The latest report from financial think-tank Planet Tracker urges consumer companies to reconsider the type of labelling they use to boost recycling rates.
According to the latest research, attention is too often focused on just the container when the right choice of label could be a game changer.
As part of the key takeaways in the report, Planet Tracker says brands and consumer companies could adopt a self-help approach by thinking about both their containers and labelling.
The organisation contends that numerous colours make the sorting and recycling process more complicated than it needs to be. It continues that ensuring the label is easy to remove and compatible with the container’s material would also improve recycling rates.
Planet Tracker also advocates for consumer brands to adopt a self-help approach that ensures the material of labels matches the material of the container.
In taking this approach, consumer brands could establish a closed-loop recycling system that actively targets supply chain sustainability, Planet Tracker says.
To improve the current supply of recycling products, the industry needs to find solutions to reach these public commitments.
Amongst the report’s key takeaways are that recycling rates only reach 9% globally and plastic packaging recycling rates are only marginally better at 15%. The report also said there is a supply constraint for recycled feedstock so greater efforts are needed to satisfy rising demand.
The report also found that UK manufacturers prefer to pay the £200 (USD 248) per tonne plastic tax as it is cheaper than using recycled content in their packaging.
Commenting on the report, Thalia Bofiliou, Senior Investment Analyst at Planet Tracker, said: “Across all sectors, global brands and retailers have made commitments to incorporate recycled content into their products.
“To improve the current supply of recycling products, the industry needs to find solutions to reach these public commitments.
“If these consumer companies added a sleeve label ideally of the same material as the bottle, this would increase the supply of recycled material and therefore reduce the cost differential to the fossil fuel-based feedstock.”
