Topics
recycling
September 15, 2022
Confederation of Paper Industries, publishes guide for packaging designers to increase recyclability of paper products; to improve recycling quality, suggests limiting laminates, coatings, inks, varnishes, and adhesives to no more than 10% of pack weight, aspirational goal of 5%; standard paper mills cannot process much laminate, e.g. coffee cups, cold cups, beverage cartons
Reading time: 3 minutes
September 14, 2022
New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Center publishes webpage with resources to inform and guide local food brands about use of recycled food packaging; includes concerns about chemical migration, outlines questions to consider when adopting new packaging; New Zealand Food and Grocery Council commits to increasing adoption of standardized recycling labels
Topics: New Zealand, recycling
Reading time: 2 minutes
September 7, 2022
Zero Waste Europe and Eunomia investigate the circularity of single-use container glass in Germany, France, the UK and US; Germany has the highest collection rates for glass and the highest proportion of recycled glass in containers; US is the lowest due to lack of collection facilities and mixed collection of glass with other packaging types; collecting glass separately and by color is the most effective way to increase circularity
Reading time: 3 minutes
September 5, 2022
Kenya Plastics Pact publishes roadmap to 2030 with four main targets to tackle plastic waste and pollution; targets focus on replacing single-use plastic packaging, reusability, recyclability; Pact now has 34 signatories
Reading time: 1 minute
August 23, 2022
United States Senate unanimously passes the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act, Recycling and Composting Accountability Act; both receive wide support from industry and environmental groups; must pass House of Representatives to become national policy
Reading time: 3 minutes
August 23, 2022
Industry associations report recycling rates of packaging materials in Europe; average collection rate of glass bottles and jars hit 80% in 2020; paper packaging recycling over 80%; paper recycling rates close to theoretical maximum; plastic recycling has not increased despite increased demand by beverage companies; two-thirds of plastic-packaging pledges in Europe failed, supporting the change away from single-use likely necessary
Reading time: 5 minutes
August 2, 2022
Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic publish results from voluntary plastic waste audit of nearly 100,000 UK homes; finds UK households throw away nearly 100 billion pieces of plastic a year, 83% of which is from food and drinks; waste organizations within the country ask for stronger policies and more clarity on existing goals
Reading time: 3 minutes
July 21, 2022
Recent studies perform semi-systematic review of published circular economy literature focusing on plastics over past 21 years, develop framework for plastics in circular economy; find Dutch food packaging plastic waste polluting oceans, question effectiveness of recycling; summarize chemical and microbial hazards related to circular food production systems
Reading time: 7 minutes
July 5, 2022
Plastic pollution prevention and packaging producer responsibility act requires all packaging in California be recyclable or compostable by 2032; plastic packaging production be reduced by 25%, and 65% of packaging be recycled after use
Reading time: 2 minutes
June 29, 2022
UPM Specialty Papers and Smithers survey over 200 packaging professionals to make predictions on the food packaging market in 2040; respondents believe that by 2040 packaging sustainability will be dictated by government mandates and consumers will no longer accept tradeoffs between sustainability and convenience
Reading time: 2 minutes
