Posts Tagged ‘Carlos Ludlow-Palafox’
World’s biggest brands put on notice over 5,000,000-tonne laminate packaging problem
HUNTINGDON, UK â Big brands have been put on notice about their inaction over the world’s growing 5,000,000-tonne problem of plastic aluminium laminate waste.
Following revelations in The Times newspaper about the scale of the problem in the UK and internationally, the CEO of the company behind the world’s only solution for recycling laminate waste has called on the world’s biggest FMCG companies to support investment in new processing capacity.
Enval CEO Dr Carlos Ludlow-Palafox has written an open letter addressed to the CEOs of companies that benefit from laminate packaging, such as Unilever, Kraft, Nestlé , Mars, Colgate, Campbell’s, GSK and Hain-Celestial to get behind efforts to process post-consumer waste.
Across Europe and the US, billions of plastic aluminium laminate pouches, tubes and sachets are being discarded and sent to landfill or incineration while the consumers are often misled into thinking that they are recycled, The Times has reported.
In the UK alone more than 10 billion packets of baby foods, pet foods, cosmetics and drinks are sold annually but fewer than 1 in 20,000 is recycled. Of the remainder two thirds go to landfill and the rest are incinerated. This recycling rate is 50 times worse than that of disposable coffee cups, which has received great attention from media and politicians alike.
Because the material contains bonded plastic and aluminium, the packages cannot be treated either as plastic or as aluminium. Only the Enval process can deal with them, however currently there are no major initiatives in place in the UK or the world to collect and sort post-consumer packages and genuinely recycle them.
To process the waste, Enval has developed the world’s only commercial scale plant to deal with the material, which uses a microwave heating method to recover the aluminium into reusable ingots and process the plastic into reclaimed oil.
Manufacturers and waste companies have undertaken successful trials with the Enval plant but have failed to support wider collection and processing efforts due to a reluctance to make the initial investment required.
Enval CEO Dr Ludlow-Palafox said the lack of involvement by the FMCG brand owners and the risk-averse nature of the waste handling sector has meant the Huntingdon plant is still the only one in operation.
âWe believe the time for complacency is over. FMCG brands are using laminate packaging because of its exceptional characteristics and cost and environmental benefits. Yet the fact remains that more than 10 billion pouches, tubes and sachets end up being thrown away in the UK alone. This is inexcusable now that we have an environmentally sustainable and economically viable solution. These same companies boast about their environmental credentials: it is time for some action.
âConsumers are buying laminate packaging in good faith â often either thinking it can be recycled or because there is no other choice. Big brands have reaped the benefits of advancements in packaging technology while delivering no certainty to consumers.
“The problem of single-use laminates dwarfs that of coffee cups. Brands and regulators now need to put their money where their mouth is and ensure that laminates can be genuinely reprocessed and these materials brought into a circular economy that benefits both the market and the planet.”
Independent studies commissioned by WRAP UK and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have shown that laminates can be readily separated from waste streams using conventional sorting technology. These studies also proved that a majority of householders, when asked, sort laminates for recycling for collection as they do with other materials.
Copy of the open letter.
We are ready, are you?
Enval’s technology was recently showcased on Sky News as part of the Sky Ocean Rescue Project, a campaign that aims to educate and inspire people to reduce the amount of plastic waste produced every day. Sky News Correspondent, Becky Johnson, visited Enval’s commercial-scale plant in the UK and saw the waste packaging being fed to the plant and the aluminium it produces, ready for reintroduction to the aluminium supply chain to make new aluminium products.
The Sky feature explains that the Enval process is ready to prevent tens of thousands of tonnes of waste ending up in landfill sites and our oceans. This claim is backed by a recent DEFRA-sponsored study and collection trial, which demonstrated that laminates can be readily collected with and separated from other dry recyclables and that the Enval solution is both profitable and environmentally beneficial. Our mission is to ensure that people everywhere can place plastic aluminium laminates in the recycling bin safe in the knowledge that the valuable resources embedded in them will be recovered and reused.
CEO Carlos interviewed for Sky Ocean Rescue piece
This ought to be the end of the story. But as the Sky News piece illustrates, there is still a problem. We aren’t there yet and the reason why goes back to the relationship between the waste sector and innovation. In order for waste innovation to succeed, we need not only a commitment to investment but a radical shift away from suspicion and scepticism. And in this area there remains much to be done: waste is a complex sector with many, sometimes conflicting, interests. It’s often not clear whose responsibility it is to help innovative companies to deploy their technology. But progress is vital if we as an industry are to reap the benefits that innovation can deliver.
Fortunately, there are many organisations who are genuinely committed to supporting our solution. Enval is working with consumer goods companies who use this kind of packaging extensively and want to do something tangible to help prevent many thousands of tonnes of valuable resources from ending up in landfill every year. In our experience there are some brands which take their responsibility towards the environment very seriously and are prepared to really “put their money where their mouth is”. Equally, there are some brands that although say they care, their actions do not match their words. Consumers can explore the website to see which brands are helping us to promote the fact that, although post-consumer plastic aluminium laminates are not yet being processed because of the complexities of the waste handling sector, they are in fact fully recyclable with the Enval process. We gratefully acknowledge their support.
Enval at InterPack 2017
Enval is delighted to announce that our CEO, Dr. Carlos Ludlow-Palafox will be presenting two seminars during InterPack 2017 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The “must-attend” event for the packaging industry, which runs from May 4th to May 10th, showcases the latest innovations and solutions from across the global packaging supply chain.
During the seminars, Dr. Ludlow-Palafox will describe Enval’s unique process for recycling plastic aluminium laminate packaging and its pivotal role delivering a closed-loop solution for these materials, preventing valuable resources going to landfill and introducing laminates to the circular economy.
He will provide an update on the latest pioneering developments at Enval commercial scale plant in Alconbury, UK and the company’s plans to deploy more units around the world.
The seminars will take place on:
Friday 5th May at 16:00, and- Monday 8th May at 10:00
The seminars are already well-subscribed so if you wish to attend please e-mail interpack@enval.com as soon as possible for further information and to secure your place.
We look forward to seeing you at InterPack 2017.
Enval’s CEO will judge National Recycling Awards
Dr Carlos Ludlow-Palafox, Enval’s CEO, will form part of the judging panel at this year’s National Recycling Awards, which recognise excellence in all parts of the waste hierarchy and in all sections of the industry.
These awards use respected recycling and waste professionals to judge new submissions and ensure that entries are held to the highest standards, which means that winning or even reaching the shortlist is a true validation for each concept, process, company or person.
As a previous winner of the Best New Technology award, Enval has seen firsthand the benefits that winning can give a business. Each award is an acknowledgement of superiority in its field and provides an added advantage when dealing with customers and clients. Carlos is looking forward to reviewing the entries this year and hopes to see many exciting ideas and initiatives.