PACKAGING 360 > Marius Brînzea, Reciclad`OR: “The major concern is the recyclability of packaging solutions”

“There is a problem with the perception of packaging and packaging waste management. Unfortunately, there has been a perception in the media that SGR will solve all packaging and packaging waste problems. Yes, the SGR is an exemplary qualitative leap in packaging waste management and will have some commensurate results. But still, 72% of packaging waste will be collected through separate collection schemes funded by industry through Responsibility Transfer Organisations (RTOs). To identify where the problems are, we should look at the packaging-specific supply chain. The major concern is the recyclability of packaging solutions. We tried, based on international expertise, to present through workshops what would be the strategic direction for recyclable packaging solutions. We hope that we have succeeded, despite certain trends visible to the naked eye on the market, of substitution on packaging materials, which some also consider, ironically, innovations. The shift from monomaterials to composites or from one type of material to another, with an undefined supply chain, is among these trends,” said Marius Brînzea, Strategy Director Reciclad`OR, at the AMBALAJE 360 conference.

“Another aspect is the post-consumer phase, when packaging becomes packaging waste. Here we face three major challenges: consumer behaviour, inadequate collection infrastructure and lack of data or information on the performance of the Territorial Administrative Units (TAU) in the whole separate collection process. The consumer is not only part of the problem, he/she is also part of the solution, we need to identify how to empower the consumer to become part of the separate collection process. We are stuck at national level in the awareness phase, or to move forward we need to go beyond this phase, gather insights and focus solutions on consumer motivation and behaviour. Currently, the collection infrastructure is confused, the communication is confused, or this cannot generate appropriate consumer behaviour. Consumer case studies are needed to find the most effective solutions to motivate the consumer for separate collection.

On the other hand, recyclers would welcome a guide to the minimum accepted recyclability of a packaging, because many wrong decisions in choosing packaging solutions come from not knowing the effect of this choice on the recyclability of the packaging in question”, said Marius Brînzea.
As regards the measures that should be adopted to increase the degree of separate collection both at individual level, as consumers, and at administrative level, in the case of local authorities, the Strategy Director of Reciclad`OR pointed out that in Romania no coercive measures are applied to increase the degree of separate collection. “I don’t know if there is anyone in the room who has ever received a fine for not putting a packaging in the right place. Or if he has heard or knows anyone who has been fined for that. How far are we from other parts of Europe? ISTWA is now working on macro-economic projects to digitise the containers in which packaging waste is disposed of, in Italy, Spain, because you can’t reach those ambitious targets with such assets that we have at our disposal, with bins”, Marius Brânzea
said.

The AMBALAJE 360 conference brought together authorities, packaging manufacturers, producers of goods that use packaging, retailers, organisations implementing extended producer responsibility (OIREP), recyclers.

Source: https://www.revista-piata.ro