Every minute, 1 million plastic bottles are bought around the world. In the United Kingdom, consumers go through an estimated 13 billion plastic drinks bottles per year, with more than 3 billion incinerated, sent to landfill of left to pollute the environment.

Deposit return schemes (DRS) have been identified around the world as part of the solution to this problem, as a way both of tackling pollution and increasing recycling rates.  

With both production and consumption growing, it is positive that the U.K. is beginning to transition into a more circular economy with legislation that follows the example of other countries.

In the U.K., Scotland has been the first to commit to a deposit return scheme as part of wider efforts to prevent discarded drinks containers from ending up in streets and oceans. The country stands on the cusp of a seismic shift. Its government has in the last few weeks announced an “all in” scheme to be up and running by 2021, covering drinks containers of all sizes and a wide range of materials, including glass.

The U.K. government is currently consulting on proposals to introduce a DRS for drink containers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, watching closely as feedback on the Scottish model rolls in.

Benefits of DRS

Deposit return schemes have experienced great success in Scandinavia, where recycling rates are about double of those in the U.K.

Globally, DRS are achieving up to 40 per cent higher collection rates for plastic, aluminum and glass beverage containers than other collection methods. Tomra’s reverse vending machines (RVMs) for container collection capture 40 billion used beverage containers across 82,000 installations worldwide every year. 

In order to make the return of bottles and cans more efficient and convenient, many container deposit schemes use automated RVMs to analyse and sort containers when they are collected for recycling and reuse. RVMs instantly count the number of containers returned, sort away ineligible containers and pay out the correct deposit refund to recyclers. It is considerably more efficient and cleaner than taking containers back manually, as well as being better equipped at dealing with high volumes.  

RVMs can be found at supermarkets, allowing users to receive their refund in cash or as vouchers or points they can use in store. In some countries, it’s possible to donate the deposit money to charity, direct from the reverse vending machine.

Tomra believes there are two main reasons behind container deposit schemes’ success in tackling pollution and increasing recycling rates.

Deposit return systems provide a financial incentive for consumers to return drink containers, which might otherwise become litter or thrown into landfill. Giving a financial value to these empties--.25 euros per bottle in some countries and 20 pence in Scotland--communicates that they have a value for society and helps to shift perceptions. Containers are viewed and treated as a resource, rather than simply as waste.

Also, by separating bottles and cans for recycling through RVMs, drink containers are collected without contamination from other types of household waste. This ensures containers can be recycled into new bottles and cans, rather than used for lower quality applications. This is a process known as closed loop recycling, which Tomra calls the “clean loop.”

This reduces both reliance on the raw materials needed to produce new beverage containers and waste ending up in landfills or in the environment.

Success around the world

Countries around the world successfully operate these schemes, which result in 70 to 100 percent of all drink containers being recycled.

Scandinavia and Norway are recognized as trailblazers in DRS. Starting with Tomra’s first RVM in 1972, today return rates in Norway are 97 percent for cans and 95 percent for PET plastic, with collections managed by scheme coordinator Infinitum.

Following the introduction of its DRS in 2003, Germany’s recycling return rates are approximately 97 percent of all plastic bottles and 99 percent for cans.

With the aim of reducing litter, cutting local government costs and boosting recycling rates, Lithuania introduced its scheme in 2016 with Tomra RVMs, increasing the country’s return rates from 34 percent to 92 percent in two years.

In Canada, the first DRS was rolled out in 1970, with nearly all provinces and territories now embracing it. The return schemes recover 80 percent of nonrefillable beverage containers sold compared with 50 percent from municipal curbside recycling programs.

Tomra sees these countries as examples of the positive impact that it anticipates DRS will have on returns in the U.K.

Moving to a circular economy

Tomra believes container deposit schemes are one part of the solution to changing attitudes around empty drink containers and improving recycling rates and are a vital part of moving to a circular economy.

European Union member states have legislative proposals on waste, including a 75 percent target recycling rate on plastic packaging by 2030 and a 90 percent collection rate by 2025. DRS not only drive recycling targets but ensure materials can be recycled in the most effective way possible.

Tomra believes the more materials included in DRS and the fewer restrictions, the better. A simple, straightforward and all-encompassing scheme has the potential to achieve the best return rates. However, the best result is a strong circular economy that keeps litter out of oceans, streets and landfill and changes habits for good.

The emerging set of new energy vehicles (NEVs) is requiring auto recyclers to explore new methods and technologies as they try to boost the recycling rate of such vehicles. According to presenters at the 2019 E-Mobility & Circular Economy (EMCE 2019) conference, organized by Switzerland-based ICM AG and held in Tokyo July 1-3, those methods include ways of handling battery packs and other materials.

Alvin Piadasa, who works from Australia for Singapore-based TES Group, says the company’s experience in electronics recycling has it poised to deal with some of the electronic vehicle (EV) challenges with which traditional end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recyclers may not be familiar.

The company, founded in 2005, is opening a lithium ion battery recycling facility in Singapore later in 2019, said Piadasa. Beyond batteries, TES Group also has been investing to seek the maximum return on the plastics, glass and carbon fiber materials that can be found in obsolete electronics and in ELVs.

The company has been converting low-value mixed polymers into briquettes (called Vitaquettes) that can be used in steel furnaces as an additive to replace metallurgical coal (metcoke).

Higher up the value chain, TES is converting ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) and polycarbonate plastic scrap into 3D printer filaments. Piadasa said the filaments, which exhibit good tensile strength and low warping, can be made from 80 percent scrap and offer a “low carbon footprint compared to virgin material.”

Other TES projects involve creating activated carbon from battery materials and using plastic, glass and toner powder scrap to make silicon-alloy “nanowires” that can be used in water filtration applications.

Piadasa compared what TES is doing to Middle Ages alchemy. “We think there are low-cost, high ROI solutions for nonmetallic items,” he stated. “Alchemy is not elusive; it is quite possible.”

Farouk Tedjar has spent several decades on battery recycling methods with France-based Recupyl, which was purchased by TES Group in 2013. Tedjar said shifting from “old mines” to the urban mine will make increasing sense for battery materials. He cited the recovery of manganese and zinc as two examples, with some batteries containing up to 20 percent of the material, while “the richest ores only have 5-to-6 percent” of one of the elements.

In lithium ion batteries (LIBs), he pointed to cobalt and lithium as urban mining candidates. Tedjar said 65 percent of the world’s cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, creating a supply risk for the metal.

Also recoverable from batteries are graphite and phosphorous, with Tedjar saying some analysts believe the world has reached “peak phosphorous” in terms of what can be mined.

The technology exists to recover and recycle pure forms of all of these materials, he stated, if the will and the investments are made. Tedjar indicated optimism that such a future is at hand. “Resources are finite; innovation is infinite,” he stated.

In the conference’s host nation of Japan, Harita Metal Co. Ltd. has been moving beyond its traditional scrap metal recycling activities to explore new options, according to the firm’s president Makoto Harita.

Harita said the company is expecting its ELV stream to change to include less steel and iron scrap and more EV batteries. He said this will entail creating new techniques and having new responsibilities, including data management pertaining to onboard computers.

The company also anticipates a greater and more diversified stream of aluminum alloys used in vehicle production, and thus has invested in automated aluminum alloy sorting at its facility. Makoto Harita indicated his company wants to design similar sorting systems for ferrous alloys, red metals and stainless alloys, and an auto shredder residue-to-fuel system. “We need to create a new form of automobile recycling that does not yet exist,” stated Harita.

EMCE 2019, which featured plant tours, workshops, conference sessions and an exhibit hall, was July 1-3 at the Westin Tokyo.

Samuel Simon, longtime scrap industry veteran, died June 30 at the age of 93. He served as president of Williamsport, Pennsylvania-based Simon Resources for many years and as a partner at Simon-Eastern Corp., Temple, Pennsylvania, until 1983.

Samuel Simon joined the family business in 1949 and became active in scrap metal recycling, industrial demolition and railroad construction. In 1973, he made the decision to install and operate an auto shredder in Williamsport, becoming one of the first such operations in the Mid-Atlantic region.  

Samuel Simon also was a longtime consultant to the Williamsport companies of Penn Recycling Inc., Chromagraphic Processing Co. and Coastal Aluminum Rolling Mills Inc.

“He was a visionary who possessed tremendous integrity, charisma, an iron will and dogged determination, a great sense of humor and typically said quite a lot with just a few well-placed words,” his eldest son, David Simon, recalls. “In addition, his humility, sense of fairness and regard for everyone as an equal, no matter what their personal circumstances, set a wonderful example for our family.”

In addition to David Simon, Samuel Simon’s other sons, Larry, Ken and Joseph Simon, are in the scrap business, owning and operating Coatesville Scrap Iron and Metal Co., Coatesville, Pennsylvania, as well as a number of other scrap companies with yards in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

“My brothers and I attribute all we have done businesswise to his leadership and inspiration and will carry on in the spirit of his memory, which continues to guide us,” David Simon says.

Samuel Simon is survived by his wife of 70 years, Sylvia; his daughter, Patricia; his four sons; six grandchildren, one of whom, Louis, is also in the family business; and two great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Williamsport Federation of Jewish Charities, P.O. Box 1973, Williamsport, PA 17703, or to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

To help manufacturers ensure plastic packaging is recycled, Virginia-based Trex Co., which makes wood-alternative decking and railing from recycled plastic, is offering free recyclability testing to packaging manufacturers and brand owners. If the packaging passes the test, the companies' packaging may qualify for the NexTrex recycling program.

“Plastic film plays a critical role in the packaging and transportation of many consumer goods, but it also presents a considerable challenge to manufacturers looking to reduce waste and their carbon footprints,” the company says in a news release.

The assessment tests plastic packaging or film plastic for recyclability, the risk of product contamination in the packaging after use and the risk of contamination for nonrecyclable “look-a-like” plastic packaging.

Trex says packaging designers, producers and brand owners can send in a packaged product sample and Trex will provide them with a comprehensive report, so “they can make adjustments as needed to meet recyclability standards and select an appropriate recycling method."

Trex accepts grocery and retail bags, newspaper sleeves, resealable bags, wood pellet bags, mattress bags and e-commerce mailers among other plastics. The company diverts more than 400 million pounds of plastic film from landfill per year to create composite decking, made from 95 percent recycled material.

“Trex invented composite decking more than 25 years ago as a way to reduce waste generated from plastic bags,” says Dave Heglas, senior director of material management for Trex. “Today, we are one of the largest recyclers of plastic film in North America and a leader in educating and engaging both the commercial and consumer sectors in recycling efforts.”

Retailers and packaging companies partner with Trex to “responsibly dispose of plastic shopping bags and polyethylene film used to wrap products and pallets." The testing will validate whether material is capable of being recycled in the Trex recycling stream.

Once packaging samples have been tested and approved by Trex, companies could qualify for a Trex commercial recycling partnership, which offers “competitive compensation” for recycled materials.

“Our free testing program is intended to encourage more manufacturers to participate, while ensuring that the plastic we are collecting meets our high standards for production,” Heglas says. “We are proud to offer a viable solution for our country’s growing supply of plastic content. The U.S. needs more end markets for recycled materials. Through our NexTrex recycling program, we hope to lead by example and inspire others to find ways to be part of the solution.”