Metal matters
The high-level industry debate was organised by Metal Packaging Europe (MPE) and took place in Brussels at the end of January. Bringing together an invite-only forum of EU policy makers, industry representatives, European associations and NGO’s, MPE initiated a discussion on the significant challenges in creating a resource efficient Europe and the positive impact metal packaging can make to accelerate this journey.
For the challenge is not one for industry alone. Materials efficiency is a legal, national and societal responsibility. The debate proved challenging, but the key message – that there is nothing more sustainable than permanent materials – is one that the metal packaging industry is confident to uphold together.
Metal is a permanent material with infinite recyclability. Such infinite materials have the capability to provide a key and unlimited natural asset for future generations and, through infinite recycling, metals can make a major contribution to a resource efficient Europe.
Apeal president Robert Beltz (pictured) joined an illustrious panel to focus awareness on the recycling potential and record of steel.
The economic case for recycling
The Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe, currently on the discussion table in the European Commission, reflects rising awareness about resource scarcity and raw material prices, and is seen as a precondition for long-term sustainable economic development in Europe. During the debate, recycling emerged consistently as a key element of the solution.
“The scarcity of resources forces the EU to become radically more efficient, and recycling is paramount to achieve this goal,” says Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, MEP, and Rapporteur on the roadmap for the European Parliament’s Environment Committee. He stressed that, for economic and ecological reasons, Europe should strive for recycling percentages close to 100 per cent for certain materials, suggesting the launch of pilot projects to show the full recycling potential of materials. “This could be stimulated by lowering the VAT for secondary materials, as a more efficient use of resources is essential for the EU to get out of the economic crisis,” he added.
The panel clearly appreciated the commitment shown by the metal packaging industry to come together under the umbrella of MPE and take its responsibilties seriously. “Industry will have to play a key role if we want to see effective waste management delivering its full potential for resource efficiency and creating new business opportunities and jobs,” notes Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, in a video message filmed specifically for the event.
The business case for recycling
“Recycling is the core of our steel strategy,” says Beltz, explaining how the steel making process requires the use of ferrous scrap.
He highlighted how steel’s 72 per cent European recycling rate average saves raw materials and reduces emissions. ”Each item of recycled steel packaging saves one and a half times its weight of CO2,” he adds. “That’s four million tonnes of CO2 each year.” Recycling is also appealing to industry because of the high price for metals and energy, he told participants.
Acknowledging that recycling rates are not equal across Europe, he highlighted the need to apply best practices from certain countries to others, in order to expand knowledge and infrastructure. He cited Belgium as a best practice, with its steel recycling rate of 98 per cent.
William Vermeir, in the audience from Fost Plus, the private organisation which manages collection, sorting, and recycling of household packaging waste in Belgium, underlined the importance of enforcing transparent and accountable methods for calculating and reporting recycling.
MPE’s sustainability manifesto
Committed to and united through a sustainability manifesto, the metal packaging industry showed itself ready to take on the challenge of a resource-efficient Europe and presented its sustainability objectives, notably 80 per cent recycling by 2020 (current average is 70 per cent) and zero metal waste to landfill.
“We invite Member States, policy-makers and stakeholders to join forces to meet the 2020 MPE target. Our industry is bold in its ask and we believe we can even exceed this target,” says Anders Linde, sectetary general of Metal Packaging Europe. “No metal packaging should go to landfill.”
Linde also called for recognition of the concept of permanent material in EU legislation. He applauded the work undertaken by the British Standards organisation who, for the first time, has defined permanent materials in a clear and obvious way: “Those [materials] for which efforts are made to retain for use in society the energy and raw materials invested in their production at the end of the product life, either through reuse of recycling, with no loss of quality, no matter how many times the material is recycled.”
Prevention and reduction
Stéphane Arditi of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), stated how the EEB is more than happy to support 80 per cent metal recycling by 2020.
However, along with Green MEP Reinhard Bütikofer, he challenged the panel by pointing out that, whilst recycling was indeed a contributor to sustainability, waste prevention, or the use of less material in the first place, must remain the top priority.
Beltz emphasised the continuous innovation undertaken by the steel industry to optimise the end product. He also detailed how new generation steel grades have made cans a third lighter over the last 20 years, using less raw material and consuming less energy.
The panel agreed the need for legislation to enforce greater innovation and eco-design that would improve the recyclability of products at the design stage.
Smarter regulations
Whilst Bütikofer welcomed the industry’s efforts and targets, he underlined that the success of the resource efficiency roadmap required a solid resource efficiency alliance across the EU.
“While the Commission and the Parliament want to promote an efficiency strategy, many member states are putting their foot on the brakes and are trying to kill that agenda because they don’t understand how promising it would be for future competitiveness of the EU in industry,” he says.
He also called for higher recycling targets, and regulations that make it worthwhile for businesses and public authorities to recycle.
Gerbrandy backed the call for EU legislation change, notably through a revision of EU packaging and waste legislation and more ambitious recycling targets that would enable Europe to reach its full recycling potential.
Waste as a resource
One thing that all participants appeared to agree on was to promote waste as a key resource in the EU’s future economy.
“Waste is the new resource,” says Gerbrandy, sharing how he is currently considering ways of making waste more mobile across Europe. Indeed, his closing statements made reference to how it is becoming economically more interesting to work on waste, with private equity also arriving in the sector.
“I very much welcome the commitment of the metal packaging industry to making waste a resource, and to developing a real cradle to cradle approach,” adds Potocnik. “Metal Packaging Europe’s main proposals, such as increasing resource efficiency, zero metals in landfills, and closed loop recycling – are important messages to the rest of the European industry. Only by working together we will be able to take a step towards resource efficiency.”
The event officially launched MPE in Brussels as the umbrella organisation of metal packaging associations in Europe, representing the united interests of producers and suppliers of rigid metal packaging. The MPE board is formed of chief executives from the major steel, aluminium and packaging converter companies, Apeal (Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging), BCME (Beverage Can Makers Europe), EAA (the European Aluminium Association) and EMPAC (The European Metal Packaging Association).
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