Rigid plastics are a versatile, efficient group of packaging materials, which represent more than a quarter of global grocery sales, but which are being increasingly challenged, by consumers and by regulators for their presence in waste. Prioritising efficiency and circularity in plastic packaging designs together with improving end-of-life recovery, recycling and re-use are key, to elevate the environmental profile of plastic and to prevent this resource from becoming waste.
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At 1.1 trillion packs in 2023, rigid plastic accounted for 28% of global grocery packaging sales, led by PET-bottled soft drinks and thin wall plastic food packaging. Its success in use comes from versatility in size and shape, while its light weight brings distribution efficiency gains.
Two thirds of consumers are worried about climate change, and see plastic as a priority action area, to reduce its pollution. Regulatory intervention facilitates as EU regulation on tethered caps, effective from July 2024, shows, with potential for a global plastic treaty by end-2024. Improving brand pack circularity amid influencer pressures is integral to future-proof rigid plastic.
Prioritising design for recyclability or composting needs to be combined with more effective collection, recycling and re-use, to prevent plastic waste. Recycling rates remain far from optimal: PET (highly recyclable) bottle recycling hovers around 60% in Europe and is markedly lower elsewhere. Investment in recycling and recycled resins are key to reducing carbon impact.
Businesses and regulators increasingly pledge rigid plastics sustainability via redesigns to remove surplus, lightweighting and recycled resins. While some 2025 milestones will not be met, with a recalibrating of pledges happening, targets provide a framework to catalyse collaborative progress and create investment opportunities, in renewable plastics and recycling.
Leadership on embedding renewable, recyclable and recycled in rigid plastics can enable companies and countries to make advances not only in circularity for plastics but also on net-zero climate pledges. There is a reputational rationale too; consumers seek sustainable packaging, so advances made, that are communicated well, can improve brand standing.
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