Quality must not be compromised as demand for increased recycling grows, warns a new report published by packaging company DS Smith today (9 December).

‘Defining the balance in Recycling’ highlights the need to ensure that quality materials are consistently collected, even when volumes of recyclate increase. The European Commission’s Circular Economy Package, published last week, set recycling targets of 65 per cent for municipal waste and 75 per cent of packaging waste by 2030.

The report emphasises that if circular practices are to be employed, then materials presented for recycling must be of a high standard, so that they can be reused. To improve quality yields across all materials, it says, the debate must be shifted back to collection methods, eco-design and education.

Using examples from across industry sectors, the report investigates how businesses can focus on generating quality recycling materials by following the principles of the waste hierarchy, with prevention the top priority, followed by reuse and recycling.

The report reads: ‘A move to a more circular model, where the concept is one of a supply cycle rather than
a supply chain, shifts focus to a concentration on resource management.’

Moving away from traditional linear supply chains, where materials are manufactured, used and thrown away, to a more circular model allows for improved resource management. Linear models are exposed to multiple material leakage points and do not lend themselves to reducing and recycling the waste produced, while the concept of a supply cycle does.

By focusing on value within the waste hierarchy the report details how savings can be made by considering reduction, reuse and recycling methods.

New approaches such as deposit return schemes, currently being investigated in Scotland and Wales and the designing of products to facilitate material removal at end of life for better recycling are all approaches that could be considered to create a better standard of recycled material, and thus a longer circular cycle, it says.

Addressing contamination issues through better design

DS Smith Business Development and External Affairs Manager Peter Clayson said: “There’s still a huge global market for materials of the right quality. The key for paper is not that the value of the raw material has fallen in the secondary markets, it’s the fact that those who are collecting and sorting it are now having to pay the true cost of producing a quality product.

“We’ve all got to become more engaged in the circular economy and emphasise designing materials for recyclability. Materials have got to be easy to recycle to minimise public confusion on the issue.

“In terms of the systems it’s been proven that you can separate municipal materials to produce a high-quality recyclate relatively easily. Addressing contamination issues through better design and improved communication would help greatly here.”

Managing quality

Jonathan Scott, DS Smith Kemsley Mill, Operations Manager - Recycling, said: “It only takes a slight increase in the wrong sort of contamination in the waste paper for the effect on production to be very disruptive.

“In order to protect operations and meet production targets a rigorous and consistent approach to quality helps to maximise use of lower-cost fibres while preserving the efficiencies of manufacturing.”

The full ‘Defining the balance in Recycling’ report can be found at DS Smith’s website.