Plastic recycling charity RECOUP stated its inaugural summit on 30 April in Leeds was a powerful success. The occasion, sponsored by WRAP and Ecosurety, appeared to affirm the message that the mandatory expertise is on the market, however what’s wanted is “extra innovation and collaboration with business and authorities assist to make sure we ship on the promise of a plastic round economic system”.
Centered on developments in expertise that can assist to drive enhancements within the plastics recycling and useful resource effectivity worth chain, the occasion hosted attendees from throughout the plastics worth chain.
The morning kicked off with a centered session on superior recycling applied sciences, the place audio system together with Geoff Brighty from Mura Know-how, Emmeline Aves of ReVentas, and Sam Pine from Greyparrot, who shared examples of innovation they stated was reworking the sector and facilitating the round economic system. Shows ensued on a wide range of obtainable options together with low carbon dissolution recycling, scalable chemical recycling approaches and AI-based waste intelligence instruments. The message gave the impression to be: expertise is on the market now – however its deployment is dependent upon supportive infrastructure, coverage alignment, and business funding.
One other breakout session zeroed in on meals contact packaging, exploring how innovation is enhancing recycled content material in excessive finish purposes. Audio system included Jeremy Blake from Amcor, David Bargery from Regis Equipment, and Paul Marshall from Nextek – these shows addressed the business’s regulatory, legislative, and price hurdles. The session lined options for producing meals grade recycled polypropylene (PP), the elimination of contaminants from recycled supplies and options for changing movies again into food-grade materials. RECOUP stated this session made it clear that with the fitting applied sciences and collaborative effort, we will break down current boundaries and understand greater ranges of food-contact recycled content material.
Within the last breakout session, the dialog turned to the function of knowledge within the round economic system – its energy, its gaps, and its function in delivering a real round economic system. Sophie Walker from Dsposal, Rachel Warren from Re-universe, and Will Addy from Polytag, got here collectively to spotlight the necessity for good knowledge, stressing how upcoming laws and new targets require knowledge from the sector to benchmark supply and progress. It was very obvious all through the session that inefficient knowledge gathering programs and inaccurate knowledge can hamper progress, nonetheless, with efficient and correct knowledge we will make higher and extra knowledgeable decisions that play an enormous function in delivering a round economic system for plastics and packaging supplies.
The day culminated in a dynamic collaborative session led by Robbie Staniforth (Ecosurety), the place panellists together with Liz Wildman (MARS), Steve Walsh (TOMRA), James Donaldson (Sortology), Angela Doyle (Robinson Packaging), and Paul Mayhew (MBA Polymers). The panel tackled a number of the sector’s thorniest points: infrastructure gaps, technical limitations, greenwashing, and the fact of shopper engagement. The panel known as for smarter packaging design, funding into system resilience, and the necessity to make recycled plastics commercially viable. Nonetheless, it was additionally famous that actual progress requires greater than particular person motion, reinforcing the significance of joined-up motion throughout business, authorities, and innovators, backed by clear coverage alerts, focused funding, and infrastructure funding. If we come collectively to bridge gaps and technical challenges throughout business we will enable the plastic round economic system to flourish.
The RECOUP Summit “underscored the essential want for aligned innovation, coverage, and funding to drive significant progress in plastics recycling and the round economic system”, stated the group.
