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OECD WORK ON POLICIES FOR BETTER PLASTICS MANAGEMENT Peter Börkey, Environment Directorate G7 Plastics Workshop Brussels, 22-23 March 2018
OECD WORK ON POLICIES FOR BETTER PLASTICS MANAGEMENT
Peter Börkey, Environment Directorate
G7 Plastics WorkshopBrussels, 22-23 March 2018
Macro-economic consequences of circulareconomy transition
• GDP and structure of the economy• Jobs, trade and climate change
New business models for the circular economy
• Scalability• Environmental outcomes
Plastics
• Improving markets for recovered plastics• Issues at interface of waste and chemicals management
policies
Work on resource efficiency and the
transition towards a circular economy
Better alignment of chemicals and waste management policies
• How to ensure traceability of hazardous substances through the product lifecycle?
• How to improve the quality of recovered plastics (ex ante and ex post)?
• How to address potential regulatory bottlenecks ?
Improving markets for recovered plastics
• What is the current state of secondary plastics markets ?
• What are the key barriers to plastic recycling?
• What are policy measures to strengthen these markets ?
Plastics: Ongoing streams of work
Towards better alignment of chemicals
and waste management policies
Focus on:
• Sustainable design of plastics from a chemicals perspective– Global Forum event in Copenhagen, end of May
• Sustainability criteria
• Tools for designers
• Policy measures to create incentives
• Chemical information systems and plastics recycling– Report under preparation
Plastic waste is growing
Global recycling
rate is 18%
Incineration is increasing as landfill
decreases
Predicted global recycling rate is 44%
by 2050(assumes linear 0.7% annual
increase)
Geyer et al (2017), Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever
made, Science Advances, http://bit.ly/2uBs8AT
Plastics wastes generation by polymer
0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
PP LDPE,LLDPE
PP&Afibres
HDPE PVC PET PUR PS Additives(est.)
Other
Am
ou
nt
Mt/
ann
um
Packaging Textiles Building and Construction
Consumer & Institutional Products Transportation Electrical/ Electronic
Industrial Machinery Other Accumulation
Geyer et al (2017), Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever
made, Science Advances, http://bit.ly/2uBs8AT
Plastics waste generation by sector
0,0
20,0
40,0
60,0
80,0
100,0
120,0
140,0
160,0
Packaging Building andConstruction
Textiles Other Consumer &Institutional
Products
Transportation Electrical/Electronic
IndustrialMachinery
Am
ou
nt
Mt/
ann
um
PP LDPE, LLDPE PP&A fibres HDPE PVC PET
PUR PS Additives Other Accumulation
Geyer et al (2017), Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever
made, Science Advances, http://bit.ly/2uBs8AT
Waste plastic generates environmental
impacts
Multiple pathways for addressing the envi.
impacts of plastics use, but risks also
Substitute alternative materials
Waste prevention (e.g. phase out single
use plastics)
Improved biodegradability
Better functioning secondary plastics
markets
Environmental Impacts of
Plastics Use
Energy required for recycled plastics is
significantly lower than for virgin
Source: Wong, 2010
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Virgin plastic Recycled plastic
MJ / kg plastic produced Export transportation
Local transportation
Production
Recycled plastics market share is small
Source: Geyer et al. 2017 (data is for resins only)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Virgin plastic Recycled plastic
High costs of collection, sorting and
processing
Deloitte (2015), Increased EU Plastics Recycling Targets: Environmental,
Economic and Social Impact Assessment, http://bit.ly/2hS43R0
Collection $181/t
Pre-treatment
$222/t
Recycling $535/t
$88/t
Incinerate
$89/t
LandfillTransport $3 – 18/t
But there are opportunities in the value
chain
£95
£300
£825
£1.350
£0
£500
£1.000
£1.500
£2.000
Unsortedwasteplastic
Sortedwaste
plastics
Recycledplastics
Virginplastics
PET
£95
£400
£880
£1.400
£0
£500
£1.000
£1.500
£2.000
Unsortedwasteplastic
Sortedwaste
plastics
Recycledplastics
Virginplastics
HDPE
£95£220
£825
£1.455
£0
£500
£1.000
£1.500
£2.000
Unsortedwasteplastic
Sortedwaste
plastics
Recycledplastics
Virginplastics
LDPE
£95
£300
£925
£1.465
£0
£500
£1.000
£1.500
£2.000
Unsortedwasteplastic
Sortedwaste
plastics
Recycledplastics
Virginplastics
PP
£95 £100
£950
£1.800
£0
£500
£1.000
£1.500
£2.000
Unsortedwasteplastic
Sortedwaste
plastics
Recycledplastics
Virginplastics
PS
£95£220
£800
£1.125
£0
£500
£1.000
£1.500
£2.000
Unsortedwasteplastic
Sortedwaste
plastics
Recycledplastics
Virginplastics
PVC
Analysis of WRAP Materials Pricing Report from 2012 – 2015
Deloitte (2015), Increased EU Plastics Recycling Targets: Environmental, Economic and Social
Impact Assessment, http://bit.ly/2hS43R0
Demand side issues:Secondary plastics compete with virgin material
0
200
400
600
800
1.000
1.200
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Pri
ce U
SD/t
on
ne
rHDPE bottles clear Crude oil Opec basket (EUR/t)
Waste HDPE price usually follows crude oil price
WRAP (2017), Materials pricing report, http://bit.ly/ZrfCR3
Limited market resilience increases risks
• Secondary sector characterised by many small actors who are vulnerable to market shocks.
• Primary producers are 10 times bigger.
• Global plastics markets have historically been concentrated in a small number of countries
• Effects of China import restrictions illustrate the risks of market concentration.
Primary plastics
Secondary plastics
Photo: Cook, 2017
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Walter Siegmund, 2008
Supply-side quality issues increase costs
• Combination of polymers makes recycling difficult
• Regulatory burden of secondary materials classified as ‘wastes’.
• Post consumer plastics contaminated with non-recyclables.
• Concerns over hazardous or otherwise problematicadditives
• A lack of transparency
Photo: Cook, 2017
Uncollected plastics limits scale of secondary
plastics markets
• 2 billion people do currently not have access to basic waste collection.
• Uncontrolled dumping and burning of municipal wastes.
• This involves a loss of materialand a loss of potential scaleefficiencies
Photo: Cook, 2017
Photo: Lerpiniere, 2017
Photo: Lerpiniere, 2017
Photo: Lerpiniere, 2017
Thanks for your attention
mailto:[email protected]
