Press release -
Plastics circularity needs to become meaningful, inclusive, and practical
Circularity is an established concept in the public debate, and yet, it remains a broad notion that needs a clear definition. A clear definition and purpose of promoting circularity is vital in promoting sustainability in value chains as current actions aiming at achieving circularity can be overly focused on phony effects and contribute to cementing policy and infrastructure that fail to pave the way towards true sustainability.
In a new paper published today in the Journal of Waste Management, four scientists from Brunel University London, Politecnico di Milano, University of Southern Denmark and Wageningen University & Research remind us that circularity is not necessarily synonymous with sustainability. Therefore, striving to achieve circularity will not always guarantee a sustainable outcome.
Achieving higher circularity of packaging materials, components, and products is now a significant trajectory taken by politicians and businesses to curb the negative environmental impacts caused by packaging life cycles. Circularity has become an established concept in the public debate but still remains a broad notion that needs a precise definition, that goes beyond the use of metrics and indicators that are not fit for purpose or easy to measure such as collection rates, recycling rates, recycled content, biobased content etc… Circularity measured with such indicators fails to capture system realities or broader effects, including potential rebound effects that may negate or even overturn environmental benefits.
As an example of a meaningful and practical approach, the four researchers Ciprian Cimpan, Eleni Iacovidou, Lucia Rigamonti and Eggo U. Thoden van Velzen propose a product-centric circularity scorecard that captures aspects likely to demonstrate a product's environmental sustainability. It is based on 7 simple questions covering the life cycle of a product: production, use and end-of-life. This "common sense" approach resembles the waste hierarchy with a simple priority order that holds true in most cases.
“Current actions aiming at achieving circularity may be overly focused on superficial effects and losing sight of true circular economy goals” the four researchers argue. “Our aim is to trigger a scientific discussion on how to best combine scientific knowledge and research on the flows of materials, components and products through society to achieve the broader objective of sustainability, while keeping up with the timelines imposed by the pace of business and policy decisions. That is why we are making a plea for meaningful circularity goals, to avoid that business or policy decisions involuntarily contribute to cementing policy and infrastructure that do not contribute to true sustainability”, they conclude.
In a context where the European Commission is proposing to turn the Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive into a Regulation that would be directly applicable in all EU Member States, it becomes of paramount importance that we do not lose sight of actual circular economy goals. In cases where Member States have initiated new laws on packaging waste, and where the business community is committing to ambitious targets to increase the circularity of their products a meaningful, inclusive and practical circularity that promotes sustainability is crucial!
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Politecnico di Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers.
The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer.
Research has always been linked to didactics and it is a priority commitment which has allowed Politecnico Milano to achieve high quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path to that formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system.
Knowing the world in which you are going to work is a vital requirement for training students. By referring back to the needs of the industrial world and public administration, research is facilitated in following new paths and dealing with the need for constant and rapid innovation. The alliance with the industrial world, in many cases favored by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belong, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development.
The challenge which is being met today projects this tradition which is strongly rooted in the territory beyond the borders of the country, in a relationship which is developing first of all at the European level with the objective of contributing to the creation of a single professional training market. Politecnico takes part in several research, sites and training projects collaborating with the most qualified European universities. Politecnico's contribution is increasingly being extended to other countries: from North America to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Today the drive to internationalization sees Politecnico Milano taking part into the European and world network of leading technical universities and it offers several courses beside many which are entirely taught in English.
