The recycling industry is familiar with change, and its latest transformation is propelled by sustainability, specifically the goal of strengthening the circular economy. The recycling industry is the gatekeeper of the circular economy. What isn’t recycled can’t be made into new material. As a result, new recycling policies, minimum recycled content, EPR laws, and an increasing number of circularity goals set by corporations are focused on reducing waste by increasing the use of recycled materials and increasing the recovery rate in material recovery facilities (MRFs). There are two specific drivers of change in the recycling industry right now: EPR and circularity goals set by corporations. Let’s check them out.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
EPR is legislation that places the responsibility on the producers for the end-of-life packaging. This means that packaging producers will be held financially and operationally responsible for the recovery and recycling of their packaging. By focusing on producers, EPR legislations worldwide have positively impacted recycling programs by providing greater access to recycling and dramatically increasing recovery rates. Under EPR, recycling facilities will have to meet increasingly higher standards for recovery rates of recyclable material to help strengthen the circular economy. Producers will also have a strong incentive to make packaging more recyclable, increasing the demand for recycled commodities and again placing pressure on MRFs to increase their recovery rate.
Corporate Circularity and Sustainability Goals
Many Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) companies are setting rigid goals to reduce their emissions. CPG companies track three types of emissions: scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3. Scope 3 emissions account for 95% of a company’s overall carbon footprint and can be reduced by:
- Improving the recyclability of packaging
- Minimizing packaging and opting for low-impact materials
- Implement a closed-loop manufacturing process for waste reduction and management of end-of-life waste
To reduce scope 3 emissions, CPG companies are setting vital circularity goals for their packaging, including making packaging recyclable and/or made of recyclable materials. These commitments place pressure on the recycling industry, as CPG companies will need access to a large supply of high-quality recyclable material, which is proving to be a challenge.
How sustainability goals and legislation impact the recycling industry
Currently, the recycling industry needs to be more efficient in meeting the standards set by EPR and recovering enough material for sustainable packaging. Unfortunately, recovery rates at Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) are alarmingly low, resulting in 40% of recyclable materials being directed to landfills. This low recycling rate contributes to a foreseeable shortfall in recyclable materials needed for sustainable packaging. This McKinsey article, Filling the gap: Boosting supply of recycled materials for packaging, highlights that the demand for recycled materials is starting to outstrip the supply. The only way to fix this is by increasing the recovery of recyclables in sorting facilities.
To increase material recovery, recycling facilities must adopt advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, to revolutionize their operations and bolster material recovery efforts.
The integration of AI and robotics can help in two specific ways. Firstly, robotics technology can substantially increase the volume of recyclable materials recovered at a MRF, sometimes by 2-3x over traditional sorting methods. By automating sorting processes with precision and efficiency, robotics can increase material recovery rate, help facilities meet EPR requirements, and reduce the supply and demand gap for sustainable packaging.
Secondly, AI-powered systems offer transformative capabilities to generate comprehensive data insights throughout the recycling lifecycle. AI-generated data analytics, including data on material characterization, recovery rates, and bale quality, gives recycling facilities invaluable visibility into their operations. This data-driven approach empowers recyclers to improve operational efficiencies and foster a closed-loop recycling ecosystem essential for meeting escalating demands for recyclable materials. AI can also provide packaging manufacturers with data to help them improve the recyclability of their packaging.
In essence, deploying AI and robotics technologies represents a pivotal step forward for the recycling industry, offering unprecedented opportunities to enhance recovery rates, ensure sustainable packaging practices, and ultimately mitigate the environmental impact of material waste. In addition, new AI and robotics systems can be implemented into existing plant infrastructure without a large capital investment. Making it easy to enhance the sustainability of the recycling industry and bolster the circular economy.
By: Apurba Pradhan, Head of Product at EverestLabs
