In 1869, the first synthetic polymer was invented by John Wesley Hyatt, according to the Science History Institute, who was inspired by a New York firm’s offer of $10,000 for anyone who could provide a substitute for ivory, a popular material for objects like piano keys and billiard balls.

“This discovery was revolutionary. For the first time human manufacturing was not constrained by the limits of nature,” the institute said. “Nature only supplied so much wood, metal, stone, bone, tusk and horn. But now humans could create new materials. This development helped not only people but also the environment.”

Today, plastics—and specifically single-use plastics—are public enemy No. 1. National Geographic’s June 2018 issue, “Planet or Plastic?” called plastic the “miracle material” that made modern life possible, but 40% of the plastic produced today is made up of packaging that’s used once and discarded. Amid an anti-plastics groundswell—catalyzed by images of sea turtles with plastic straws embedded in their nostrils and oceans serving up plastic debris with every high tide—groups and coalitions are dedicated to shifting the narrative to focus on long-term business and strategic goals as single-use products pass through their lifecycle.

Vision for a New Normal

In 2004, British sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur became the fastest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handedly: 26,000 miles in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. Sailing helped her understand how a finite supply of resources at sea—food, water and fuel—were critically linked to her success or failure. Later, MacArthur sought to understand how on land, resources are similarly relied upon, which led to a new framework that is disrupting the concept of a linear economy (i.e., produce, use, dispose).

In September 2010, she launched the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to accelerate the transition to a circular economy: one that is restorative and regenerative by design and keeps products and materials in use.

In a circular economy, products must be both recyclable and recycled.

Consumer goods companies such as Unilever, a global partner of the foundation, are identifying accompanying economic opportunities. “The concept of a circular economy promises a way out. Here, products do not quickly become waste but are reused to extract their maximum value before safely and productively returning to the biosphere,” said Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever. “Most importantly for business leaders, such an economy can deliver growth.”

In October 2018, the foundation launched its vision for a circular economy for plastic: the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. The initiative grew from 10 CEOs asking each other what they could do to transform the system, to nearly 200 businesses representing more than 20% of the global plastic packaging market committing to design 100% of their plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

As of June 2019, the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment boasted more than 400 signatories to address plastic waste and pollution, including companies such as PepsiCo, Nestlé, Mars, Kellogg, Keurig Dr Pepper and The Coca-Cola Company, and retailers like Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour, Marks & Spencer, Target Corporation and Walmart.

“While many of these companies are part of the current plastics waste and pollution problem, by signing up to the Global Commitment … they have set out in a positive direction,” the foundation’s website states.

Define Your Goal

During a May 2019 NACS webinar, Victor Bell, president of Environmental Packaging International (EPI), summarized the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment’s criteria for retailers and CPGs to define recyclable materials: Plastic packaging and the components must be recyclable, and to be considered recyclable, the packaging must be successfully post-consumer collected, sorted and recycled at scale.

A company also would have to report yearly how much plastic it puts into the market. “Plastic is everywhere,” Bell said, noting that retailers may quickly realize that it could be present in other products: “If you have a paper plate that's coated with plastic, that [will be] part of your plastic total.”

The single-use plastics movement is changing the food and retail landscape.

For companies that are setting their own internal corporate sustainability goals, Bell said they should be aware of certain aspects. “Know which products are recyclable, which are considered single-use plastics and which types of plastics you are using and for which kinds of systems,” said Bell. “That’s really critical because you’re trying to estimate how much recycled content is being used” and for what purpose. For example, the amount of packaging that is non-food contact versus food contact “will dictate the potential addition of recycled materials,” Bell said.

Companies like EPI analyze a retailer’s sales data, bills of material and component data. “We can determine that a bottle is PET, it weighs this much, it has the paper label, it has a cap, it has six-pack shrink-wrap around it … and then we know how much a client sells of that product,” he explained, adding: “It shouldn’t be looking at how many SKUs are recyclable—it’s how much of that SKU you sell and what percent of your total amount of that plastic is recyclable.”

Armed with this data, companies like EPI can determine which SKU components are recyclable, track greenhouse gas emissions, material use, recycled content and a company’s progress toward minimizing packaging. “You should look at how you're tracking this data” to develop your internal sustainability goals, Bell suggested.

Deposit Schemes

Outside of the United States, some countries are taking aggressive steps to mitigate single-use plastic litter and increase their overall rate of recycling, which could create challenges for retail operations and potentially leach into U.S. operations at some point.

In December 2015, the European Commission (the executive branch of the European Union) adopted a strategy for plastics within the framework of a circular economy, and in 2017, the commission outlined its plastics packaging strategy to ensure that by 2030, all plastics packaging on the European Union market will either be reusable or recyclable in a cost-effective manner.

In March 2019, the European Parliament agreed on measures proposed by the European Commission to ban single-use plastic products by April 2020 that are often found littered on European beaches—cotton swabs, cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, sticks for balloons, as well as cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene and all products made of oxo-degradable plastic. Parliament also agreed to a separate collection target for plastic bottles—77% by 2025 and 90% by 2029—and the introduction of packaging design requirements to connect the plastic cap to the bottle.

England and Wales are considering an “all-in” deposit return scheme that could require retailers to take back plastic, glass, metal, high-density polyethylene bottles and other containers as part of a proposed deposit return scheme, with no limits on the size of the container that can be returned. The “all-in” deposit model is being developed in Scotland, following government approval in May 2019. The proposal applies to all aluminum, glass and plastic beverage packaging of any size, with all shops that sell drinks offering deposit refunds to customers of 20 pence (24 cents USD). Retailers would be required to collect returns via a reverse vending machine or manually over the counter.

The United Kingdom’s Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has repeatedly raised concerns about the scheme, especially where retailers would be required to accept containers manually across the checkout counter. “Taking back glass and plastic bottles of all sizes could present hygiene and health risks to store colleagues handling soiled and broken drinks containers and would require significant space for return machines capable of handling this breadth of packaging and storing it securely,” said ACS Chief Executive James Loman, adding, “An all-in system is a blunt instrument that undermines the existing [curbside] recycling infrastructure.”

Packaging Journey

In addition to what’s taking place on the retail side, sustainable packaging has been top of mind for several global packaged beverage brands for more than a decade, which could radically transform the cold vault in the next 5 to 10 years.

The Coca-Cola Company launched its World Without Waste initiative in 2018, with goals to help collect and recycle a bottle or a can for each one the company sells by 2030, make its packaging 100% recyclable by 2025 and to use 50% recycled material in its bottles and cans by 2030.

The company’s journey to reduce PET in plastic packaging began a decade ago with the introduction of its PlantBottle packaging, which is fully recyclable and partially made from plant-based materials. Coca-Cola recently expanded access to its PlantBottle intellectual property to foster further innovation—even to its competitors. “A technology this good and this clean should be used as widely and effectively as possible,” notes the company in its 2018 World Without Waste annual report.

Coca-Cola gave the fountain area a makeover in 2009 with the introduction of Coca-Cola Freestyle and has since launched tests at college campuses, where students can refill without using disposable containers. “We’ve introduced refillable, microchipped cups that interact with Coca-Cola Freestyle, allowing thousands of students at the Ohio State University and England’s University of Reading to reduce their packaging footprint,” noted the company.

After a successful pilot on the Georgia Institute of Technology campus, Dasani PureFill stations by Coca-Cola are now available at Ohio State and the University of Central Florida. The dispenser lets students refill their own bottles for free with ultra-filtered water or add zero-calorie flavors such as berry, lime, black cherry and blood orange and/or carbonation for a small fee paid via a mobile app.

PepsiCo is introducing a similar water dispenser machine in hotels, workplaces and stadiums. The dispenser is about the size of a water cooler, comes in a countertop version and offers six flavors, allowing users to personalize the temperature, the intensity of the flavor and the carbonation level.

In 2020, PepsiCo’s LIFEWTR will be packaged in 100% rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate), bubly will no longer be packaged in plastic and Aquafina will be available in aluminum can packaging in U.S. foodservice outlets. PepsiCo’s goal is to make 100% of its packaging recyclable, compostable or biodegradable, and by 2025 to use 25% recycled plastic content in all its plastic packaging.

“Tackling plastic waste is one of my top priorities,” PepsiCo chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a press release. “We are doing our part to address the issue head on by reducing, recycling and reinventing our packaging to make it more sustainable, and we won't stop until we live in a world where plastics are renewed and reused.”

Keurig Dr Pepper unveiled its “Drink Well. Do Good” Platform in June 2019, including 2025 sustainable packaging targets and new circular economy partnerships. In addition to making all K-Cup® pods recyclable by the end of 2020, KDP’s packaging goals include:

• Convert to 100% recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025.
• Use 30% post-consumer recycled content across its packaging portfolio by 2025.

“In a circular economy, products must be both recyclable and recycled. Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP)partners with material recovery facilities, plastic recycling facilities and communities to confirm our packaging has recycling value,” KDP said in is 2018 corporate responsibility report.

The worldwide movement to design sustainable single-use packaging also goes beyond plastic. Dunkin’ has been working on a sustainable hot dispensed beverage cup solution for nearly a decade. Clearly, success doesn’t happen overnight, especially among companies with complex global supply chains.

In February 2018, Dunkin’ announced plans to eliminate all polystyrene foam cups in spring 2018, with a 2020 target to remove nearly one billion foam cups from the waste stream annually. In U.S. restaurants, Dunkin’ is replacing the foam cup with a double-walled paper cup made with paperboard certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Standard.

McDonald’s sustainable packaging journey began more than 25 years ago when it established a partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), which led to the chain phasing out polystyrene sandwich boxes and reducing its environmental impact by cutting solid waste and streamlining material choices. The initiative eliminated more than 300 million pounds of packaging, recycled one million tons of corrugated boxes and reduced waste by 30% in the decade following its EDF partnership.

Retail Future

There’s little doubt that the single-use plastics movement is changing the food and retail landscape.

Refillable cups, water bottles, enhanced recycling programs, consumer education initiatives and new and compostable foodservice packaging materials are all potential avenues for retailers to explore to address single-use plastic consumption in their stores.

Some retailers may even go as far as developing zero-waste concepts, like United Kingdom-based retailer Thornton’s Budgens, located in Belsize Park, North London, which won the 2019 NACS European Convenience Retail Sustainability Award for its plastic-free initiatives. Founded in 2006, Thornton’s Budgens launched plastic-free zones in November 2018, after converting 1,825 product lines to non-plastic packaging within a 10-week time frame.

During the process, store owner Andrew Thornton worked with A Plastic Planet to source plastic-free suppliers. The move garnered consumer and international attention, with Thornton acknowledging the shifting consumer mindset toward plastic and its impact on the environment, as well as growing social and corporate pressures to reduce plastic use.

At the NACS Convenience Summit Europe in June, Thornton said that plastic-free has become a top criterion for shoppers’ choice of store, whereas a year ago it wasn’t even on the list. “Our customers totally got this from the moment we started” going plastic-free, said Thornton. Today, the store offers about 2,385 plastic-free products, and overall store sales have increased 4%.

“We wanted to make a contribution to less plastics in the oceans; we wanted to give our customers an opportunity to shop plastic-free if they wanted to, and most importantly, we wanted to prove to other retailers that reducing plastic is not difficult to execute and can serve as a competitive advantage,” said Thornton, adding, “This is an exciting time to be in business.”