8/3/2016

WPO Position on Waste and Recycling - World Packaging Organisation

HOME

WORLDSTAR

EVENTS

NEWS

PUBLICATIONS

GLOBAL

SPONSORSHIP

WPO Position on Waste and Recycling

The role of packaging in materials recycling cannot be stressed enough. The package protects and
Position Papers
WPO Publications
Members Perspective

Thank you to our sponsors

informs about the product and enables effective supply chain logistics. While todays packaging is
considered to be highly advanced and well optimized, there is still room for improvement. , Used
packaging is often assessed as waste. This is a misconception as used packaging is a resource and
should not be termed waste.. Finding new materials and tools to further optimize packaging is always
on the agenda of every packaging technologist. But preventing waste throughout the supply chain must
be balanced against the fact that lost product puts a much bigger burden on the environment than the
packaging does.
Before a pack is made, designers and packaging technologists need to ensure that only the optimum
amount of materials are used to minimise the quantity of resources it contains. Once the packaging is
used, the three Rs principle should be examined: Re-use, Recover, Recycle.
In this context we are only talking about packaging waste. The bigger debate is about the enormity of

WPO Members include:

food waste and the burden it places on the environment. In this area much of Academia and many
multinational corporations are researching ways of preventing such waste. And clearly, packaging must
be part of the solution.
Reuse of packaging is environmentally sound for regional delivery systems including deposit schemes.
Refill systems are good alternatives for many products, but an environmental assessment should
preferably be made to compare with single-trip solutions.
In many cultures, consumers expect their accrued waste to be taken away in an organized way. The
ideal situation is to have numerous collection points where all the delivered waste is collected and later
sorted into streams for recovery. This is best achieved by national legislation and the setting up of
organizations to finance and unify recovery systems.
Successful recycling requires a well thought through logistics chain. Separation of materials from mixed
waste is technically possible, but not the preferred option. The further upstream sorting is done, the
better the quality of the recycled material. As a special subset, the recycling of food packaging into new
food packaging is regulated and needs to meet high food hygiene standards.
Recycling of different packaging materials can be challenging. Steel and aluminum are normally well
suited for recycling. Glass can be recycled easily after colour sorting, although in some countries outlets
for recycled glass are scarce. Paper, corrugated board and cardboard are normally easy to recycle into
new fibre products. There are several basic plastics used in packaging: polyethylene, polypropylene ,
polystyrene and PET All are easily recycled except polystyrene. And monolayer materials can be sorted
and recycled into the same material. However, since multilayer film structures are more difficult to
recycle, they render best for mixed plastics recycling or energy recovery. An example of this is metalized
films. A special problem is posed by biodegradable materials, which have to be composted or
anaerobically digested and not mixed with other plastics waste streams. Many experts agree that the
best recycling quality for single trip packaging is achieved through deposit schemes. However, in certain
parts of the world, deposit schemes are not effective or desirable, particularly in nations where financial
resources are scarce or collection methods are not dependable.
The World Packaging Organisation believes that packaging should be designed to fit its original purpose,
while taking all expected recovery methods into perspective. This has to be done to fit into existing or
planned waste management schemes. The world is heading towards a recycling society and the
packaging community together with all players in the delivery chain must act accordingly. Packaging is
part of the solution to achieve tomorrows sustainable society. WPO believes that this position meets
our primary objective, Better quality of life through better packaging for more people.

Copyright 2015. A ll rights reserved. World Packaging Organization.

One Parkview Plaza, Suite 800 | Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 USA
Phone: +1 (630) 596-9007 | Fax: +1 (630) 544-5055 | Email: info@worldpackaging.org

http://www.worldpackaging.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=3373

1/2

8/3/2016

WPO Position on Waste and Recycling - World Packaging Organisation

http://www.worldpackaging.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=3373

2/2