“Protect the plastic recycling chain”, Assorimap’s request to the government

An improvement in the traceability of recycled polymers is needed, aimed at protecting the Italian recycling chain, threatened by the Asian production of low-cost virgin polymers, which have invaded the European market, and a qualitative leap in strengthening the recovery of plastic waste from other chains , from end-of-life vehicles to the construction sector. And again: a policy that strongly encourages the use of recycled material and, vice versa, discourages the use of virgin material. Starting from a numerical data: the growth in turnover for companies active in the mechanical recycling of plastics, which in 2022 well exceeded one billion euros, with an increase of 18% compared to the previous year, which had already recorded +67 % compared to 2020. A photograph with shadows and lights emerges from the report by Assorimap, the National Association of Recyclers and Regenerators of plastic materials, produced by Plastic Consult.

The growth in turnover is linked above all to the increases in sales prices, necessary to face the surge in the main cost components such as the supply of waste, energy and transport costs and compensates, according to the report, a slight drop in production of mechanically recycled plastics. And in fact, the dossier reads, the encouraging numbers for 2021 (+17% on an annual basis), due to the recovery in consumption and post-pandemic activities that have generated a general increase in the demand for recycled plastic, counterbalance the 2022 a slight contraction (-1.5%) in the production of plastic Secondary Raw Materials (785 thousand tons), coming from the mechanical recycling of post-consumer waste.

Moreover, the costs of gas and electricity are increasing. And companies are afraid, as Walter Regis denounces, who has just been reconfirmed as Assorimap’s president for the next three years: “Italy must protect companies that have invested in the mechanical recycling of plastic over the past 25 years, which have allowed our country to align European objectives with exceptional results in environmental, economic and social terms.Today these companies, world leaders for the quality of secondary raw materials and for technologies aimed at transformation, are continuing to invest to remain competitive in a highly dynamic industrial sector. it is a courage that has ensured robust resilience to the sector, despite critical issues and obstacles deriving from the complexity of the global scenario. But the hope is that it will be supported by politics, especially in Europe, starting with the removal of excessive bureaucratic ties in favor greater competitiveness”.

Business investments, growing numbers and the unknown EU

Moreover, at the Green&Blue festival, the theme of packing and packaging had gone through several talks, denouncing in particular – through the voice of Corepla, the National Consortium for the collection, recycling and recovery of plastic packaging, but also of companies such as Coca Cola, the proposed EU regulation which, as underlined by Andrea Campelli, director of Communications and external relations of Corepla, “would favor reuse over recycling, in a sort of downward compromise”. Partly frustrating the efforts of companies that have invested in the reduction of secondary packaging, and in a series of ancillary measures that favor the circularity of waste, in recent years.

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With significant results: in the last 25 years, according to Corepla, the collection of plastic packaging has increased from 114,000 tonnes to 1,500,000 tonnes (+1,216%), or from 1.9 kg to 25 kg per capita. And as regards the material sent for recycling, instead, Italy went from 228,000 tons to over 1,050,000 tons: “A brilliant result – the consortium commented during the Green&Blue events – the result of a capillary network that currently boasts 31 selection plants and 92 recycling plants. But we are also looking to the near future by focusing on chemical recycling technology”. And just in these hours Coca-Cola Hbc Italia has formalized the investment figures in the Nogara plant, in the Veronese area, which in the last 10 years amount to 130 million euros for sustainability.
The site, the main bottler of Coca-Cola branded products in the country, the largest in Italy and the first in Europe in terms of production capacity, is central to the circular economy of packaging: it produces 80% of KeelClip – the 100% recyclable paper packaging that allows you to eliminate the plastic wrapping from multiple can packs – and 50% of the bottles with 100% recycled plastic which from 2023 concerns all Pet products.

What happens to recycled plastic?

The Assorimap report provides important numbers on the plastics recycling chain, a theme that today intrigues a significant number of startups, even in the South, and which involves over 350 companies overall, including collectors and sorters of waste and industrial waste (not urban waste collection companies are instead counted). There are around 200 producers of Secondary Raw Materials, essentially concentrated in the North West (here there are 40% of the total plants) and they include the processing of industrial waste and companies that produce grinds, as well as integrated plastic processors upstream in the recycling process. The origin is interesting: the sources for post-consumer mechanical recycling are overall concentrated in the packaging chain, in particular those from urban collection, which comprise 68% of the total. As for transformations, 28% of the recycled products is flexible PE (polyethylene mainly used for flexible packaging), followed by PET (bottles and trays) with 24% and rigid PE (bottles), with 19%. The minority shares refer to polyolefin blends, polypropylene and other polymers. Finally, the applications: 40% of the material ends up in the packaging sector (29% rigid, 10% flexible), followed by pipes (12%), the building and construction sector (11%) and waste collection bags ( 10%).