With 280 official registrations, this year’s “PolyTalk” conference (www.polytalk.eu), held in Brussels / Belgium on 16 and 17 March, surpassed the expectations of organiser PlasticsEurope (Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticseurope.org). In the past, PolyTalk has come to represent not only a great opportunity for networking with peers, but also for setting the agenda in the European plastics world and beyond. In 2014, the conference called for a European industrial renaissance (see Plasteurope.com of 10.11.2014), and in many respects shone an early light on the problems that besieged European plastics production plants in the spring of 2015, when an unprecedented spate of forces majeures crippled the region’s processing sector (Plasteurope.com reported extensively).

This year’s topic, “Zero Plastics Waste to the Oceans”, was no less revolutionary, especially considering the fact that organiser PlasticsEurope represents European plastics producers. Illustrating just how far the industry has come in these terms, PlasticsEurope vice president and Ineos director Tom Crotty said the first step in preventing plastics waste to the oceans is for industry to recognise that there is an issue. “That has clearly happened,” he said. In focusing on the problem of marine litter, the industry has taken the initiative in finding new ideas and solutions to preventing “all plastics from entering the ocean,” PlasticsEurope president and Covestro CEO Patrick Thomas said during his opening remarks. The association’s role in this respect, he added, is to provide leadership in preventing marine litter, as well as sharing best practices.

Although a number of studies have meanwhile examined the extent of plastic waste in the oceans (for the latest coverage, see Plasteurope.com of 23.03.2016), and several clean-up initiatives have been launched or are underway, the full nature of the problem remains obscure. Richard Thompson of Plymouth University called attention to the fact that the term “microplastic” was first coined only in 2004. Since then, it has become undeniable that plastics enter the human food chain by means of marine life that feeds on the tiny particles, mistaking them for food. The problem of marine litter, Thompson said, is a symptom of an outdated business model, a remnant of the belief that we live in a “throwaway society” and that resources are infinite. Although that notion has been proved wrong, 40% of all plastics used for packaging tend to be single-use, and 50% of all plastic waste consists of single-use items, Thompson said. He called for a multifaceted approach to solving this highly complex problem, highlighting the need to think about a product’s end of life at the beginning of its life. That call was echoed by Andrew Morlet, CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, whose study on “The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics” was released at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos / Switzerland (see Plasteurope.com of 09.02.2016).

Marianne Wenning, the director for Quality of Life, Water and Air at the European Commission’s Environment Directorate, put a number on the problem: Each year, the EU spends EUR 630m on cleaning its beaches. She picked up the point made by Thompson in his keynote address, saying that marine litter is a symptom of a resource-inefficient society. From a regulatory standpoint, EU member states are required to adopt specific measures to prevent marine litter, with programmes due to be put in place this year that are planned to result on a 30% reduction of marine litter by 2020, Wenning said. Next year the Commission plans to adopt a strategy that will specifically address marine litter (see also the interview with Enrico Brivio, spokesperson for Environment, Maritime Affairs, Fisheries, Health and Food Safety at Plasteurope.com of 24.02.2016). Measures that could receive attention then include port reception facilities and the manner in which they handle maritime waste. However, Margrete Auken, a European parliament member for the Greens/European Free Alliance, pointed out that local action can and should already be taken ahead of the EC’s action plan.

Most conference panel participants and speakers agreed that cleaning up the oceans is not an efficient or feasible solution to marine litter. Instead, what is needed is upstream management, UNEP’s Ulf Björnholm aptly put it. One of the projects repeatedly mentioned in this regard was “Operation Clean Sweep” (OCS; www.opcleansweep.org), under which producers voluntarily pledge to prevent resin pellet, flake and powder loss (for more details, see also Plasteurope.com of 25.06.2014). Conference sponsors Covestro and Sabic have both taken the pledge.

Despite the need to focus on the upstream, the conference also featured examples of how to reuse plastic waste found in the ocean. In a keynote address, Rob Boogard, the CEO of carpet producer Interface, presented his company’s use of fishing nets collected in the ocean in the Philippines, which are then turned into high-quality carpets. Specifically addressing other producers in the audience, Boogaard emphasised that “sustainability is not only possible, it pays,” pointing out that his company has not suffered financially from its target of achieving zero waste – on the contrary, it has continued to grow.

In fact, most participants and speakers agreed that higher recycling rates would help prevent plastic from going to landfill or being littered in the first place. And while there may be regional differences in terms of demand for recycled products, Dow’s Jeff Wooster pointed out that the trend is clearly going towards recyclability, even in markets where this particular field is not as evolved as in Europe.

The role of design in preventing plastic waste from entering the ocean featured prominently in the two days of discussions. One of the ways in which recyclability of a product could be encouraged, Thompson said, would be to make PET bottles clear. Adding a colourant to make a bottle blue or green makes it that much more difficult to recycle. Already last year, Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) warned that the European recycling market cannot absorb more coloured PET products (see Plasteurope.com of 01.06.2015). Designing a clear bottle with its end-of-life recyclability in mind would prevent it from going to landfill, where a gust of wind might send it off to sea.

Underlining the need for a global approach to marine litter, PlasticsEurope president Thomas pointed out that a lot of the plastic waste that ends up on the high seas originates from Asia. In China, he said, the problem is not litter located at the beaches, but inland, at the country’s lakes and rivers, which then carry the waste to the ocean. Europe’s role in helping to stem the tide is to export its know-how. Already, the European example of a circular economy is setting standards elsewhere, Thomas added.

The closing panel of the conference also summed up the need for more collaborative efforts, adding that behaviour needs to change all along the chain, including among consumers and producers. After two days of discussions, it was also clear that a lot more research needs to be done to figure out where exactly the leakage of plastics to the oceans occurs. Only then will it be possible to close that gap – and in different countries the problem could well occur at a different production or consumption stage.

Mark Williams, vice president Europe at Sabic, pointed out that industry and regulators have more points of agreement than difference when it comes to marine litter. “PolyTalk shows that the industry is aware of the risk to its reputation posed by marine litter,” Williams said, thereby setting the stage of the presentation of a new website, www.marinelittersolutions.com, which provides the latest news and information about industry's involvement in the prevention of marine litter.

What then, is the conclusion to be drawn after two days of intense discussions on the alarming state of the world’s oceans? PolyTalk made it clear that plastics producers are willing to do their part in “turning off the tap,” as Thomas put it, and prevent resin from leaking from their production facilities. Many have already committed to “zero pellet loss” under “Operation Clean Sweep” – which is literally sweeping the world, and now has signatories as far afield as China.

The optimists among the participants might say, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”, and it was certainly encouraging to see regulators, industry and the private sector agree on many of the problems. What remains unclear, however, is how these issues can be solved. After all, preventing waste from entering the ocean does not require only one tap in Europe to be turned off. It requires that millions of taps across the world be turned off. It requires a change of mind set, and a collaborative global effort. In the words of Morlet, it requires a complete redesign of the current, dysfunctional system.