Geert Van Ballaer, Strategic Platform Leader Circular Economy Solutions at Borealis, has been appointed as a new CEFLEX board member. He hopes to create stronger circular links between collectors, sorters and recyclers while also supporting the consortium’s overall efforts to deliver the circular economy for packaging materials.
What do you hope to bring to CEFLEX’s board?
Within Borealis, we have invested in acquiring and developing mechanical recyclers and we continue to develop our own chemical recycling technology. I’ll bring these insights and perspectives on how to move towards more and better recycling. A key part of this means reaching out to CEFLEX’s collectors and sorters on how to improve links with recyclers and get more of them involved because this community is currently under-represented compared to some other value chain groups. Collection is vital because what is not collected cannot be recycled.
What are the challenges you want to help CEFLEX address?
As said, collection rates have to go up. Otherwise, the total recycling rates can never reach the targets that have been set by industry and policymakers. The collectors and sorters’ challenge is that circularity must be economical for them and that requires recyclers to be able to use those fractions and convert them into high quality recyclates.
Collection rates have to go up…Otherwise, the total recycling rates can never reach the targets that have been set by industry and policymakers. The collectors and sorters’ challenge is that circularity must be economical for them and that requires recyclers to be able to use those fractions and convert them into high quality recyclates.
A big problem is the fragmentation of the European market because national legislators have started to adopt their own measures ahead of the revision EU directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste. This could see different requirements emerge in different countries, also depending on the local infrastructure – which creates a nightmare scenario for brand owners…
A big problem is the fragmentation of the European market because national legislators have started to adopt their own measures ahead of the revision
EU directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste. This could see different requirements emerge in different countries, also depending on the local infrastructure – which creates a nightmare scenario for brand owners because they would have to adapt their packaging to whatever country they ship to. Harmonising legislation is absolutely needed and it is very important that CEFLEX provides technical insight and clear value chain consensus positions that stakeholders and other trade associations can engage with policy makers on. I will be working with CEFLEX to further define this work and promoting our ‘
Designing for a Circular Economy’ guidelines.
How do you hope to convince more stakeholders to get behind a circular economy for flexible packaging?
Costs are going to be incurred by increasing collection and sorting alongside developing and installing more advanced recycling technologies, but these costs will ultimately be paid for by the consumer. Meanwhile, circularity can be delivered sooner if packaging is designed in a better way, since the quality and value of recyclate goes up.
The next step will be changing extended producer responsibility (EPR) fees, which would reward more recyclable packaging solutions while penalising those who do not intend to improve their difficult to recycle flexible packaging. This will go a long way in incentivising the sector towards better design. There are other beneficial effects to be considered here too – circularity will create jobs while working together will increase the long-term value of our products and services.
Geert Van Ballaer on LinkedIn
