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2/3 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com About Truffula

Truffula Ltd is a UK-based sustainability consultancy with extensive experience of print, paper and related industries. Services include policy and strategy development, research and analysis, supply chain due diligence, green marketing and communications, guidance and support.

www.truffula.co.uk About Pro Carton

Pro Carton is the European Association of Carton and Cartonboard manufacturers. Its main purpose is to promote the use of cartons and cartonboard as an economically and ecologically balanced packaging medium.

www.procarton.com This Report

Pro Carton commissioned Truffula to research and write this independent report. Its information sources are all in the public domain and are individually referenced. The report is intentionally transparent, analysing the advantages and disadvantages of plastic and cartonboard from a technical and environmental standpoint. Any opinions stated in this document are that of the auth or. 1 . p c s p s r T p f t H a i s t n u l a r l T e a a n l m s m t p W O C P I O T W T E I o s i e n t r u o i e h e u o o o n g f h h n m l r s h a e e e l a h

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4/5 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com 1. Executive Summary - continued

problem for plastic packaging than for paper-based packaging. According to the European Environment Agency, 82% of the litter collected on European beaches is plastic, while only 2% is paper or cardboard. Once in the environment, paper-based packaging can break down within months but plastics can take decades or even centuries to degrade. Much of this finds its way into the sea.

As well as the cost associated with trying to clean up ocean plastics, there are serious concerns about the impact on marine life and, ultimately, human health. Plastics are ingested by sea birds, fish and other organisms, and experts warn that some of it is already finding its way into the human food chain. Even some of the so called ‘bioplastics’ that are intended to degrade, do not fully address the issue of plastic pollution at present. For ex ample, oxo-degradable plastics, which are treated with additives so they break-up after a period of time, do not degrade fully but rather fragment into ‘microplastics’ smaller than 5mm, which can actually exacerbate the problem.

It can be very difficult to reliably compare the carbon footprint of different packaging items as there are so many variables involved. While the carbon footprint per tonne may be lower for cartonboard, the amount of plastic required to package the same item may be less. Therefore, the carbon footprint should always be evaluated with regards to the specific application.

In conclusion, cartons are already an appropriate alternative to plastic packaging for a wide range of applications because of their technical and aesthetic qualities. In some examples, such as for confectionery, tea and small beverage multipacks, it can be demonstrated that cartons have, on balance, clear environmental benefits too. Principally, these benefits relate to the use of renewable raw materials and ease of recycling, which make cartons a positive packaging choice for the circular economy of the future. Plastics packaging of course has its own ad vantages but, for certain applications, the key benefits of durability and lightweight can be re dundant or insufficient overall for it to be considered an automatic choice. Furthermore, plastic’s reliance on non-renewable resources and its waste-related environmental impacts can be anticipated to pose an increasing risk to brands, through potential tightening of waste legislation and negative public perception. Anyone specifying packaging should carefully consider these issues when making their choice of packaging material. 2 . a a i s a a u e c a I P T T m u l n l n n n x p s a h h o t i c a d d d e c p p e i n s t h s k m r e

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6/7 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com 3. Life Cycle Overview

Raw Materials Production Use End of Life

30% Land!ll/Other

90% Fossil Feedstock (oil and gas) 30% incineration 1% bio-based 2% recycled feedstock 40% Recycled

Figure 1: Simplified life cycle overview of plastic packaging materials.

The primary raw material for plastic manufacture is oil and gas, which makes up 90% of the feedstock. 1 This is processed through a distillation process into different fractions such as Naphtha, which is further processed, or ‘cracked’ into simpler compounds such as ethylene and propylene. These hydrocarbons are then linked to gether in a chemical reaction called polymerisation to form a polymer chain. Different plastics have different polymer chains, which is what determines their particular properties. 2

The most common plastics used for packaging are ‘thermoset’ plastics (which soften on heating and harden again on cooling), particularly polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and to a lesser extent polystyr ene (PS) and poly vinyl chloride (PVC). Packaging accounts for nearly 40% of all plastic demand in Europe. 3

Bioplastics, which can be bio-based (derived from plants) or degradable (they biodegrade or fragment and may be plant or fossil-based) currently only account for about 1% of global plastic production. 4

When used as packaging, plastic is claimed to have several benefits, such as flexibility, strength, lightness and impermeability. 5

While many plastics can technically be recycled, in practice about 40% of plastic packaging is collected for re - cycling in Europe (most significantly PET bottles) and a further 31% is recovered by other means such as incineration. 6

1 Ellen MacArthur Foundation, T he New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics, 2016.

2 PlasticsEurope, How Plastic is Made (http://www.plasticseurope.org/what-is-plastic/how-plastic-is-made.aspx), accessed October 2017.

3 PlasticsEurope, Plastics – the Facts 2016, 2016.

4 European Bioplastics, Bioplastics Facts and Figures, 2016.

5 PlasticsEurope, Packaging (http://www.plasticseurope.org/use-of-plastics/packaging.aspx), accessed October 2017.

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8/9 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com 4. Stakeholder Concerns

In recent times, the primary sustainability strategy of brand owners and retailers has been to reduce and lightweight the packaging materials they use. 12 This is understandable, given that reduction is an important first step towards both waste and carbon footprint minimisation. There are also legal drivers in the form of the Packaging Waste Directive (which in effect places a weight-based fee on those putting packaging onto the market, to fund the recovery of packaging waste) and the desire to reduce transport costs.

‘Reducing the weight and thickness of packaging is the best way to both minimise impact on the environ- ment and keep costs down.’ Carlsberg Group Sustainability Report 2016.

‘Using less packaging provides an economic benefit, not only in material costs, but also in transportation and disposal. This helps us to reduce our overall CO2 emissions and operate more efficiently.’ Mondelez International, Impact for Growth 2016 Progress Report.

However, a more holistic approach is now emerging, which recognises that it is not just about optimising the amount of packaging materials used but also the life cycle of those materials, from the nature of the resources needed to make them, to the potential for their value to be recovered at the end of their life. This means a move away from the traditional linear ‘take, make, dispose’ model of consumption towards a ‘circular economy’ where waste is designed-out of the system, renewable energy is used, toxic chemicals are eliminated, metals and most plastics are reserved for durable applications and consumables are largely made obiological, renewable resources. 13

‘The Commission adopted an ambitious new Circular Economy Package to stimulate Europe's transition towards a circular economy which will boost global competitiveness, foster sustainable economic growth and generate new jobs... In a circular economy the value of products and materials is maintained for as long as possible; waste and resource use are minimised, and resources are kept within the economy when product has reached the end of its life, to be used again and again to create further value.’ European Commission, Circular Economy Package, 2015.

Companies in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector are amongst the most active in adopting life cycle and circular economy approaches towards the products they sell and their packaging. Packaging can be one of the most significant contributors to a brand’s environmental impact and so it is no surprise that, as well as material reduction, there is a drive for increased use of recycled content, better recyclability of materials and, where feasible, increasing the use of renewable raw materials.

11 Eurostat 2015.

12 Pro Carton / Smithers PIRA, The Importance of Sustainability in Packaging, 2017.

13 Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy, 2013. t l p a i o c f o m r f T 1 1 1 1 ‘ C “ E G ‘ T O n e W P 7 6 5 4 e r h o i P h i f f l h e o r o a s I P h h n a c a l a q

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10/11 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com 5. Material Comparisons: Cartonboard and Plastic

5.1 Raw Materials

Cellulose fibre accounts for over 86% of the raw materials consumed by the European paper industry. The source of this fibre is primarily from previously-made paper sent for recycling (46%) and ‘virgin’ woodpulp that comes from trees (almost 40%), with a small amount of non-wood fibre such as cotton (less than 1%). The re - maining non-fibrous raw materials are mostly coatings and fillers such as calcium carbonate and clay. Specifically for cartonboard, the use of recycled fibre is slightly lower at about 37%, which mostly goes into White Lined Chipboard, for applications such as breakfast cereal cartons. 18

Around 90% of the wood used by the European pulp and paper industry originates from within Europe. Between 2005 and 2015, European forests grew by 44,000 Square Kilometres, which amounts to over 1,500 football pitches of forest growth every day. 19 60% of the wood used by the industry is third-party certified (FSC or PEFC) as coming from well-managed forests.

Cartonboard is therefore largely based on a renewable raw material (wood) with about a third derived from recycled fibre, thus extending the useful life (and retaining the value) of the raw material. 20

Paper & Board Plastic 1%

1% 13% 9% 40%

46% 90%

• Renewable Fibre • Fossil Feedstock • Recycled Fibre • Recycled Feedstock • Non-Wood Fibre Renewable Feedstock • Non-Fibrous Raw Materials • Table 1: Key raw materials used for paper & board and plastic production.

18 CEPI, Key Statistics 2016, 2016.

19 Two Sides, Print and Paper Myths and Facts, 2017.

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12/13 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com 5.3 Water

The pulp and paper industry uses a large amount of water, through evaporation during the production process as well as secondary waste treatment, water in solid residues and water in the products themselves. However, only a relatively small part of this is actually ‘consumed’ (i.e. bound up in the products or waste). More than 90% is returned to the source and the total intake volume of fresh water has dropped by 20% over the last twenty years. 30

The production of polyolefin (PE and PP) resin uses water for processing, boilers and most notably, cooling. Like the paper industry, much of this water is returned to source; what is lost is mostly through evaporation.

As with energy, it is difficult to find reliable data on water consumption with which to compare cartons and plastic packaging. Furthermore, any consideration of water consumption, or water footprint, needs to consider the specific, local water risks, such as scarcity - that is, where there is ample water availability, the issue will be less significant than where there is drought or high demand. Therefore, any comparison needs to be on a case by case basis.

5.4 In-Use Aspects

One of the primary purposes of packaging is to protect the product it contains, to prevent the product and all the resources that went to make it from being wasted. For perishable goods such as food, the packaging can also extend the life of the product. It has been estimated that the resources preserved by packaging can be ten times as much as those used to make the packaging itself. 31

There are many applications where cartons provide the versatility, strength and rigidity to ensure appropriate product protection, as well as appealing aesthetic qualities – cereals, frozen foods, perfume, pharmaceuticals, homewares and clothing are just a few. However, for applications involving direct contact with wet foodstuffs, or requiring impermeability, flexibility or transparency, cartons may not be suitable. In these areas plastic may be a preferred choice or may compete with alternative materials such as metal or glass and, in practice, there is often a combination of different materials used to provide optimal functional (as well as aesthetic) aspects. Nevertheless, there are applications where either cartons or plastic could be chosen as the primary packaging material and some of these are explored further in chapter six.

However, from an environmental perspective, there are two areas where plastic may have a potential advantage during the use phase of packaging:

One is the durability of plastics. For applications requiring the packaging to withstand especially rough handling or to serve its purpose over a long period of time this may be important. However, as much consumer packaging is single-use, it is likely to remain in the supply chain for less than a year, 32 negating the benefits of durability while potentially exacerbating the end of life impacts (see overleaf).

30 CEPI, Water: Used only with care, 2014.

31 Food & Drink Federation / INCPEN, Packaging for people, planet and profit - a sustainability checklist, 2017.

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14/15 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com Avoid

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

Recover

Landll

Figure 3: The waste hierarchy

If it is not possible to retain the value of resources through reuse or recycling it may at least be possible to recover some of it. For organic waste this may be through composting or anaerobic digestion (to produce biogas) but more typically is through energy recovery by the incineration of waste to produce heat, steam and electricity. Finally, the least preferable option is to send waste to landfill, as its value is then entirely lost.

In Europe, legislation has driven a reduction in municipal waste going to landfill over the past twenty years (to 120kg per capita or 25% of all EU28 municipal waste in 2015), while recycling (29% in 2015), incineration (27%) and composting (17%) has grown. 38 One of these legal drivers is the packaging waste directive and its amending acts, which ‘provides for measures aimed at limiting the production of packaging waste and promoting recycling, re-use and other forms of waste recovery. Their final disposal [to landfill] should be considered as a last resort solution’. 39 To achieve this, targets have been set to reuse, recycle or recover minimum amounts of packaging waste depending on the material used – the latest proposed targets are for 75% of paper and cardboard and 55% of plastic to be prepared for reuse or recycled by the end of 2025. 40

In 2014, an average of nearly 163kg of packaging waste was generated per inhabitant in the EU28, with most of the large economies exceeding this (Germany for example generated 220kg per inhabitant). 41% of this

38 Eurostat, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Municipal_waste_statistics, accessed October 2017.

39 European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste.

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O a e a e L l i e g d d g D t s r s s R

16/17 Compar iso n o f C arton and Pl ast ic Pac kaging Su stainabil ity ww w.proc art on.com The recycling of paper starts with collecting used paper or board from industry (e.g. printing companies), offices and homes. It may be sorted and graded depending on the requirement of the papermaker. The used paper is mixed with water and then large contaminants (e.g. staples or paper clips) are removed, the fibre is cleaned and may be de-inked and bleached depending on the end use. The paper for recycling has now been turned into pulp, from which paper can be made again, either using 100% recycled pulp or mixed with ‘virgin’ pulp derived directly from trees. 45

Individual cellulose fibres can typically be recycled several times before they become too short and degraded to be of use in papermaking. At that point they are screened out of the recycling process, with the resultant sludge having a variety of secondary uses such as incineration for energy production, production of construction boards or spreading on farm land. 46

It is thought that there is a theoretical upper limit to the recycling rate of the paper industry (not just packaging) of about 78%. 47 This is because around 19% of the paper used is not possible to collect or recycle – it may be destroyed or contaminated in use (e.g. hygiene products) or kept for the long term such as with books, photographs or archived documents. 48 In addition, some used paper is collected but goes for other, non-papermaking uses such as insulation.

Nevertheless, paper and cardboard packaging has the highest recycling rate of any packaging material, at 82.6%, followed by metal (76.2%), glass (73.1%), plastic (39.8%) and wood (39.3%). 49

Recycling Rate % 90

80 70 60

50

40 30 20 10 0 All Packaging (average) Paper & Cardboard Packaging Plastic Packaging • All Packaging (average) • Paper & Cardboard Packaging • Plastic Packaging Figure 5: Average packaging recycling rate in 2015 against that for paper & cardboard and plastic packaging. Source: Eurostat.

45 European Paper Recycling Council, http://www.paperforrecycling.eu/the-recycling-process, accessed October 2017. 45

46 CEPI, Maximum value from paper for recycling, 2011.

47 European Paper Recycling Council, European Declaration on Paper Recycling 2016-2020, 2017.

48 European Paper Recycling Council, http://www.paperforrecycling.eu/questions-answers, accessed October 2017.

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18/19 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com As has been seen, the recyclability of both plastic and paper can suffer due to contamination (e.g. from food contact) or when materials are combined to improve functionality. Conversely, both waste streams benefit from being well segregated (either by the consumer or subsequent sorting) because the material recyclers need to have confidence in the quality of their input. However, the recycling of plastic packaging come with the addi - tional technical difficulty of dealing with mixed polymers, the lack of economic viability for recycling uncommon plastics and sometimes the consumer’s uncertainty about what plastics can be recycled. This means that, even if a rate of reuse and recycling of 55% for plastic packaging (as proposed by the European Commission 59 ) were to be met, it will in practice remain a far less recyclable material than paper-based packaging such as cartons .

5.5.2 Incineration for Energy Recovery

As efforts to divert waste away from landfill have increased, so has the use of incineration. This has the benefit of recovering some of the energy by producing electricity, steam and heat for buildings. Waste can also be used as a fuel in certain industrial processes. In Europe, there are strict requirements governing waste incineration, to ensure that any harmful emissions are minimised, though this may not be the case in other parts of the world. 60

There are also concerns that over-deployment of incineration can distort the waste hierarchy, by creating an ongoing demand for such waste (a so-called ‘lock-in’ effect) that in some cases could have been better utilised through recycling. 61

For plastics as a whole, more waste is incinerated than is recycled 62 but, for plastic packaging specifically, the opposite is true – according to Eurostat, 31% of plastic packaging was recovered in 2015 (most likely through incineration for energy), whereas nearly 40% was recycled. However, no more than 8% of paper and card board packaging was incinerated in the same period, compared to nearly 83% recycled. 63 Therefore, considering the waste hierarchy, it can be argued that more effective use is made of paper and cardboard at the end of its life.

5.5.3 Landfill & Leakage

Landfill is the least beneficial waste disposal option because all of the resources used to make the item is lost. Furthermore, biodegradable wastes (including paper) sent to landfill, may not decompose fully and, in the absence of oxygen, give off methane, an undesirable greenhouse gas. They can also create a potentially toxic liquid run-off called leachate. 64 In Europe, legislation has reduced biodegradable waste going to landfill and there are strict requirements for controlling methane and leachate. Some countries have even banned waste going directly to landfill, mostly with a corresponding increase in incineration. 65

59 European Commission, Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, December 2015.

60 European Commission, Being wise with waste: the EU’s approach to waste management, 2010.

61 Ellen MacArthur Foundation, The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics, 2016.

62 PlasticsEurope, Plastics – the Facts 2016, 2016.

63 Based on Eurostat, Packaging waste by waste operations and waste flow (env_waspac), query run October 2017.

64 European Commission, Being wise with waste: the EU’s approach to waste management, 2010.

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20/21 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com Leakage appears to be a much more substantial problem for plastic packaging than for paper-based packaging. It is likely that, if littered, paper-based packaging breaks down within months, before it becomes an issue, whereas the durability of plastic means it can stay in the environment for centuries. 69 This helps to explain why, between 2013 and 2017, 82% of the litter collected on European beaches was plastic, while only 2% was paper or cardboard. 70 European Beach Litter 2013 - 2017

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According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, it is thought that globally up to 32% of plastic packaging (no tably drinks bottles) leaks out of the waste management system and that at least 8 million tonnes of plastics find their way into the ocean each year (equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean per minute) , with the majority of this being packaging. Because plastics last so long, there are fears that without action it will continue to accumulate so that, by 2050, there may be more plastic than fish in the ocean, by weight. 72

As well as the cost associated with trying to clean up ocean plastics, there are serious concerns about the impact on marine life and, ultimately, human health. Plastics are ingested by sea birds, fish and other organisms, and experts warn that some of it is already finding its way into the human food chain. Plastic has been found in a third of UK-caught fish, 73 sea salt around the world 74 and 72% of European drinking water. 75

69 A paper bag is estimated to take one month to break down, whereas a plastic bag takes 10-20 years and a plastic bottle takes 450 years – source: Keep Britain Tidy, The Little Book of Litter, 2012.

70 European Environment Agency, Marine LitterWatch Data Viewer (https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/dashboards/marine-litter watch-data-viewer), accessed October 2017.

71 Ellen MacArthur Foundation, The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics, 2016.

72 The Guardian, A million bottles a minute: world's plastic binge 'as dangerous as climate change', June 2017.

73 The Guardian, Sea salt around the world is contaminated by plastic, studies show, September 2017.

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22/23 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com tree growth) is calculated as -730 kg per tonne of cartons. 79 Some of this removed carbon will be re-emitted when biomass is burnt for energy, but some will also be locked up in the carton, at least for a while, compen- sating somewhat for the fossil CO 2.

Plastics come in many types, for many applications and comparable public data for alternatives to cartonboard is difficult to find. The plastics industry has claimed that for packaging applications, if plastics were to be sub - stituted by alternative materials, greenhouse gas emissions would increase by a factor of 2.7, or by 61 million tonnes of CO 2 equivalents per year. However, the underlying study (Denkstatt 2011 80 ) does not compare plastic against specific alternatives but against a theoretical mix of all alternative materials and so should be treated with a great deal of caution. More reliably, eco profiles for PE and PP resins show a cradle to gate carbon foot - print of between 1,630 and 1,870kg of CO 2e per tonne 81 , suggesting that even at an earlier stage of production, plastic has a considerably higher carbon footprint per tonne than converted cartonboard. This is supported by older research by WRAP, which indicated that the average carbon footprint of plastic packaging is around 3,000kg of CO 2e per tonne, with cardboard (including corrugated and cartonboard) being about 1,000kg of CO 2e per tonne 81 . However, it should be noted that this data does not provide an accurate comparison (nor was it in tended to). Furthermore, while the carbon footprint per tonne may be lower for cartonboard, the amount of plastic required to package the same item may be less. Therefore, any carbon footprint should be evaluated with regards to the specific application (and with consideration for wider life cycle impacts).

79 Pro Carton, The Carbon Cycle: Role of cartonboard’s natural raw material, 2015.

80 Denkstatt / PlasticsEurope, The impact of plastic packaging on life cycle energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, 2011.

81 PlasticsEurope, Eco-profiles and Environmental Product Declarations of the European Plastics Manufacturers – HDPE, LDPE & LLDPE and PP, December 2016.

82 WRAP, Methodology for assessing the climate change impacts of packaging optimisation under the Courtauld Commitment Phase 2, December 2010. 6 . R c P d e o a b t i l f F C C m e i e h i h l a l n g u n e a

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24/25 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com Appendix: Types of Plastic

I. Polyethylene (PE) 83

Example Uses: (HDPE) milk bottles, freezer bags, shampoo bottles, food tubs; (LDPE) squeeze bottles, shrink wrap, rubbish bags.

PE, or Polyethylene, is a chemically resistant thermoplastic that can be very durable. Polyethylene is derived from either modifying natural gas or from the catalytic cracking of crude oil producing ethylene. Manufac turing processes are usually categorized into ‘high pressure’ and ‘low pressure’ operations. The former produces low density polyethylene (LDPE) while the latter makes high density (HDPE) and linear low density (LLDPE) polyethylenes.

Properties:

• Easily processed by most methods. It is capable of being moulded, extruded and cast into many various shapes. • Can be flexible or rigid. • Strong and a dimensionally stable material that absorbs very little water. • Good gas barrier properties. • Good chemical resistance against acids, greases and oils. • Can be highly transparent and colourless but thicker sections are usually opaque and off-white. • Good self-extinguishing properties. • Resistance against ultra violet.

Recycled PE is made by collecting, sorting and regrinding it into usable resin. It can be blended with virgin poly ethylene, extruded into film and converted into bags and tubing. PE present in mixed plastic waste streams can also be recovered for its energy content.

II. Polypropylene (PP) 84

Example Uses: Microwaveable dishes, food tubs, bags, textiles, stationery, reusable containers, polymer banknotes.

Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer mainly derived from the catalytic cracking of crude oil. Melt pro cessing of polypropylene can be achieved via extrusion and moulding. The large number of end-use applications for polypropylene are often possible because of the ability to tailor grades with specific molecular properties and additives during its manufacture.

83 Source: http://www.plasticseurope.org/what-is-plastic/types-of-plastics-11148/polyolefins/polyethylene.aspx

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26/27 Comparison of Carton and Plastic Packaging Sustainability www.procarton.com V. Polystyrene (PS) 87

Example Uses: CD ‘jewel cases’, disposable cups, yoghurt pots, foamed meat trays, electronics, toys.

Polystyrene is a thermoplastic polymer which softens when heated and can be converted into semi-finished products like films and sheets, as well as a wide range of finished articles. The building block - monomer - of - polystyrene is styrene, which is obtained from crude oil through a range of processes such as distillation, steam- cracking. In order to get the final articles, polystyrene pellets are extruded, thermoformed or injection moulded. Applications of thermoformed articles include disposables such as cups, plates, pots and food trays. Typical injection moulding applications are housing of televisions, jewel boxes for compact discs, toys and innumerable other uses.

Properties: • Can be rigid or foamed • Inexpensive resin per unit weight • Poor barrier to oxygen and water vapour • Relatively low melting point • Transparent but can be coloured

Polystyrene is generally not recycled.

VI. Bioplastic s 88

Example Uses: potentially anything made from conventional plastics.

Currently, bioplastics represent about one per cent of the about 300 million tonnes of plastic produced annually 89 . Bioplastics – plastics that are biobased, biodegradable, or both – have the same properties as con ventional plastics and offer additional advantages, such as a reduced carbon footprint or additional waste management options such as composting. Bioplastics are a diverse family of materials with differing properties. There are three main groups:

Properties: • Biobased or partially biobased non-biodegradable plastics such as biobased PE, PP, or PET (so-called drop-ins) and biobased technical performance polymers such as PTT or TPC-ET • Plastics that are both biobased and biodegradable, such as PLA and PHA or PBS • Plastics that are based on fossil resources and are biodegradable, such as PBAT.

87 Source: http://www.plasticseurope.org/what-is-plastic/types-of-plastics-11148/polystyrene.aspx

88 Source: http://www.european-bioplastics.org/bioplastics/materials/

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