THE CIRCULARITY CODE How digitalization helps with the plastic transition… AND HOW IT DOES NOT
CONTENTS IT’S NOT SCIENCE-FICTION 3 WHY SMART PLASTICS NEED COOPERATIVE PEOPLE 4 Digital opportunities for design, production, use, and recycling KNOWING WHAT WORKS | How plastics processors will design more sustainable components in the future 5 KNOWING WHAT’S IN IT | The digital product passport also requires a cultural change 7 “Shared learning as a chance” | Christoph Kugler, Plastics Center SKZ 10 KNOWING WHAT’S COMING | We have the technology, but no business model 12 Three questions for | Jochen Moesslein of Polysecure 14 CLICKS FOR SMARTER CONSUMPTION 16 How digital tools can help us live a more sustainable life APPS USED FOR RECYCLING | About games, incentives, and responsibilities 17 Working hand in hand with big business | Creator Stefan Siegl about the Austrian RecycleMich app 20 CONCLUSION | Uncertainty with a silver lining 23 THE ADDED VALUE OF REUSEABILITY | Turnaround in the to-go sector: all digital or nothing? 24 LOADS OF WASTE. LOADS OF DATA. 26 How digital pioneers hope to renew the global waste management industry TRANSPARENCY PAYS OFF | Digital collection and analysis of waste data 27 Op-ed by Dominic Santschi | Co-founder of Ampliphi 30 SMART CLEAN-UP | Technology that optimizes urban waste management 32 AT THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON | Digital opportunities for waste management in emerging and developing countries 35 DIGITAL SOLUTIONS CREATE TRANSPARENCY AND TRUST | MONITORING BY APP 40 Designing an app with waste pickers over coffee | Thierry Sanders, managing director of Circular Action B.v., 42 ON LAND, ON WATER AND IN THE AIR | How digital tools can close data gaps 45 FROM A BIRD’S EYE VIEW | Remote sensing of plastic emissions 48 A CURSE AND A BLESSING 52 An interim conclusion POLYPROBLEM: KNOWLEDGE. TRANSPARENCY. COOPERATION 54 Meeting the creators 55 Links to above-mentioned organizations 56 References 57
Is it still possible to save the planet? At those times when we start doubting the pace of socio-ecological progress, we often turn our anxious but hopeful eyes to technological innovations. This is no different in the fight against plastic waste than it is in the quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Experts agree that we need both; a sustainable shift that changes our way of life on the one hand, and technological solutions on the other. Ideally, social, economic and technological innovations should go hand in hand. However, there’s no room for science fiction in this scenario if we don’t want the dream of yet-to-be-invented miracle weapons against ecological and social crises to paralyze our daily actions in the present. The POLYPROBLEM editorial team has taken a very pragmatic look at what digitalization can do today to make our use of plastics more sustainable. This may sound like a no-brainer, but the more complex a system is, the more elaborate the processes are, the greater the opportunities are for digitalizing a system’s sustainable design and use. The plastics value chain is extremely complex. As are the materials used within it. Will the digital revolution accelerate the necessary changes when it comes to resources? And if so, how will this work in practice? The needs and opportunities for using digital technologies and methods along the plastics value chain are diverse. Digital twins support product developers in designing sustainable plastic products. Huge databases help in assessing the overall ecological footprint of packaging material. Innovative data services can create a digital product passport based on production data gathered from different companies. Artificial intelligence not only optimizes material consumption in production but will soon also improve recycling processes. Apps will help consumers make conscious purchasing decisions. Waste collection and sorting managed by so-called waste workers in developing countries could be done more efficiently even as early as today. Although we cannot claim our insights to be exhaustive, we’ve explored digital opportunities for the sustainable use of plastics by talking to experts and endeavored to combine them into a comprehensive overview. As a fair warning to the reader, we have not yet found the miracle device that will save us all, but one insight has emerged repeatedly: It is not a lack of technology nor immature technology that is the hurdle. It is the willingness to use it cooperatively that matters most. And that, in turn, is a fairly analogous problem. 3 Publisher The Röchling Foundation Richard-Wagner-Straße 9 68165 Mannheim Germany +49 621 4402 232 info@roechling-stiftung.de www.roechling-stiftung.de December 2023 www.polyproblem.org Wider Sense GmbH Pfalzburger Str. 43-44 10717 Berlin Germany +49 30 24088 240 info@widersense.org www.widersense.org Editing & Text: Anne Marie Jacob, Elena Hadick, Lisa Nerb (Wider Sense),Uwe Amrhein (The Röchling Foundation) Graphic Design: ds.DTP – Detlef Scholz Translation: Dr. Janina Gatzky, Leanne Cvetan Kleiner Steinklump 5 | 39218 Schönebeck Photos: Adobe Stock, SKZ – Das Kunststoffzentrum, Polysecure, Raan Gruppe, Mehrwegallianz – Anita Back, Ampliphi, Circular Action B.V. IT’S NOT SCIENCE-FICTION
WHY SMART PLASTICS NEED COOPERATIVE PEOPLE Digital opportunities for design, production, use, and recycling 4
How plastics processors will design more sustainable components in the future KNOWING WHAT WORKS Ecological assessment and digital twins Function and performance, sustainability, and pricing – in this triad, sustainability is becoming increasingly important for plastics processors in developing products for their partner industries. This requires a new, holistic view of products – a task hardly possible without digital support. Due to increasing regulatory requirements coupled with consumers’ growing sensitivity, industrial clients now require their suppliers to provide an ecological assessment, a so-called life cycle assessment (LCA), of the components they deliver. With a plethora of different parameters at play, it seems almost impossible to develop a product today without resorting to data-supported modeling. How much greenhouse gas does the production process release? How does the weight of different materials affect the sustainability of the product? And what happens after the product’s use stage? Is it possible to recycle or even reuse a certain component? These are just some of the many questions product developers have to answer. “A plastic product’s high degree of sustainability does not automatically translate into its recyclability. Sustainability is the result of the sum of many parameters, and a high degree of recyclability or reduced resource consumption due to recycling is only one aspect,” Hans-Josef Endres says in explaining the problem. Endres is a professor at Leibniz University in Hanover where he heads the Institute for Plastics and Recycling Technology. The scientist gives a few examples to illustrate the problem: “Multi-layer plastic films are generally considered to be harmful to the environment because it’s almost impossible to recycle them. In contrast, a mono-material is easier to recycle, but has to be much thicker in order to achieve similar barrier properties, which means it requires more material which in turn adds weight. To come up with a more sustainable alternative would require that each application of the product be assessed on a case-by-case basis.” Take polyamide which causes nearly three times more CO₂ emissions during production than polypropylene. However, it allows the wall thickness of a product made from it to be several times thinner. At the end of the day, which property will ultimately matter more in terms of environmental compatibility? In short: it all depends on the ecological assessment. But asking such questions during product development is not yet common practice. “Until recently, it was normal for plastic products to be designed with functional and economic aspects in mind and for another department to assess the sustainability of the produced component afterwards,” says Endres. This is changing. However, the idea of using comprehensive data sets for an overall ecological assessment is by no means new. LCA databases have been around since the early 1980s. The most comprehensive and widely used database of this type today is GaBi, a platform created by U.S. based Sphera. Others include Ecoinvent from Switzerland and cm.chemicals, a database originally developed in Aachen, Germany. The range of software compatible with this data is huge. The phalanx of providers ranges from large software groups to small start-ups and open-source projects such as openLCA. 5
What they all promise is a “digital twin.” The name itself is telling since the software can be used to virtually simulate a future product, and includes various parameters such as the materials used and different production processes applied. Ideally, product developers run various production scenarios and materials to reach a product that will perform best in the holistic sustainability assessment. The digital twin guides product developers, particularly in manufacturing industries, to find the ideal compromise between a product’s cost-effectiveness, performance, and sustainability. The necessary data is available, as is the digital technology. However, what would be just a few clicks is not enough. “You can buy software. But the processes, including input and output flows and the resulting by-products and waste, must be correctly modeled and the results evaluated accordingly,” says Hans-Josef Endres, who has recently noticed a sharp increase in the need for advice that companies seek from his institute. Dr. Hermann Achenbach, head of sustainability and circular economy at the SKZ Plastics Research Center, also perceives this gap. He recognizes a need for many companies to catch up in order to be “digitally ready.” “Good analytical tools are one thing, but you also have to get interpretable data out of the machines the processor uses.” As a result, manufacturing companies are faced with the challenge of having to invest in personnel and technology to implement the digital transformation for more sustainable production without being able to earn any profit from it in the foreseeable future. This is particularly a problem for suppliers. “Our customers expect recyclable products, but are rarely prepared to pay a higher price for them. And for us as suppliers, the potential green boost to our image doesn’t pay off either,” summarizes the head of development at a major plastics processing plant. Hermann Achenbach, who is in constant contact with industry representatives, confirms this dilemma: “I’m afraid that we won’t have a demand-driven market for digital innovations along the plastics value chain for a long time. It will have to be driven by regulatory requirements for the foreseeable future.” 6
Challenges for packaging distributors KNOWING WHAT’S IN IT The digital product passport also requires a cultural change In order to understand how a plastic product is made and how it can best be recycled after its use, you need to compile a lot of information. Sounds easy enough? It’s not. The plastic packaging a product is contained in first goes through many production steps before that product reaches the store shelf. The plastics manufacturer provides the raw material while the compounder enriches it with additives to achieve the desired properties. The processor then “builds” the product, for example, a container for a cosmetic lotion. Finally, the bottler usually prints colors onto it or applies a label. “Each of these processing steps has an impact on the product’s recyclability. The relevant data is generated at different points in the value chain, but has hardly been automated to date,” says Dagmar Glatz, describing the challenge. She is in charge of sustainability at Germany’s dm drugstore chain and faces the issue on a daily basis. The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) stipulates that packaging must be made of at least 55% recyclate and be fully recyclable or reusable by 2030 at the latest. And it’s the distributor’s job to prove it. “Of course, we can only guarantee this if we know exactly what happens at every stage of production,” explains Dagmar Glatz. And this is exactly where the major problem lies. “It’s not uncommon for data sheets to be sent back and forth as PDFs,” reports the dm sustainability manager. It’s no wonder then that the digital product passport is currently a real buzz phrase in the industry. It refers to a digital application that automatically collects production data of the material being used, its properties and processing for a specific product, directly from the machines of all companies involved in production and prepares it according to a common standard. There is obviously no lack of technical solutions, but implementing them is still a major issue since it requires a new willingness to cooperate across sectors and companies. As the managing director of ProData GmbH, a company that offers R-Cycle, a solution for creating digital product passports, Heino Claussen-Markefka knows what he’s talking about. R-Cycle is a digital traceability standard for plastic products. The data service can obtain the relevant recycling data for a product directly from the machine, actually, from all companies involved in the production of the item in question. This data is collated and forms the basis of the digital product passport. So much for theory. When it comes to practical implementation, however, it is not the technical issues that are causing problems, but legal ones. “Companies are reluctant to share their production data if only because it raises the question of who is allowed to store and evaluate this data, not to mention how to protect trade secrets,” says Claussen-Markefka. This means you do not only need new technology, but above all a new understanding of cooperation among companies. After all, the idea behind the digital product passport is to share product information across the entire value chain. 7
Dagmar Glatz would like to have digital product passports for her entire product range starting today rather than tomorrow. However, she believes it is only a matter of time before things will really take off. The stricter regulations alone make her hopeful. “Obligations to provide information on recyclability and recyclable product design are already extensive and will continue to increase. This will create an enormous amount of work for every company along the entire value chain, which you can only reduce through standardized and automated digital solutions,” dm’s sustainability manager believes. It is crucial to find a common language, a protocol with which the data can be evaluated in a standardized manner and which will ultimately lead to a uniform and easy evaluation of the recycling options after a product’s use phase. Heino Claussen-Markefka cites the example of a shower gel container. It consists of a cap, the bottle itself, and the label. Eight different players are involved in the production and handling of these three components right through to filling – all pursuing different technical interests and speaking different corporate languages. R-Cycle has therefore envisioned an open solution from the outset, based on existing standards set by the world’s leading standardizer, GS1, such as the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN). A host of production companies and users should ensure that developments get as widely tested as possible. While R-Cycle focuses on an open standard and wants to establish a new cooperation model in addition to a digital solution, other providers are focused on the integration of additional tasks and their solutions. For example, recyda, a young company based in Freiburg, Germany, focuses its solution on evaluating recyclability by taking various standards into account. recyda also makes it possible to bring together and evaluate all relevant data relating to the properties of a product’s packaging, its recyclability, and its recyclate content on one platform. The software also allows users to evaluate the packaging’s compliance with laws and regulations on extended producer responsibility (EPR) applicable in various countries, including calculating country-specific taxes and duties. Used proactively, digital technology can help design packaging with an optimized ecological and economic footprint. The Dutch company circularise has positioned itself in a similar way. It claims to offer a package deal including both reporting and mass balance accounting together with a digital product passport. With its Responsible Design and Production platform, software giant SAP is also pursuing an integrated approach. In this case, the focus is not on the digital product passport, but on compliance with legal packaging requirements, in particular automated EPR reporting and plastic packaging taxes. “Our solution brings together all relevant data from a company’s entire packaging portfolio, links packaging data with logistics data, and can then use this standardized data model to generate various country-specific reports tailored to regulatory requirements,” explains Katharina Schweitzer, consultant for circular economy solutions at SAP. In a first step, the Walldorf-based company wants to help its customers meet increasingly strict and complex transparency and reporting obligations. In a second step, it wants to use the knowledge gained about a customer’s packaging portfolio to start optimizing products in the design process. While SAP primarily targets international companies, it also relies on the fact that many large enterprises already work with SAP which means the data is already available, for example, from purchasing. 8
Like dm’s sustainability manager, Dagmar Glatz, SAP specialist Katharina Schweitzer also expects a massive boost in digital solutions for more transparency along the value chain. “We are not yet at the point where the market is driving such solutions because there is money to be made from greater sustainability. But the lawmakers are exerting pressure. That’s why companies are demanding tools,” she says, describing the trend. It is clearly not a question of if, but when the digital product passport will catch on and become the new standard. When it comes to digitalization, we face the same challenge as in other fields, be it education, public administration, or healthcare: It’s not a question of powerful technology, but of having the right attitude. 9
Christoph Kugler is the group leader of digitalization at the SKZ Plastics Center in Würzburg, Germany. Among other things, the materials scientist explores the use of machine-based learning models for applications in plastics processing. Christoph, how can artificial intelligence in production contribute to greater sustainability and recyclability of plastics? There are several approaches. Let’s take the use of recyclables in industrial mass production as a first example. The quality of recyclable waste often varies more than that of virgin materials. This sometimes leads to irregularities in the production process, which makes it difficult for many companies to use recyclates. That’s why we’re trying to digitally monitor the process in the machine so that the production process of a component will automatically adjust if certain quality parameters are not met. This is where artificial intelligence can come in handy. Would this ideally help increase the rate of recyclables used in complex plastic products? This is where the potential lies. If AI is able to permanently optimize a production process, this will also increase the percentage of recycled materials used. Sounds good. Where’s the catch? Artificial intelligence needs to learn. It has to be trained over an extended period of time with production data. And no company likes to run experiments on its production facilities, at least not over a long period of time. After all, the machines are there to earn money. One idea for solving this problem is to use data originating from production facilities of many different plastics processors to train an AI program. To prevent producer A from gaining insight into the data of producer B, special methods such as federated learning are used. This allows an AI model to be trained on several systems without companies having to share their data openly. The Hamburg-based company Katulu specializes in this form of machine learning. We are currently working with them on several pilot projects. We’ve talked about production. But does AI also offer opportunities in the design and development of more sustainable plastic products? Definitely. I recently met with Digimind, a Berlin company that uses AI to reduce weight in packaging design in order to save material. They take the product’s CAD data and optimize it through AI. But even that has to be fed into the machine first … Exactly. The more data of packaging products we have available, the better it works in training the overall system. And that brings us back to shared learning. This is where we often fail in practice. There is simply not Christoph Kugler talks about plastics and artificial intelligence INTERVIEW 10
enough data available. The circular economy would benefit greatly, both in terms of the digital product passport and AI methods, if we collaborated more closely. An overarching, cross-company digital infrastructure is something that we constantly advocate for. Does that mean that digital progress in the circular economy is more of a cultural challenge than a technological one? Absolutely. Of course, it’s no piece of cake to equip a 40-year-old machine park in such a way that you can get data out of it. But it’s doable. But it all rests on the willingness to share data and develop solutions together. What further potential do you see in the use of artificial intelligence in terms of the sustainability of plastic products? AI will probably make it easier to substitute materials in the foreseeable future, i.e., to replace fossil-based raw materials with bio-based or recycled materials, for example. Efforts are being made to use AI to better illustrate similarities in different materials. Put simply, it will soon be much easier to simulate whether an alternative material will work just as well for a desired application as the fossil-based product. Will artificial intelligence also play a role in recycling? Yes, that is foreseeable. There are interesting approaches for using AI to help evaluate data obtained in spectroscopic processes. With their infrared sensors, modern sorting systems are already quite good at recognizing and separating individual types of plastics. However, evaluating this data with the help of AI will significantly increase the machine’s hit rate in the future. This offers an opportunity for cleaner material flows and ultimately more recyclable material of a higher quality. What about the practical implementation of all the technologies mentioned and the associated opportunities? On an academic scale and also in practical trials, all of the approaches mentioned have proven that the technology works. Now it depends on the availability of data and ultimately on the mindset of those involved. “Shared learning as a chance” 11
Do waste handlers and recyclers have a digital future? KNOWING WHAT’S COMING We have the technology, but no business model Proceed with caution if you believe the myth of Germany as the world’s recycling champion. More than half of the plastic waste that consumers separate and collect and that is then sent to sorting plants still ends up in an incinerator. At the same time, the industry is hungry for high-quality recyclates. Developing digital solutions to get us out of this dilemma just may be the holy grail. “High-quality reusables require clean material flows. But the only way to get there is through improved household waste sorting,” says Carsten Bertram, head of the Packaging Sustainability department at Henkel. Alongside many other large businesses, the consumer goods group is part of the HolyGrail 2.0 initiative. Its rather swanky name hints at the attempt to incorporate digital watermarks into packaging materials as they contain a wealth of information, from the material’s composition to instructions for sorting and recycling options. If, in line with their vision, the technology catches on widely, sorting facilities will be able to read the digital watermark and ensure a much more accurate material input for recycling thanks to improved separation. The 12
list of names behind the HolyGrail 2.0 initiative reads like a who’s who of the international consumer goods market, including Danone, Mondelez, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nestlé, and Pepsico, with hardly a big name missing. Add to this illustrious circle of big players, retail giants such as Aldi and Amazon and a few large packaging and chemical companies. The European Brands Association (AIM) coupled with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste are the driving force of this broad-based partnership. Henkel manager Carsten Bertram attaches great importance to this partnership. “The success of HolyGrail 2.0 depends on broad acceptance by the industry. Opportunities for scaling lie in getting more packaging manufacturers, brands, and recyclers to participate in the initiative,” Bertram emphasizes. The practical feasibility and effectiveness of digital watermarks for sorting, identifying, and recycling plastic packaging has already been proven in practical tests. What is still unclear, however, is whether the recycling industry will be willing to convert its plants accordingly. And who will pay for the necessary investments? Dr Markus Helftewes, managing director of Grüner Punkt, sees addressing these questions as a far greater challenge than developing the technology ready for series production. He openly admits that digitalization in the waste management and recycling sector is lagging behind other industries. “But the question is who is ready to bear the additional costs of such developments,” says Helftewes who calls for increased government funding and, above all, long-term acceptance guarantees by the industry. “Circularity doesn’t come for free,” Helftewes states. In other words, even if digital technology works in recycling, we still have no functioning business model for it, at least not as long as recyclates are more expensive than virgin material.” Christian Schiller’s business model is transparency. The founder of Cirplus, the 100% digital trading platform for recyclable material, is considered a digital pioneer in the plastics industry and has long been committed to more than just the success of his own start-up. He believes digital advancements on the path to a circular economy to be crucial. “In order to optimize recycling flows, we need to know exactly where which type of plastic is located, what it’s composed of, its quality, and quantity, and all this as up-to-date as possible. No human brain can do that. This is precisely why digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence are necessary prerequisites for seriously closing the loops,” says the Hamburg-based entrepreneur. Legally binding norms and standards are a key requirement. “In order to bring waste and recyclate flows into the digital world, we need to find a common language so that we can generate clear and comprehensible data records and manage the complexity. This is the only way to build up reliable supply chains along the value creation chain around the globe and make a successful circular economy happen. That’s why we initiated and financed DINSPEC 91446, the world’s first standard for high-quality plastics recycling and digitization,” says Schiller. Optimizing material flows starts with collecting and separating trash and ends with the procurement of high-quality, recycled material. The use of digital innovation promises considerable opportunities across this entire spectrum. In this, as with product development and production, we have the classic chicken-and-egg situation. From an economic perspective, market incentives for the necessary scaling are still not there in many cases. 13
Three questions for: Jochen Moesslein of Polysecure “MORE SHOW THAN REAL IMPACT” Jochen Moesslein is the founder and mastermind behind Polysecure, based in Freiburg, Germany. His company develops technologies to invisibly mark plastics and other materials, with fluorescent markers being the best known among these. Combined with the appropriate sorting technology, also developed by Polysecure, material and waste streams can be optimized. Companies can also use the markers to label their own products to make them traceable. Jochen Moesslein is also known as a committed activist in his sector. His high-tech business applies digital tools as part of the solution. By his own admission, however, digitalization is by no means the magic pill that will cure all the ailments of the circular economy. Jochen, what are currently the biggest challenges of digitalizing the recycling sector? Digitalization is an overrated word. The technical challenges of recycling have little to do with digitalization. The important aspects of the circular economy are recognition processes, sorting, and processing, and digitalization plays no role in any of these. It’s about being able to reliably differentiate materials in ten milliseconds, like separating food contact materials from nonfood contact materials. More than half of the stuff comes in chopped up chunks of material, so you can’t even recognize the material via object recognition or artificial intelligence. We need a physical process that allows us to measure the material’s composition directly and quickly. Mean voices might say that the digital hype in our industry has a greater impact on marketing than on creating actual impact. Sometimes I even get the impression that the unrealistic hopes associated with digitalization are delaying investments in other important areas of technology. You have been developing marker materials and detection technologies since 2009. What propelled you to found Polysecure? The initial impetus was to make materials more intelligent. Plastics, ceramics, paper – it’s just a huge amount of recyclable waste, which we as consumers in Germany dump into the big yellow garbage can. I was simply driven by the question of how to turn this mess back into useful material. 14
How do you see the market developing in the future? Many businesses now see the value of using secondary raw materials. A lot of money is currently flowing into product passport databases. It would be at least just as important to invest more money in actual recognition technology. That’s where the bottleneck is. What use is a database if you can’t reliably link an entry with the corresponding database? I see great potential for our TrackByStars® technology. It can serve as an important “unique identifier.” That’s the technical term for a technology that identifies each object individually. Dummy sorting plant for technical plastic 400 million tons of plastics are processed every year. About half is reused, the other half ends up as waste. If we were prepared to pay 100 to 200 euros per ton for sorting, we’d be looking at a volume of 20 billion or more. The market is obviously there. 15
CLICKS FOR SMARTER CONSUMPTION How digital tools can help us live a more sustainable life 16
1 Business Dictionary (n.d.)) 2 Kunststoff Magazin (2022) 3 Mülltrennung-wirkt (2020) 4 Ibid. Source: bower EcoNation-App About games, incentives, and responsibilities APPS USED FOR RECYCLING RecycleMich, ReplacePlastic, My Little Plastic Footprint, EcoNation, ReDo – the range of apps for raising consumer awareness spans wide. Some aim to raise awareness of their users’ own plastic footprint and encourage consumers to improve their recycling skills while others hope to give them a strong voice as advocates of greater producer responsibility. Games and rewards With easily accessible information and the use of reward or incentive systems, consumer app providers hope to support consumers in making an active contribution to an improved circular economy through their purchasing and disposal behavior. While all creators are convinced that pointing fingers will not lead to success, some of them are wagering bets on the idea of gamification, i.e., the transfer of typical game elements and processes into non-game contexts with the aim of changing behavior and increasing motivation.1 Take the Swiss EcoNation app, the Bower app from Sweden, the Reciclos app from Spain, and the RecycleMich app from Austria that not only provide information about correct waste separation, but also offer rewards. Users can scan product packaging, collect points for correctly disposed recyclable materials, and exchange or donate the points they earn for rewards. Finding the right garbage can It’s no secret that even the uncrowned world champions of waste separation and recycling in the global North still have a lot to learn when it comes to separating trash. Currently, some 30 percent of waste ends up in the wrong garbage can.2 In order to correctly use the yellow trash containers reserved for recyclable waste in Germany, you don’t necessarily need to know whether the packaging consists of bio-based plastic, PET, or a complex composite material. However, a solid basic understanding is helpful if we want a more conscious consumer behavior to lead to cleaner material flows and higher recycling rates. The results of an Omnibus survey (2020) came to the conclusion that nearly two thirds of Germans don’t know exactly how to correctly separate waste and materials.3 Young people in particular have more to learn than older generations.4 Providing digital information on people’s smartphones might be a great way to fill major gaps in their knowledge. Bower-App Source: econation 17
In the U.S. and the UK, the Scrapp app helps users find out which local garbage can to use to dispose their packaging waste. The Dutch app My Little Plastic Footprint helps consumers determine their plastic mass index, i.e., their personal plastic footprint, and suggests measures to actively reduce their plastic consumption in a fun way. Your voice in the stores People who are annoyed by all the unnecessary plastic packaging they see on supermarket shelves need no longer despair. Giving consumers a voice has been the aim of ReplacePlastic, an app that has helped consumers to express their desire for plastic-free packaging directly to companies since 2018. “The founding idea of our organization, Küste gegen Plastik e.V., was to combat the large amounts of plastic waste that wash up on the North Sea coast,” recalls Jennifer Timrott of the ReplacePlastic initiative. “During our campaigns, we quickly realized that collecting plastic waste was not enough and that we needed to call on producers to step up to their responsibility.” Hence, the ReplacePlastic app was born. Users can scan the plastic packaging of a product and send their feedback to the app operators, including suggestions for alternative, primarily reusable, packaging options. The app operators collect the user feedback over a one month period and then report it as a collective concern to the company that placed the item on the market. One requirement for this constructive feedback to be passed on is that at least 20 users must have scanned the same product packaging or that a period of one month must have passed since the last change request was submitted. Source: Reciclos Source: scrapprecycling Source: Raan Gruppe Reciclos-App RecycleMich-App Scrapp-App 18
Source: mylittleplasticfootprint My Little Plastic Footprint-App ReDo-Plattform “We want to enable people to make their voices heard, because in the long term, we want to achieve a shift from individual responsibility to producer responsibility,” explains Jennifer Timrott. In addition to the app, the organization also provides education and organizes informational campaigns. “It is important to us to teach young people about the many dimensions of the plastic crisis and to inspire them to choose reusable and plastic-free packaging options.” Another service that takes a participatory approach is ReDo, which will soon offer users a participatory platform on the path to plastic alternatives. On the online platform, users can submit sustainable redesign ideas for existing packaging in the form of profile descriptions, which other users in the ReDo community can interactively vote on and make suggestions to further explore the idea. At the end of the process, the platform operators will be able to contact businesses and manufacturers with alternative suggestions for packaging designs. ReplacePlastic-App Source: ReDo Source: ReplacePlastic 19
In order to achieve higher collection and recycling rates in the plastics sector, the RecycleMich initiative has teamed up with brand manufacturers of plastic packaging and successfully established itself in Austria. What is the mission of RecycleMich, and what problem analysis provided the foundation for launching the initiative and app? Our mission is to keep recyclable materials in the material cycle. With the RecycleMich app, we’ve created and launched an incentive system for consumers that combines digitalization with awareness-raising and educational work. The original idea sprang from the fact that Austria does not reach its desired collection and recycling rates. For example, the collection rate for plastics is only 70 percent, dropping to merely 30 percent in urban areas such as Vienna. Encouraging consumers to collect and sort their waste correctly was an important concern for us in this regard. Who was involved in developing the app and how is the app financed? Even before RecycleMich was launched in Austria at the start of 2021, we had worked closely with leading brand manufacturers from the beverage sector. Results from consumer surveys also went into the agile development process. The pilot test of the first digital recycling initiative ultimately took place in Vienna, because sorting waste correctly has been the biggest challenge there. Eventually, the initiative developed into an open platform for all those involved in the circular economy, including users, brand manufacturers, recyclers, cities, and municipalities. It focuses on all product packaging fit to be disposed of in the yellow trash bag used in Austria for recyclable waste. Monthly contributions by brand manufacturers as well as contributions by Reclay Systems, a leading take-back system for packaging, currently finance the incentives and prices, operation of the app, and marketing efforts. In return, cooperation partners can list the initiative’s activities in their sustainability report or on any sustainability agenda and benefit from various service packages. When working with manufacturers, we welcome any sustainability strategy they have. Over time, we have expanded opportunities for cooperation; in addition to becoming a partner, you can also become a supporter and, for example, sponsor prizes as a sweepstake partner. Consequently, RecycleMich has supporters who sponsor products as well as those who pay membership fees. This allows us to create low-threshold opportunities for cooperation that supports our mission. How do potential users learn about of the app and which target group does the app mainly appeal to? Initially, we ran broad-based marketing campaigns throughout Vienna using traditional media such as newspapers and radio broadcasting. However, it was targeted advertising via online channels, in the app store, and on social media channels that finally paid off. Our initial target group was 18 to 24-year-olds, but this quickly developed into the current main target group of 24 to 34-year-olds, with 35 to 44-year-olds being our second largest target group, including young families in particular. Those under 25 and over 44 come in last. Creator Stefan Siegl about the Austrian RecycleMich app INTERVIEW 20
We differentiate between two groups. First, we have the idealists who want to publicly visualize their recycling performance to match their dedication to environmental and resource protection, and second, we have profit-oriented people, who are enticed by the app’s prize-winning incentives. In order to reach as broad a target group range as possible, we additionally offer public education programs in recycling. Gamification in particular is a key element, for example in the form of special sweepstakes. What data is collected from app users and to what extent is it processed further? The app only collects the minimum amount of user data required to correctly recycle recyclable trash and earn points, which means that based on our privacy policy, we store a user’s e-mail address and password. Data such as home address and age are further required to participate in raffles. In addition, the scanned product codes can be used to identify which product brands from which category are purchased, scanned, and disposed of, how often, where, and when. From the data collected, we can identify trends, for example, that people collect a lot on the weekend. Data on the disposal location is a particularly important factor since it can have an impact on information about sensibly placed recycling collection containers shown in the app, which differ in color from province to province in Austria. We work very closely with cities and towns. How much plastic is recycled each year thanks to the app? In terms of the app’s overall reach, we’ve quickly achieved success. We reached our original goal of achieving 100,000 scans by the end of 2021 after just two months. On our two-year anniversary, we celebrated over one million packages scanned or correctly disposed of thanks to the app. By weighing the number of points awarded as bonus points for recycling we can set priorities for recycling certain product groups. For example, we can decide to award more bonus points for scanning partner packaging and fewer for non-partner packaging. Surveys show that app users tend to buy products for which they get more points. Since Austria will introduce a deposit system by 2025, how flexibly will the app be able to respond to changes in the future? Only 25 percent of all packaging placed on the market is covered by the deposit system, which means our app will by no means become superfluous. Our app may actually help increase participation in the deposit scheme. We can also get feedback from users through our various communication channels, and users can report new products that are not yet in the database. In addition, we can quickly make adjustments to the app’s features thanks to its simple programmability. In the future, we will also focus on providing more information in the app, maybe specifically on the recyclability of products. Working hand in hand with big business 21
RecycleMich Objective: Ensuring clean material flows through proper disposal of packaging Function: Providing information on waste separation when scanning product barcodes Collecting points for correctly disposing packaging Qualifying for sweepstakes Country: Year: Number of users: Target group: Austria 2021 >1M individuals Type and quantity of material: Plastics, plastic composites, metals Cooperation partners/sponsors: Coca-Cola, Fanta, granini, Monster Energy, Fa, innocent, Persil, Somat, Sprite, Weißer Riese, Red Bull, Pril, Pago, Hohes C, Fuzetea, Powerade EcoNation Objective: Ensuring clean material flows through proper disposal of packaging Function: ─ Proving information on waste separation ─ Collecting points for correctly disposing packaging ─ Qualifying for discounts and prizes Country: Year: Number of users: Target group: Switzerland 2021 >10.000 individuals Type and quantity of material: Plastics, plastic composites, metals Cooperation partners/sponsors: Inui, Editoria33 Bower Objective: Ensuring clean material flows through proper disposal of packaging Function: ─ Providing information on proper waste separation when scanning product barcodes ─ Collecting points for correctly disposing packaging ─ Qualifying for sweepstakes, discounts or donating points Country: Year: Number of users: Target group: Sweden 2018 550,000 individuals Type and quantity of material: 55 million recycled packaging Cooperation partners/sponsors: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Coop, Nivea, Nespresso, Wello, Zespri, logitech Reciclos Objective: Ensuring clean material flows through proper disposal of packaging Function: ─ Providing information on proper waste separation ─ Collecting points for correctly disposing packaging ─ Qualifying for prizes or donating points to social projects Country: Year: Number of users: Target group: Spain 2022 100.000 individuals Type and quantity of material: Beverage packaging made of plastic and aluminum Cooperation partners/sponsors: Ecoembes, TheCircularlab Recycle Objective: Testing the Scottish deposit return system for one-way beverage containers Function: ─ Providing information on proper waste separation ─ Collecting points for correctly disposing packaging ─ Qualifying for sweepstakes Country: Year: Number of users: Target group: Scotland 2022 n/a individuals (aged 18-34) Type and quantity of material: Beverage packaging Cooperation partners/sponsors: Scottish Grocer’s Federation, Mastercard Apps at a Glance 22
CONCLUSION UNCERTAINTY WITH A SILVER LINING Digital solutions aimed at consumers essentially take two different approaches. One is to inform and raise awareness, while the other aims at enabling participation and using and strengthening the power of consumer demand. The difference between the two is fundamental. Encouraging consumers to handle packaging correctly contributes to higher rates of recycling. The apps that involve consumers in influencing the supply side, namely waste prevention, are at the top of the waste hierarchy. On the other hand, both dimensions currently lack any known cross-solution evaluation that can provide information about actual impact. What exactly does one million pieces of scanned plastic packaging mean in terms of actually recycled reusable materials, and can this information be used to measure any long-term rethinking among consumers? We also need to critically examine the practice of using in-kind rewards, as it may inadvertently increase consumption as an undesirable side effect. While it seems indisputable that empowered consumers will have an essential role to play in a future circular society, any informed decision-making no longer seems conceivable in any area of life without digital infrastructure. ReplacePlastic Objective: Communicate consumer demand for plastic-free and reusable product packaging design & increase producer responsibility Function: ─ Providing information on proper waste separation ─ when scanning product barcodes ─ Passing on requests for plastic-free and reusable packaging alternatives ─ Collectively transmitting requests to manufacturers Country: Year: Number of users: Target group: Germany 2018 50.000 individuals Type and quantity of material: 2 million scanned packages Cooperation partners/sponsors: Deutsche Postcode Lotterie Scrapp Objective: Ensuring clean material flows through proper disposal of packaging Function: ─ Providing information on the proper disposal of packaging when scanning product codes Country: Year: Number of users: Target group: UK, USA 2021 400M individuals Type and quantity of material: 34 million scanned packages Cooperation partners/sponsors: Microsoft, Packaging Europe, British Airways, University of New Hampshire, The Economist 23
Turnaround in the to-go sector: all digital or nothing? THE ADDED VALUE OF REUSEABILITY Whether you’re getting a salad from the self-service salad bar at the supermarket or a latte from the coffee shop at the train station, grabbing a quick bite from a fast-food restaurant or having a pizza delivered to your home, disposable packaging for takeaway food and beverages is ubiquitous. The German take-away sector produces nearly 800 tons of waste from disposable packaging alone. Every day. And the legal obligation to offer reusable packaging by 2023 has not changed that. Young providers of reusable systems want to turn the tide from single-use to a culture of reusables. They, too, rely on digital solutions. They are called Recup, Relevo or Vytal, to name just the best known. They all share one basic idea: that restaurants and cafés should not be forced to buy their own containers for take-away use and set up their own takeback and cleaning structure. These reusable system providers supply the catering trade with containers for food and beverages and take care of the cleaning and resupplying. For the idea to work, it is crucial to have as large a possible network of partner businesses as possible because it is the only way to ensure consumers’ convenience of returning the containers not just where they got them from, but to any business within that specific reusable system. Recup5, for example, has more than 21,000 collection points. Operating such complex systems is hardly possible in a purely analog manner. Thus, the transformation to reusable packaging is also powered digitally. To be sure, all providers use digital technologies, albeit to varying degrees. Vytal6, headquartered in Cologne, Germany, has positioned itself as a particularly strong digital player. “The most important reason why we consistently rely on a digital solution is that it allows us to do without a conventional deposit-refund system,” explains Dr. Fabian Barthel, the company’s co-founder and managing director. Paying an analog deposit for reusable containers is a psychological hurdle for customers. If the charge is low, they have no incentive to return the containers quickly. If it is high, people are not willing to pay the money up front, Barthel explains. Barthel attributes the fact that Vytal’s purported return rate is over 99% to its full-on digital approach. Each container has an individual QR code. Users only register once in the company’s app. Vytal will then be able to account for where each container is at any given time. And consumers can use the app to see how many single-use plastic containers they have already saved by using reusable containers. The ReFrastructure7 foundation is skeptical that a handful of successful reusable systems will go far enough to make reusable to-go containers the new normal. It wants to establish a cross-provider data infrastructure that enables users to return their used containers “anywhere”, i.e., at return machines and return points both in public and private spaces. “Return anywhere” being the magic expression. “We see a future infrastructure for reusables as a social common good,” explains ReFrastructure’s managing director, Markus Urff. Urff does not want to eliminate competition among providers, but rather take it to a higher level through the shared digital infrastructure. “BMW, Mercedes, and VW did not build their own road infrastructure, they all use public roads. There is a 5 https://recup.de/ 6 https://www.vytal.org/ 7 https://refrastructure.org/ 24
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