Analysis of the barriers and opportunities of recycling household plastic packaging waste in Belgium

Abstract

This research thesis explores the recycling activity of postconsumer plastic packaging waste in Belgium, via the system of the Blue Bag, called PMD (acronym of Plastic, Metal and Drink cartons packaging). The recycling rate of household plastic packaging waste reached 71% in 2024, behind drink cartons (72%); paper-cardboard (94%); aluminium (94%); ferrous metal (105%*); and glass (120%*). A focus has been made on plastic packaging because of the huge variety of this material. It is the most used synthetic fossil-based material in the world. Different chemical operations and procedures are necessary to obtain the by-products and ready-to-use materials to make different the types of plastic packaging. Currently, they comprise four types: polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS). All of these can be in different states (rigid, expanded, flexible) in a wide range of colors and properties, making their recycling technically more complex. Once discarded by consumers, all the PMD bags are collected and sent to special warehouses called sorting centers. All packaging waste is segregated by category and color, to finally obtain sixteen sorted fractions, from which eleven are plastics. These fractions, once compacted into bales, are sold to recycling companies in Belgium and neighboring European countries. There are currently two methods to recycle plastic packaging. The first and most used is mechanical recycling which consist in crushing packaging into flakes (also called recyclates) which will be washed, dried, and finally extruded in pellets or regranulates. These final end-products will be used to make new packaging or other plastic solutions. This exploratory research highlighted several barriers hindering the efficiency of the process. Most of these barriers are of a technical nature, related to the packaging itself. They consist of unrecognizable, contaminated, stacked and wrongly sorted packaging. There are still non-recyclable packages due to the complexity of its composition which is technically and economically not profitable for recycling. A lot of solutions have been developed and designed to tackle these different constraints regarding recyclability. The first and foremost is the shift to recyclable packaging, which should be effective by the end of this year. Another one is the reduction of plastics in packaging, either by removing some elements, reducing its weight, or switching to other materials like metal or glass. Other solutions such as paperization, reuse and deposit return systems for refillable containers are more and more considered by companies and industrials to reach their sustainable objectives and initiate their path to a more circular economy. The overall results of this essay highlighted the effective and well-organized Belgian system for the collection, sorting and recycling of packaging waste in place for more than 30 years now. However, leakages of this waste in the environment lead to the global plastic pollution crisis, a lasting scourge for the oceans and the natural ecosystems, ultimately affecting human health. It’s time to make concrete actions and start to invest now for the future of packaging towards sustainability. Plastic waste and recycling are vast subjects that can be broken down into multiple promising topics for future research. (*) includes imported packaging by consumers, distorting the real Belgian rate.