A novel method of accounting for plastic packaging waste

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has set itself the goal of becoming a resource-efficient circular economy. It has therefore begun tackling its increasing amounts of packaging waste using both regulations and strategies, with member countries aiming to increase their recycling rates for plastic packaging to 55% by 2030. However, the EU member states have different methods for collecting data on waste recycling rates, which makes it difficult to compare their performance in reaching that target. This article introduces a method to compile industry-specific accounting of plastic packaging, using the Finnish economy as an example. The method combines packaging data from the extended producer responsibility scheme with standard economic statistics, thus enabling the calculation of transparent estimates of the total amount of plastic packaging placed on the market. It also provides data for sector-specific waste management strategies that are aimed at achieving higher packaging material recycling rates. The method is compared to an approach based on waste analysis, demonstrating that results using packaging placed on the market are more reliable. The available data is also linked to generalisations in composition studies that have their own uncertainties.