How Low Carbon Circular Economy Strategies Can transform the plastic Industry

Lucas Palhares, Head of Sustainable Transformation in Asia, Braskem in a recent interaction with Asia Business Outlook magazine shared his views on how we can develop and scale innovative recycling infrastructure to effectively process plastic waste and reduce environmental impact, what strategies can businesses implement to encourage the adoption of recycled materials over virgin plastics and more.

• The main challenge there for the recycling infrastructure with plastic waste and the environmental impact is it needs to go back to the concept of the three R's, that it's to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
• Businesses need to work closely with policymakers to elevate standards and drive meaningful change. 
• The main reason virgin plastics are so inexpensive is that their true environmental costs such as plastic pollution and the fact that they are derived from fossil fuels are not accounted for.

Inadequate recycling infrastructure limits the ability to process plastic waste effectively. So, how can we develop and scale innovative recycling infrastructure to effectively process plastic waste and reduce environmental impact?

The main challenge there for the recycling infrastructure with plastic waste and the environmental impact is it needs to go back to the concept of the three R's, which is reduce, reuse, and recycle. Hence, we need to follow this pyramid of first reducing the consumption, then ensuring we can reuse everything that we are using and then what we cannot reuse, we need to recycle. Thus, it goes back to the design of the product, how we use it, how we think, and the whole value chain.

 We need to innovate to ensure that the plastics being developed can be reusable and recyclable. One of the biggest challenges I see in this area is the sorting and collection. Before I moved to Singapore or Asia, I was in the Netherlands and the scheme they have there is very well advanced. Even if you compare the European standards, they were one of the benchmarks and the consumer sorts and collect everything in their homes.

Also, when I came to Singapore, which is one of the most developed countries in the world, in Asia, I was also very scared that this awareness and this practice are not really done at the same level here. Thus, this brings a very big challenge for the whole recycling infrastructure. Therefore, part of the solution in the end is to focus on how we as consumers buy our products, having the reduction of consumption in the end, to buy only what we really need and then for the companies to  have the innovation in the design of the products, to ensure that we can think through the value chain, not only in our products, but how the clients will use the product, how the consumers will use the product, how the brand owners will market their products. And from the legislators also to ensure that we can have all the rules and practices in place that will also stimulate this. Lastly, we have to ensure that when we are looking at the reduction of the environmental impact, we cannot just look at the plastic waste because we cannot try to solve the plastic waste problem and create another problem.

If we simply replace a plastic bottle with another material, such as glass, or swap any other type of single-use plastic for a different material, we may actually increase the overall CO2 emissions of the product. Therefore, this approach is not necessarily beneficial. Instead, when considering any product or innovative solution for recycling infrastructure, we must take a holistic approach to ensure we are solving a problem rather than creating a new one.

Considering that current product designs often emphasize functionality and cost over recyclability. What strategies can be implemented to balance these priorities while improving plastic reusability and sustainability?

The one very important part is the consumer awareness. People need to be aware of what they are buying, what are the impacts of what they buy, and that goes hand in hand with education and education comes from the companies that need to educate their customers on what is better, what is the use without the proper buyers. 

The key driver that needs to be implemented to make sure that this works is the policies. Hence, the policymakers need to be working with the companies, the NGOs, the civil society in order to create the  rules that will consider, and will give the  stimulus for the people in the company to find this. Otherwise, people will always look for cost. Functionality is like a basic element, and the cost is something that everybody looks at, it's directly impacting everyone. Thus, this needs to be leveled to the game field.

Given that virgin plastics are often cheaper than recycled alternatives, what strategies do you think businesses can implement to encourage the adoption of recycling materials over virgin plastics?

Businesses need to work closely with policymakers to elevate standards and drive meaningful change. The main reason virgin plastics are so inexpensive is that their true environmental costs such as plastic pollution and the fact that they are derived from fossil fuels are not accounted for. Fossil fuels remain highly affordable today, but their use has a significant impact on climate change. Addressing these externalities is essential for creating a more sustainable system.

Therefore, the way several companies need to work in order to find the solution is first to level the game. For instance, in Europe, they have the PPWR, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which sets the guidelines to reduce the amount of packaging and waste generated. They are focusing on increasing recycling and the reuse of packaging and also using less primary raw materials in the products, promoting a circular and sustainable low-carbon competitive economy because it also needs to be competitive.

Hence, some example of drivers are to ensure that all packaging must be recyclable since only increasing the amount of feedstock that can be recycled will increase the amount of supply, and that will also help with the price changes. Ensuring that the companies adapt their design, and this is from all the companies such as the the plastic companies, the converters that create the packaging, and the brand owners, to ensure that this can increase the recycling and the reusability of the product, and setting the standards for the packaging because if you do not have the standards, then you can really focus on something low. Hence, the part of the standards, and especially when we are talking about food packaging, also making sure that it's bringing the regulations that will not bring any jeopardy for the people, for the consumers.