But “simply demonising plastic is not the answer”, says Matthias Schaefer, corporate director of global packaging engineering for the Adhesive Technologies business unit at the multinational Henkel. “There is no silver bullet to this problem. Plastic will continue to play an important role in packaging for some time to come as it is lightweight and extends the shelf life of food, among others. But we urgently need to find alternative packaging materials and make plastic packaging easier to recycle. I don’t believe we have a plastics crisis so much as a waste crisis,” he says.
Schaefer points out that much of the crisis stems from a lack of recycling infrastructure in developing nations. While plastic recycling is low globally, it has advanced strongly in recent years in developed countries. The UK is estimated to have recycled 51% of its plastic waste in 2020, so is still short of the industry goal of 70% by 2025. And globally there is even further to go.
Henkel has been cooperating with Plastic Bank since 2017. The social enterprise works on reducing the plastic pollution of oceans.
Companies such as Henkel, the chemical and consumer goods company behind familiar names such as Schwarzkopf, Loctite and Pritt, recognise this – and, in Henkel’s case, finds itself combatting the plastic waste issue on two fronts: it is working to reduce plastic and designing for more recyclability in its consumer brands businesses while needing to innovate solutions for customers as a supplier.
So, it’s a sticky problem – and it may have a sticky solution. Philippe Blank, circular economy lead for Adhesive Technologies at Henkel, says there are a wealth of ways that Henkel’s adhesive technologies can use its expertise to help.
Henkel has created a glue-based alternative to the shrink-wrap plastic used to hold boxes in place on warehouse pallets. Thin, adhesive strips are placed on each box of product so that they can stick to each other on the pallet and hold fast. That has the potential to save thousands of tonnes of plastic wrapping.
Another recent innovation is the KeelClip, a cardboard alternative to the classic plastic rings or shrink wrap used to hold together multipacks of cans, such as beer. KeelClip has been developed in cooperation with Graphic Packaging International (GPI) and uses Henkel technology.
Then there is surface treatment technology for enhancing paper to give it similar qualities to plastic – this includes adding functional barriers and coatings to make paper grease and liquid resistant. Despite adding this layer, the paper remains recyclable in existing paper recycling processes. This is an example of Henkel’s EPIX technology, a portfolio of materials that make paper more suitable for packaging in place of plastic.