— By Elaine Burridge — 

The better the sorting of waste plastics, the lower the impact on the climate – the conclusion of a Swedish study. IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute (Stockholm; www.ivl.se), together with researcher and consultant Tomas Ekvall Research, Review and Assessment (Terra) and Svensk Plaståtervinning (Motala, Sweden; www.svenskplastatervinning.se), investigated the climate impact of different quality levels of recycling plastic packaging, also looking at the impact on virgin plastics production, and waste management and energy systems.

The February 2025 report, entitled Comparing high-quality recycling and downcycling of plastics, is based on the observation that the Swedish extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme stipulates the share of plastic packaging waste that should be recycled, but does not address the quality of the recycling. Currently, Sweden’s EPR scheme specifies that 50% of plastic packaging (and 90% of PET bottles) should be recycled, rising to 55% from 2030 onwards.

The researchers said Sweden’s recycling targets are most easily met by the less costly process of grinding mixed waste plastics together and putting a low-quality product on the market, for example, as a replacement for wood in planks, pallets, and railway sleepers, or mixed with wood to form a composite material. Thus, EPR “creates an incentive for downcycling over the high-quality recycling of plastics”. Because of such incentive, the authors cited a need for assessing the climate impacts and potential benefits of advanced sorting and high-quality recycling.

The partners assessed three scenarios – 50% recycling after advanced sorting; 50% downcycling; and no recycling. The comparison showed that advanced sorting and subsequent high-quality recycling had a significantly bigger climate benefit than the other two options.

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This benefit, they said, stems primarily from a reduced need for primary plastics production and the reduced incineration of plastic. The latter, they added, “makes room for the incineration of imported waste with a lower fossil content than pure plastics. As a further climate benefit, the imported waste is not deposited at landfills, which means near-term European emissions are significantly reduced in the model”.

Emma Moberg, researcher and life cycle analysis expert at IVL, commented: “With better sorting, where different types of plastic are separated, the plastic can be recycled into new packaging or into other products, without unnecessary quality losses. The material can then be recycled multiple times. This reduces the need for both primary raw materials and incineration.”

Tomas Ekvall, lead author of the report, added: “The longer you can maintain the quality of the plastic in the life cycle through advanced sorting, the lower emissions we can get in the system.” 

The study focused on mechanical recycling and excluded chemical recycling. The authors pointed out that calculations were made in a Swedish context, but the qualitative conclusions on the comparison between high-quality recycling and downcycling should also be valid in other countries.

In November 2023, Svensk Plaståtervinning started a plant, dubbed Site Zero, for the advanced sorting of mixed plastic packaging waste. The facility at Motala, Sweden, doubled the capacity to handle waste plastic packaging to 200,000 t/y.

There is no other facility in the world that has that capability today, stated Svensk Plaståtervinning, adding that it is now preparing washing and granulation stages as a second phase, which is planned for some time in 2025.