E1: Desing for Recycling at a Systems Level

53,6 mio. tons worldwide

12 mio. tons in europe

Recycling-Rate in europe 42,5%

between 20 to 30 %

4 to 5 %

Most of the plastic that is not recycled will be used for energy recovery. A small amount is landfilled.

• A high dependence on non renewable resources (oil and gas)

• A lack of circular treatment of plastic waste that is collected

• Leakage of uncollected waste plastics into the environment

• Collection: The logistics required to gather sufficient volumes of end of life products at a recycling facility

• Processing: The treatment starting with the collected products, liberating various material streams and gernerating recycled material

• Manufacturing with recycled materials: The process of applying recycled materials in the production of new products.

• Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive

• Ecodesign Directive

• Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive

• Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)

• Ensuring that plastic waste is kept within Europe for effective plastics recycling and application to new products. This will boost the market for European recyclers.

• Establishing a set of sustainability principles that can be applied to all products and their design, including a digital product passport.

• Facilitating the trade of high quality secondary raw materials, by developing measurement criteria to verify the quality of recycled content.

• Legislation, regulations and green procurement: Governmental agencies increasingly set objectives and requirements for the use of recycled plastics. In procurement processes, governmental agencies often target the use of recycled materials.

• Reduction of the environmental impact: Implementing recycled plastics in a product avoids the use of virgin plastic. As Lifecycle Assessment studies (LCAs) have shown, recycling generally allows for a lower environmental impact compared to virgin material.

• Ensuring a stable supply of materials: In the future, the price of plastics is expected to increase and security of supply will likely diminish. By keeping plastics in a closed loop, less fossil fuel is needed to produce plastics and society’s dependence on oil is minimized.

• Marketing considerations: Consumers increasingly claim to include sustainability in their purchasing considerations. The use of recycled plastics could thus be leveraged in communication with consumers. It can add value at a product level, but it can also increase a company’s brand value.

Internally: designers & the R&D department, management, buyers and the quality & testing department

Externally: uppliers, manufacturers, collectors, compounders/recyclers, and distributors

1. Collection infrastructure is not fully developed (different locations, only small volumes, supply of the plastic can be insufficient or unstable, low collection rates)

2. Economic barriers: small market for recycled plastics —> lack of demand —> no investment in recyling technologies; recycled must compete with virgin plastics

3. Technological barriers:

   • Limitation of recycling methods

   • Limited volumes and different grades

   • Lack of standardisation of recycled plastic grades

   • Differences in mechanical, aesthetic and processing properties compared to virgin plastics

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