WASTE PLASTICS RECYCLING A GOOD PRACTICES GUIDE

BY AND FOR LOCAL & REGIONAL AUTHORITIES

CHAPTER 7
How to promote and support the development
of supply of and demand for recycled plastics?
The development of markets for any recycled material is often stimulated by a number of factors,
including industry initiatives and policy drivers, rather than by an inherent need for the recyclate
itself. In such an environment, maintaining the momentum of recycling schemes is highly difficult
where mandatory targets are absent or where there are no clear short-term economic benefits.
Where such schemes exist, and presently this concerns most waste plastics that are currently being
recycled, maintaining efficient participation rates in local schemes and minimising contamination
is dependant on the promotion and communication of local schemes to the public and private
industry by L/RAs. This includes supporting scheme awareness campaigns with education and
technical/ market data on local, regional and national recycling activities.
In addition to conventional communications through advertising, leafleting and road shows, there
are a number of opportunities through which L/RAs can promote and develop local plastic recyclate markets:
Develop partnerships with the Private Sector
Promote waste exchanges and market places for plastics
Introduce exhibitions for recycled product manufacturers
Development of a green procurement policy: Do-as-I-do
Partnership with the private sector
COMMUNITY OF MUNICIPALITIES OF COURON
The Community of Municipalities of Couron gathers together 14 municipalities and 9,625
inhabitants. Since 2002, the Community of Municipalities of Couron have collected EPS
through its unique container park.
The initiator is the firm ISOBOX TECHNOLOGIE, which is located at less than one kilometre
of the container park and processes the EPS. ISOBOX TECHNOLOGIE proposed to the
Community of Municipalities to place a container in their container park. As the citizens
were asking for a specific collection of the EPS waste, the Community decided to accept it.
ISOBOX TECHNOLOGIE built a wood shed in order to provide shelter for a container gift by ECO PSE.
The container park is open to the private individuals and to the small businesses. The
employee of the container park checks the quality of the deposited EPS, which must be clean
and white.
Each week, ISOBOX TECHNOLOGIE takes back the collected EPS to its facility. In this case, the
collection cost is considered as equal to zero. The quantities weekly collected are between 4
to 6 m3, equivalent to 14 - 24 kg (75 - 130 g/inh/y).
The collected EPS does not need additional sorting and has two destinations. It can be granulated to make new packaging; or it is compacted and sent to Holland to make seedling board.
The information about this collection scheme is spread through a municipal public display and a
booklet, which explains the materials accepted at the container park and which is distributed to its visitors.

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WASTE PLASTICS RECYCLING A GOOD PRACTICES GUIDE

BY AND FOR LOCAL & REGIONAL AUTHORITIES

CO.RE.PLA
In Italy, an agreement with producer responsibility organisation CO.RE.PLA51 was elaborated,
in which Provinces committed to:
promote the agreement for selective collection of waste plastics with public and private
collectors
promote the creation of a plant for recovery of heterogeneous plastic packaging waste
foresee a financial contribution for the selective collection of the waste plastics
promote the CO.RE.PLA campaign on the good management of plastic packaging
promote transfer of the collected plastic packaging waste to recyclers identified by
CO.RE.PLA.
In return, CO.RE.PLA agreed to:
organise the transfer of collected plastic packaging waste to regional recyclers and
guarantee monitoring of those operations
promote information campaign meant to the producer, users and consumers for a
better use and management of plastic packaging
develop activities of formation for the personal of the public and private collection
companies
promote the collection in the private sector
There are also two awards developed. Ecological enterprise award prizes to enterprises
with the best growth in the selective collection of waste plastics. There are two awards
( 7,000) for enterprises with more than hundred workers, two ( 5,000) for those with
15 - 100 workers, and two ( 3,000) for those with less than 15 workers.
The Waste: Reduction and Recycle awards rewards the three best theses related to innovative marketing techniques for increasing recycling of packaging.

Promotion of waste exchanges/marketplaces

Once the plastic collected and sorted, it must be sold to processors. The market
places permit to put in relation sellers and buyers. Some magazines are
informing about the market trends and about potential buyers like
Recyclage et Rcupration Magazine, Recycling International, "Recycling
Magazine"
Other magazines like Europischer Wirtschaftsdienst or the Bourse Belge des Dchets give the
current price of the market and publish offers and demands advertisement for sorted products.
The Bourse Belge des Dchets is a public initiative.
For EuPR (European Plastics Recyclers), it is necessary to put in direct contact the sellers and the
buyers of sorted plastics. For the year 2003, EuPR would spread to the local authorities a list of the
regional plastic recyclers. This list would help the local authorities to find outlet for the sorted
plastics and will permit a direct exchange on the quality requirement for the sorted plastic.

51- CO.RE.PLA. : Consorzio Nazionale per la Raccolta, il Riciclaggio e il Recupero dei Rifiuti di Imballggio in Plastica (National Consortium for the collection, the recycling and the recuperation of the plastic waste packaging)

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