Recently, brand companies such as Nestlé, Unilever, etc, announced that they are unable to fulfill their original commitments to use a certain proportion of recycled materials in their products. They provided different explanations and reasons, including challenges in the supply chain of recycled materials and infrastructure limitations. If these reasons are indeed valid and can meet public expectations, I believe other brand companies might follow suit. Over the years, these companies have promised to use recycled materials in the production of beverage bottles and other packaging products, earning the trust and support of consumers. However, they ultimately failed to fulfill these promises, which is quite regrettable.
A few years ago, at a forum, a company emphasized that they would start using 100% recycled PET flakes to produce their beverage bottles by 2030. At that time, I questioned whether it was feasible for them to achieve this goal without adding any additives. The speaker, who was not a material engineer, requested my email for further explanation, but I never received a response. In fact, many brand companies only state their commitments. They lack understanding of the structure and performance of recycled materials, as using food-grade recycled materials involves chain of custody, recycling processes, equipment used, viscosity, and other physical properties that need to comply with strict requirements for food and beverage applications. Since then, I have often seen many brand companies rashly committing to producing products using 100% recycled materials by a certain year, which only elicits a wry smile from me.
Unlike metals, the physical and chemical properties of plastic raw materials decrease after recycling. Therefore, we need to add prime virgin materials or use chemical modifications to restore their performance. These processes may involve costs and specific chemical additives that may not meet economic and environmentally sustainable requirements.
I believe that in recent years, prime virgin material prices have remained low. For example, the current price of PET flakes is only around $1,000 per ton, while food-grade recycled materials are priced at nearly $2,000 per ton. The price of HDPE prime virgin materials is around $1,000, while recycled materials from milk bottles in the US market reach $2,000 per ton. Recycled materials are priced more than double the cost of prime virgin materials, yet their performance is not very stable. On the other hand, by using prime virgin materials, there will be no concern about the quality affecting production. Therefore, brand companies often find excuses to reduce their use of recycled materials in order to maintain economic benefits.
It is truly absurd for brand companies to make commitments arbitrarily but ultimately fail to fulfill them. These large companies should have long been aware of the challenges and price differences involved in using recycled materials. The survival of the recycling industry largely depends on the price of recycled materials. For brand companies to make arbitrary commitments will undoubtedly have a negative impact on the recycling industry. I hope that environmental organizations and legislative bodies can address this issue seriously.
Original by Dr. Steve Wong
July 29, 2024