This current scarcity of high quality recycled raw materials to make packaging, and the completed recycled packages themselves, emerged as a key issue for respondents of our recent global survey.

In compiling the ‘IP 2022 Global Outlook of Sustainable Packaging’ report we approached 255 packaging decision makers across the globe- from quality control managers and laboratory chemists to CEOs. The respondents came from a variety of industries, in businesses of all sizes, and they work across every stage of the packaging manufacture and testing process.

The crisis forced some recycling facilities to scale back their operations, so there have been less raw materials available. International trade routes have been restricted, while waste collection has been disrupted the world over with COVID-19 related staff shortages.

But this is not only a recent pandemic-induced problem. Some 61% of respondents told us that raw material sourcing presented a challenge in the years before 2020; suggesting that this issue is unlikely to ease in the near future. In fact, 58% of them said that they could foresee supply issues continuing for at least another two to five years.

Pandemic aside, at a time of such increasing demand for recycled packaging, why are we still seeing a global shortfall?

The answer to this lies in some part due to the fact that we are still transitioning towards a truly circular economy; there is still much that still needs to be done from a waste collection, technology and legislative perspective.

Recyclable raw materials - the wasted opportunity

Read the promo material on the back of your plastic bottle or aluminum can and you may fall foul of a comforting mistruth! That every item that you drop in the recycling bin will be transformed into something new and sustainable.

Sadly, that’s a little naïve. As is the case for any world commodity - waste material salvage operates as a business. Sometimes the cost of collecting and processing recyclable materials outweighs their value as a product that can be sold back to industry.

Over the years we have seen media depictions of recycling centers and waste haulers dumping recycling-bound plastics, card, metal, and glass into landfills - either at home or overseas. Wherever it makes best business sense to do so.

This has led to well publicized environmental nightmares in places like Vietnam, Turkey, Malaysia, and Senegal.

But it’s also created a huge opportunity for green minded businesses everywhere; businesses that are crying out for the hundreds of thousands of tons of potential recyclable materials taken out of circulation every year.

Even when the used materials are taken to recycling centers, there’s another stumbling block: all over the world recyclables are sitting in yards, while mountains of material remain in storage.

Recyclers wait for prices to reach an attractive level - a price that will offer a decent return once the costs of collection, transportation, processing, packaging, and storage have been factored in.

What’s good for the recycler isn’t always good for the sustainability focused business.

As long as people continue to recycle more, demand recycled packaging, and increasingly shun the big polluting companies , we can help to improve the situation.

Demand will encourage technological solutions. Solutions that not only increase the amount and the quality of recovered raw materials from existing sources, but salvage from the more complex end of life products too and test that they’re truly fit for purpose.

More investment in research and design will help drive greater innovation, as will testing techniques and new standards that align better with new raw materials being brought to market.

In fact, our survey revealed that 61% of packaging decision makers said that research and design would be one of the biggest components in helping to drive sustainable packaging innovation in the next five years. In parallel, perhaps companies should be encouraged to redesign packaging that mixes fewer materials together, so that the contents are easier to separate.

Take plastic packaging, for example. Some packages are made from many different types of polymers. When waste is sorted poorly, the ones you want are contaminated by other materials. This reduces the quality of the resulting recycled plastic, limits potential use, and increases the likelihood of landfill disposal.

A global problem demands a global solution and those countries that aren’t recycling as well will need to mimic those that are. One of the reasons we have such a shortfall in good quality recycling material is because some nations still have a poor collection infrastructure.

Governments will need to work harder to establish directives and measures to turn this around, improving local authority collection; with stricter regulation and punishment - plus subsidies to incentivize businesses and individuals.

Investment must be made in state-of-the-art collection and sorting systems to allow more recyclable products to reach optimal recycling companies.

So how has the lack of recyclate availability impacted businesses? Our survey respondents highlighted cost implication as a large concern.

Of course, scarcity of materials pushes up prices, making it harder for some companies - with less robust lines of supply - to remain competitive.

This can mean that they have to opt for less sustainable options, slow the time it takes for new planet-friendly packaging options to reach the market, or inhibit overall business growth.

Despite these impacts, companies must continue to invest in, and implement, sustainable packaging for global climate health and to meet consumer expectations. Through our own experience, we've seen that most manufacturers understand the necessity of sustainable packaging and are continuing to advance their sustainability initiatives.

According to Alistair Kerrigan, Global Business Development Manager at Industrial Physics, “We’ve seen many industry-leading manufacturers embrace sustainability as an obligation, rather than a chore. There’s become an understanding that all manufacturers must drive toward more ethical approaches and that it must be on a global level, not just in isolation. Consequently, they’re orienting themselves to try and influence the supply chain as well as taking an ethical approach to their development in green criteria and global footprint.”

The last two years have encouraged the most sustainability-determined companies to become more risk averse, agile, and flexible.

Recognizing that resilience to unforeseen challenges and the key to succeeding where others fail lies in the risk mitigation of a widened recycled goods supply network. But this only works when your test and inspection resource is completely reliable.