Proper Recycling Challenges Companies on Several Levels

Clean, efficient and economical recycling is the key to a successful sustainability policy for companies that rely on recycling. In doing so, they must take up, address, and constantly update various approaches. Alexander Reitz, Head of the Customer Development & Consulting team at environmental services provider PreZero, names the use of recyclates, digitalization, and the optimization of recycling as key issues.

Sustainability of Packaging is a Must

Reitz believes that companies in all sectors and at all levels need to address sustainability issues. “Today, packaging sustainability is no longer optional. For a long time, it has not been part of the DNA of many companies, but merely an extra. The cost issue has also played a role in this, but now everyone must place a greater focus on sustainability, there is no alternative.” Companies should create a closed cycle and use this as a USP.

There is also pressure from outside: the EU's PPWR requires all packaging to be recyclable. The economy is facing various technical and organizational challenges. There is an unbelievable amount of packaging materials. Many are already switching to paper-based materials and this step must be taken. “A complete transformation is required. This is a major technological and organizational challenge,” Reitz points out. A change must take place in the next five years. “Politicians have been very active and have implemented many things that the recycling industry has been calling for for years. We are on the right track. In order to implement this now, however, we also need businesses to change their mindset.” However, the legal requirements are becoming more complex and stricter, the implementation of the requirements is unevenly distributed among companies and SMEs often lack the knowledge.

Digitalization is Essential

When it comes to organizational issues digitization is the focus. “There are an enormous number of new requirements. A digital transformation is required to implement them. The huge and complex data flows and volumes resulting from the new laws and regulations must be processed and transferred quickly and easily.” He emphasizes the need for a new type of analysis. “The necessary information is often not available or is unstructured. There is a lot of potential to increase efficiency in this regard.” However, Reitz also sees a need for action at a European level, as countries have different systems and infrastructures, which leads to massive differences in some areas. This can only be solved with digitalization and standardization. “Measuring recyclability is very complex and varies from country to country. In the future, there will be a European standard that will simplify many things. Nevertheless, the detailed analysis will still require a lot of expert knowledge,” explains Reitz.

He rates various points of the PPWR positively. Now everyone needs to draw the consequences, tackle implementation, and stop waiting. “The political process has basically worked well, overall the parties involved have found a good compromise."