsibilities packaging and no fees to reusable ones.122 It would
(individual/collective, financial/operational/ be important to put more attention on the role of
informational), design of the collection schemes, EPR in supporting circular economy.
degree of monitoring (in some cases the schemes

58
 Circular economy practices

Given the significant role of informal recyclers The supply side of recycled plastic materials and
in waste collection and aggregation in many products could also be stimulated through a policy
countries, it is important that EPR systems secure mix that removes subsidies for the hydrocarbons
their inclusion (practices of such a kind are that serve as the input for fossil-based virgin
already well established). Guidelines like those plastic production, that imposes differentiated
developed in South Africa and mentioned earlier taxes on virgin and recycled plastic, and that
can be used to do this. introduces standards for recycled content.
Facilitation of information on recycled content
It also seems that deposit schemes have been and environmental product declarations can
working rather well in a number of countries, create the transparency necessary for decisions
helping to keep material streams clean(er) and, on the use of secondary plastic materials in
potentially, better suited for the mechanical products, including plastic packaging.
recycling of plastic waste to secondary plastic
material. Innovation programmes also appear to be
effective in supporting the manufacture of
With respect to other economic incentives for products using recycled and recyclable materials.
recycling, policies could aim to disincentivise A number of technology incubators exist with
landfilling, or even totally ban it, as plastic mentorship programmes for entrepreneurs
waste management systems and infrastructure providing ongoing support for innovative products
are strengthened. While this can be a successful and business models. As mentioned previously,
approach for the developed countries, e.g. UNIDO’s Global Cleantech Innovation Programme
members of the European Union, developing (GCIP), supported by the Global Environmental
countries will face substantial challenges and Facility (GEF), is a successful example of such
long transition times. programmes.

Policy measures aimed at facilitating the The demand side can be facilitated through various
manufacture of products made with secondary policies which open up larger markets for secondary
raw materials, might include (subject to individual raw materials. Policies can introduce requirements
national and regional conditions) measures that, for minimum recycled content. They can also use
simultaneously, address secondary material public procurement by introducing criteria that
supply and the demand for products made with privilege products with recycled content. They
secondary raw materials. These policies need to can reduce consumer concerns about the quality
address the dual goal of facilitating consumer of products made with secondary raw materials
acceptance and providing incentives for producers by adopting quality standards for products with
and their suppliers.123 recycled content. Finally, there can be policies which
help consumers make better choices, by introducing
Particularly important on the supply side easily understandable labelling systems and
are policies for the development of effective educational campaigns for consumers.
infrastructure for separation, collection, and
recycling to extract and return secondary raw In the area of informal recycling, there is some
materials to the economy. These are required experience with integrating informal waste
to secure the necessary volume of discarded operators into the formal waste sector. The
plastic which is collected and ensure that it is example of South Africa has already been
of sufficient quality. Such policies would prevent mentioned. In Brazil, waste pickers are seen as
loss of material and contamination of resources. part of the semi-formal system.124 Countries with a
These policies can be targeted at the development strong informal recycling sector could also focus
of infrastructure, particularly at local levels on a variety of areas:
through the empowerment of municipalities with
sufficient resources, including finances, and at the • Model legislation, directly and indirectly related
encouragement of international investments. Model legislation, directly and indirectly related
to waste and material management, that has
provisions for the informal waste sector;

59
Circular economy practices

• Strategies for formalisation, including

identification of barriers;
• Practices that improve living and working
conditions of informal waste sector workers
(issuing identity cards, assuring rights to collect
in particular areas, provision of equipment and
training, social security, providing spaces for
recycling, etc.);
• Practices to integrate waste pickers into
local, community-based, decentralised waste
collected for management;
recycling • Practices in creating new business models
(contractual arrangements, strategies for official
registration of enterprises);
• Support for associations and networking of and
with informal waste sector workers;
• Awareness campaigns focused on their role in
society as well as assessment of the economic
and social contributions of the informal waste
2% which is actually sector.
recycled into the same Finally, there could be public policies aimed at
or similar quality regulating the use of harmful chemicals in the
production of plastics – both those harmful to
applications; human health and the environment as well as
those harmful to recycling processes.
8% is recycled into lower
quality uses;

4% are lost as process

4.6 Final disposal
losses during the recycling. Preface
Disposal, which in today’s linear economies is
the dominant practice at the end of product life,
becomes the least desirable option in a circular
economy. Ideally, only a small fraction of material
that simply cannot be used in productive cycles
would be safely disposed. While this remains the
overarching ambition, various forms of treatment
and landfilling will continue to represent the
main waste management solution for most
municipal solid waste in many countries, and
also for industrial waste in low- and middle-
income countries, for a good number of years to
come. This is certainly the case for waste plastic
packaging and the waste of other single use
plastics. In the case of waste plastic packaging,
it has been estimated that only 14% is currently
collected for recycling, and even then it is a
mere 2% which is actually recycled into the same

60
 Circular economy practices

or similar quality applications; another 8% is

recycled into lower quality uses that are generally
not recyclable after use and the remaining 4%
are lost as process losses during the recycling.125
In the near term, how well the remaining 86% is
managed in countries’ waste collection, treatment
and landfilling operations will greatly influence
how much plastic escapes into the environment
as litter, both terrestrial and marine.

Practices to address challenges of

plastic litter at final disposal
Practices to minimise the littering of discarded
plastic packaging and other single use plastics
already start at the point of collection. In public
spaces, there must be sufficient well-designed,
well-located bins to collect the packaging and
single use plastic products which are discarded,
and these bins must be emptied often enough so
that they do not overflow. In parallel, consumers
must be educated to use the bins and not just
drop the discarded products on the ground. For
households and commercial entities, there must
be regular collections of household waste, and
programmes must be introduced to ensure that
households segregate their waste, to maximise
the recycling of the wastes – see previous section.

The transport of collected discarded plastic

packaging and single use plastic products to
points of aggregation and the further transport
of the aggregated wastes to the site of their final
treatment or landfilling must be undertaken with
properly designed and operated vehicles which
minimise the loss of wastes in transit. Issues
surrounding the transport of plastic and other
waste are complicated by the fact that there is a
strong global trade in wastes. Countries sending
their plastic waste to other countries has become
a common practice, with the sending countries
generally being developed countries and the
receiving countries generally being developing
countries. Until some 10 years ago, much of
the trade in plastic wastes went to China. After
China decided to ban the import of 24 types of
plastic wastes, because of the problems which
their management was causing the country,
the global trade in waste plastics was severely
disrupted. Any such international movement of
wastes must come with an assurance that their
transportation and disposal (or other forms of

61
 Circular economy practices

use at the destination) are done in a safe manner. Another 40% of waste plastic packaging is
Regrettably, due diligence is not always exercised. currently landfilled,129 even though this is the
least desirable waste management option for
With respect to the final treatment or landfilling wastes (tremendous value is lost in landfills, not
of these wastes, and taking into account the only of what is disposed of but also in relation
waste management hierarchy,126 priority should to the inefficient use of the land). To design and
be given to their thermal recycling, where operate landfills which ensure the long-term
their energy content is recovered and reused, containment of the wastes deposited in them and
over other forms of treatment and landfilling. do so in a manner which is safe, consideration has
Currently, only 14% of waste plastic packaging is to be given to many issues, including the cost of
incinerated,127 and it is not clear how much of this establishing and operating them, the availability
incineration includes energy recovery. Typically, of the required technical expertise, the existence
plastics produce significant energy during of the proper geological conditions, and the
combustion and are therefore good candidates potential impact of the site’s climatic conditions.
for thermal recycling. However, breakdown Today, many guidelines for establishing landfills
processes and subsequent formation of other, are available not only for developed but also
potentially hazardous chemicals are an issue. For for developing countries.130 Unfortunately, many
example, there is the possibility of the formation landfills, especially in developing countries, are
of dioxins and furans, with the related halogens poorly operated, which in the case of plastics
coming from additives.128 This requires large- leads to a significant dispersal of these wastes into
scale incineration facilities with the possibility the surrounding environment and the eventual
of controlling process temperatures during and leakage of an important portion of these wastes
after combustion, and of treating flue gases. into the marine environment.
Purpose-made waste incineration facilities exist
in many countries, and they can treat substantial The net result of the various inefficiencies along
amounts of municipal and other waste. However, the chain from collection to final treatment and
the large investments they require and the need landfilling is that nearly a third (32%) of waste
to continuously supply downstream users with plastic packaging is dispersed as litter into the
heat necessitate a constant and substantial waste environment.131 Much of the this makes up the
stream as input, which might be in conflict with 9-14 million tonnes of plastic waste which it is
waste prevention efforts. Alternatively, large estimated entered the oceans in 2016. The world
industrial users of heat, such as cement kilns and community is now faced with the challenge of
steel furnaces, may substitute their current fuel dealing with the plastic wastes which have entered
with waste within certain limits, partially avoiding the marine environment as well as minimising
the conflicts mentioned above. future dispersals of plastic into the environment.

Examples

Clean-up – riverine collection solutions

The Ministry of Environment of Egypt has teamed up with youth volunteer group VeryNile
on an initiative to ban the use of disposable plastic bags in the affluent neighbourhood of
Zamalek. VeryNile organises clean-up campaigns along and on the Nile and works to raise
awareness about environmental protection in support of the Ministry. These campaigns are
sponsored, for example Attijariwafa Bank funded and distributed 4,500 cotton-made bags in
Zamalek, while the Embassy of New Zealand and the International Organization of Migration
funded the equipment used in Nile clean-ups.132 The clean-up campaigns have reduced the
amount of plastic entering the Mediterranean Sea.

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 Circular economy practices

Clean-up – ocean waste collection solutions

With an estimated five trillion-plus pieces of plastic polluting ocean waters, technologies are
being developed to clean up such debris. Different challenges are associated with different
debris and locations, in particular whether the debris is floating on the surface, is submerged,
or lies on the seabed. Due to the immensity of the oceans, something approaching an almost-
complete clean-up or cleaning most of the water in the ocean does not appear feasible.
Cleaning along ports and beaches and picking up plastic floating on or near the surface will
address only a portion of plastic marine litter.

The technologies best known internationally, developed by the Dutch NGO Ocean CleanUp,133
creates a 600-meter-long floater intended to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In
addition, there are a number of innovators and startups providing technologies and working
on the commercialisation of their concepts.

The Indian company Sagar Defence has developed the vehicle “Trashfin”134, which is designed
for around-the-clock autonomous, unmanned, solar powered waste collection, and which
extracts unwanted materials, gathers data about the marine environment and communicates
with other vehicles in the water. The technology is smaller in scale than that of Ocean Cleanup’s
and is suitable for different applications, e.g., in port areas and closer to shorelines.

As with all the other practices discussed in previous sections, the clean-up technologies are
just one strategy that needs to be combined with measures that align the clean-up of plastic
litter with the circular concept of development. The technologies are to be further tested and
potential impacts of their applications are to be investigated more deeply – a work that is
underway.135

Much of the work focused on cleaning up plastic litter in the sea and on land is carried out
by governments, NGOs and private citizens. Such activities are critical; it is unclear how their
costs per tonne of plastic removed relate to the costs of the practices outlined earlier in this
chapter. For example, the United States spends around USD 10.8 billion on litter clean up,
with spending on cleaning marine litter for West Cost communities exceeding USD 520 million
(this includes beach and waterways cleanup). There is also the operation of waste handling
infrastructure in the ports. The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund allocated €53 million
for such actions for the period 2014-2020.

Policy responses implementing policies that will eventually divert

plastics from landfills. Safe transportation of
Although landfilling is the least preferred waste plastic waste to other regions and countries must
management option, especially in the context also be a priority.
of a circular economy, it will continue while the
search for and development of better alternatives It will also be important for public policies
is under way. Under such circumstances, the to support research and comparative impact
safety of landfill operations, whether publicly assessments of recycling technologies and
or privately operated, should be a priority of practices, to avoid undesirable and unanticipated
public policies, with a view to identifying and side effects.

63
 Circular economy practices

feasible ways of minimising leakage into the

terrestrial and marine environments at multiple

05
points along the life cycle of plastic packaging
and other single use plastic products. They also
demonstrate a range of policy measures that can
encourage actions by public and private actors.

Concluding Based on the principles and practices of circular

economy, three leverage points, each to be

Remarks
based on a comprehensive set of actions, can
be proposed to start preventing pollution of
the environment by plastic packaging and other
single use plastic products.

Design out waste – retaining plastics

1 within the economy
Ultimately, pollution of the environment by
discarded plastic packaging and other single Prevention of leakage into the environment of
use plastic products is a sign of market failure. discarded plastic packaging and other single
The cost of these products does not include use plastic products by closing the plastic
their economic and environmental impacts. materials loop through continual recovery and
Their seemingly low cost in turn leads to reuse focuses on extending, to the maximum, the
excessive consumption and a lack of incentives life in the economy of the materials making up
for their recapture at the post-consumer these products, by using the discarded products
stage. Yet in a resource-constrained world, the as sources of secondary raw materials. Closing
environmentally sound management of plastics, the loop primarily requires multiple innovations
particularly given their resistance to degradation leading to the adoption of business models
in the environment, needs to be circular so as to offering alternative products suitable for reuse,
ensure their endless and complete recovery. This to products made with alternative materials,
requires a comprehensive, multi-pronged and to any remaining plastic packaging and other
aspirational plan of action that simultaneously single use plastics being easily recycled, and
addresses different circular economy practices to technologies that can recycle and reprocess
along the entire value chain. The challenges to plastics at the highest level of value.
circularity are present at every stage in the value
chain: during production, from poor product Design based on the vision of the whole lifecycle
designs as well as inefficient and polluting of plastic materials becomes paramount, not
production practices; during transportation, from only for materials and products (designed for
poor operating practices; in the retail sector, from recyclability/recoverability, without hazardous
excessive use of packaging and other single use additives, with minimum material intensity)
plastic products; during consumption, from a lack but also for production processes (based on
of awareness on the part of consumers leading to the principles of RECP), for distribution, for use
poor choices, indiscriminate littering, and poor (with choices leading to preferred products or
waste management behaviour; during recovery, services), and for recycling.
from insufficient recycling infrastructure as well
as poor handling practices during collection and While the menu of policies aiming to retain
recycling; at the reuse stage, from poor quality in plastics in the economy will vary across countries,
the recovered plastic material as well as its high the strategies for designing them could be guided
cost relative to virgin material; and finally, a lack of by the following core principles:
alternatives to plastic packaging and other single
use plastic products that do not compromise a. “Closing the front door” by preventing some
consumers’ satisfaction and the economics of products ever entering markets in the first
industrial production. Nevertheless, practices place. Examples of how to implement this
in various countries have already demonstrated principle are bans on the production and/or
that there are technically and economically

64
 Circular economy practices

sale of certain types of plastic packaging and Recover – remove plastic material
other single use plastic products, e.g. plastic
bags, single-use cutlery, cotton bud sticks, and
3 that has leaked into the terrestrial
and marine environment
the use of hazardous substances in plastics.
The promotion of innovations working towards To complement the multiple measures aimed at
these goals is another example; preventing new leakage into the terrestrial and
b. Providing incentives for the perpetual use of marine environments, actions are needed to
plastic materials. Implementing this principle recapture plastics that have already leaked out –
calls for a variety of actions ranging from today’s plastics legacy of yesterday’s poor waste
support for R&D to identify and develop new management. The amount of plastic litter –
materials and new product designs, to the indicated by recent studies as significantly larger
creation of conditions for the development than estimated earlier – is a rapidly aggravating
of technological solutions for enhanced and immediate threat to ecosystems, human
recycling, to creating a level playing field for health and economic and social activities.
recycled (secondary) plastics, to facilitating With the cost of recovery operations currently
investments in preferred technologies and estimated at many billions, innovations are
businesses, to support for technology transfer, needed to develop new, more effective recovery
and to support for citizens’ education; technologies and practices.
c. “Closing the back door” by adopting measures
that discourage leakage of plastic materials
from the system. Among these are, e.g., the
provision of the necessary infrastructure
to capture plastic materials and products
before they leak, the creation of the necessary
separation and collection systems and
recycling facilities, as well as measures for
sharing the responsibility for the end-of-life
stage of products between producers (EPR)
and consumers (behaviour-changing measures
such as levies, deposit-return schemes) as well
as the use of disincentives (e.g., fines).
These three points are closely interlinked and
create the necessary stimuli for closing the
material loop which could start to drive the
system towards circularity.

2 Prevent – containing leaked plastic

In instances where plastic does exit the

continuous cycle of use and reuse, it is
important to stop its uncontrolled escape into
the environment and, ultimately, from polluting
the terrestrial and marine environments.
Capturing plastic waste is facilitated by a number
of factors: effective waste and wastewater
management systems, which not only contain
plastics properly, but also reintroduce some
of them back to the loop; safe landfilling
practices, which keep deposited materials
contained, possibly until such time as they can
be recovered.

65
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36. Many other types of waste as well as air and
wrap-be-recycled/
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considered here, although the manufacturing envelops the product and holds it. This usually
practices described are equally applicable to is the smallest unit of distribution or use and is
these other wastes and pollution. the package which is in direct contact with the
contents. Secondary packaging is outside the
37. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/
primary packaging, and may be used to prevent
pii/S0025326X18300523
pilferage or to group primary packages together
38. https://www.unido.org/our-focus-safeguarding- (Wikipedia).
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54. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2011/10/
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food-culture.html
cleaner-production-recp

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