WEBINAR
Compostable Packaging in Italy Tony Breton
Products conceived as solutions
Italian Biowaste Industry 2017 Collect on average 75 kg of food waste per inhabitant per year UK comparator is ~15 kg Composts (with or without digestion) ~6.6 MT of biowaste (>65% food) / year Employs 9,000 people Turnover €1.8 billion / year Incremental gate fees based on contamination Regular feedstock analyses Certification and labelling scheme for compost and compostable products including packaging
Policy Policies since have been aimed at delivering infrastructures for bioecomony linked to clean organic waste whilst minimizing opportunity for consumer confusion 1997 - “wet” (food / biowaste) waste a priority (Dlgs 22/1997) 2006 - 2010 – 65% recycling target and requirement for food waste containers to either be compostable (EN13432) or reusable decree n. 2006/152 art 182 2011 – ban on all non-compostable lightweight carrier bags 2016 – ban on all non-compostable very lightweight bags (fruit and vegetable bags) Bags must also have a minimum bio-based content (currently 50%, increasing to 60%) Bags must be charged for 2020 – world’s first EPR for compostables
Why it works Systemic desire to drive circular bioeconomy through organic wastes Innovative organic recycling industry committed to sustainability Compostable products and packaging developed for relevant applications Retail and brand owner commitments Strong Associations: supply chain collaboration – mutalism 2017 confirmed data - ~60KT of compostable plastics sold into Italian market, recycling rate of 55-65%
Thank You E: tony.breton@novamont.com; T:+44(0) 7876200934
Helen Bird | June 2020
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Established mechanical Targetted availability possible Creates additional benefit recycling Carrier bags Yes Yes Yes General packaging No No Yes Items likely to be received in food waste by default - No Yes No tea bags, labels on fruit Very small “fugitive” items, likely to be lost from No Possibly No recycling streams - Tamper-evident bands
Compostable Packaging: 17 th June 2020 it’s role in the UK and the CIWM webinar need for better supply chain alignment Emily Nichols
• Liners and re-used carrier & fruit & veg bags • Reduced yuk factor supports householder participation and amounts of food waste presented for collection Compostable • Less contamination inside the liners/bags packaging & • IC plastic • IC paper non- • Other food contact applications where adequate technical packaging performance as packaging, food shelf life is preserved or items – extended, and applications • the packaging material type is already separately collected for dry/mechanical recycling or and value • food residues are difficult to remove from the packaging • Enables more efficient management of food and municipal plant tissue waste streams (compostable sacks where bins not provided) • Maximises amount of food and municipal plant tissue waste biodegraded • Less food contamination in dry / mechanical recyclable waste streams, aiding their recycling rates
Accepted standards: EN 13432 – industrially compostable packaging • Potentially toxic elements / heavy metals limits • Disintegration – at least 90 % w/w < 2 mm within 12 weeks ( ≈ 3 months) • Ecotoxicity – plant growth • Biodegradation – plateaued curve of cumulative CO 2 from test mix at least 90 % as much as plateaued curve of cumulative CO 2 from control, within 6 months Compostable • No negative effects on compost packaging EN 14995 – industrially compostable plastics, e.g. non-packaging plastics, specifications mirrors EN 13432 Independently certified certification code and mark (logo), e.g. Renewable European Bioplastics TÜV Rheinland TÜV Austria Energy via a TÜV certification (Din Certco) Assurance Ltd organisation @REAssociation
UK compostable plastic packaging market in context: • 10 kt compostable plastic packaging placed on market in 2018* Compostable 226 times smaller than 2.26 MT plastic packaging waste arisings in 2017 • plastic 104 times smaller than 1.04 MT plastic packaging wastes recovered / recycled in • packaging in 2017 context • 90 - 138 kt by 2025, depending on degree of market uptake* 138 kt = 69 times smaller than 9.52 MT food & drinks waste arisings in 2018 • *Source: Ricardo Energy & Environment, https://bbia.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2019/05/Plastics-in-the-Bioeconomy-report-1.pdf UK facilities approved to treat food waste (May 2020): • 112 AD facilities • 46 composting facilities Where household food waste goes to In-Vessel Composting UK experience IC liners or re-used IC carrier bags with IC items Vegware ‘closed loop’ food & compostable packaging waste: 22 IVC, 3 open windrow composting & 2 ‘suitably equipped’ AD facilities (June 2019) Various other compostable packaging items since early days of compostable packaging, including food + ICP from London Olympics @REAssociation 2012
• REA conservative estimate of AD & composting industry plastic contaminant removal & disposal costs per year: £7.26 M / year • Wet-AD operator case study: £329 K / yr to remove and dispose of plastic bags/liners and packaging (all types in the food waste streams), £156 per tonne removed & disposed Reasons to reduce plastic contamination in food & municipal Front-end screened out plant tissue & washed plastics, prior wastes to pressing • Removal steps are not 100 % effective @REAssociation
• More awareness of microplastics and regulators planning / taking actions to protect terrestrial and aquatic environments • Environment Agency Standard Rule and Bespoke permits review (consulted 2019/2020): Actions to • 5 year roadmap for reducing ‘plastic and other litter’ in delivered reduce plastic biowaste…towards 0.5 w/w limit? contamination • certified industrially compostable items exempt from limit in food & • Rules applicable to waste-derived composts & municipal digestates placed on markets as products: plant tissue wastes • composts – limit for ≥ 2 mm plastic pieces to be tightened by 50 %? • digestates – plastic pieces ≥ 2 mm to become limited to 8 % of current ‘all contaminants’ limit? @REAssociation
Resources & Waste Strategy for England: separate collection of food wastes from 2023 • Householders’ kitchen caddies & food bins: • supplied with industrially compostable plastic or paper liners by their local authority • can re-use industrially compostable fruit & veg bags or Opportunity: carrier bags instead of liners more efficient and • can choose to use no liner / bag cost-effective management of household • Further consider: food waste • other suitable industrially compostable item formats in stream specific food applications, beyond WRAP-recommended tea bags, fruit/veg stickers, coffee pods, ready meal trays (baked on food post-use) • food bin capacity must be sufficient for all IC items @REAssociation
Options for biodegrading this waste stream (in no particular order): 1. ABPR-approved composting (e.g. IVC) Household food 2. ABPR-approved dry -AD with following composting phase for dewatered solids waste in industrially 3. ABPR-approved wet-AD with pre-digestion autoclave compostable step (high temperature & pressure) bags / liners plus 4. Other ABPR-approved wet -AD: front-end remove other industrially bags, liners & other item types and send to compostable ABPR-approved composting item types Requires waste stream contamination by non- compostable items to be acceptably low & preferably absent. @REAssociation
• Clear labelling of industrially compostable items (and home Making it compostable ones) work • ‘Which bin?’ disposal guidance / instructions • Sufficient funding for local authorities to guide / instruct / educate householders • Any claims made for items biodegradable in other natural or managed environments are clear, the item meets an accepted standard and is independently certified (as soon as aligned certification schemes are available) • Plastic packaging tax: if introduced, exempt compostable plastics which have 30 % or more bio-based* content (items HMRC intends to tax include bin/caddie liners) • Reform Packaging Producer Responsibility System so it appropriately includes compostable packaging (e.g. carrier & fruit & veg bags) and non-packaging items (e.g. caddie and food waste bin liners, tea bags) Food wastes from • Further consider which packaging & non-packaging item non-household formats in which food packaging applications should be sources industrially compostable, for wastes from non-household sources @REAssociation * Made from non-fossilised, living organisms, e.g. plants, algae
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