Capturing and Processing Compostable Packaging - Behaviour Change Interventions and Infrastructure Considerations

可降解塑料包装在零售（实体和在线）和餐饮行业越来越普遍。它主要以食品服务器皿和袋子的形式出现（载体和散装新鲜农产品），但越来越多地用于新鲜农产品的软包装，小格式如扭曲包装，脆袋和非包装应用，如咖啡荚。在这些形式中，可堆肥性为增加循环性提供了一个新的机会：将有机废物转化为堆肥，使受食品污染的不可回收包装能够（有机）回收，或者仅仅是一种解决方案，目前没有机械或其他大规模回收途径存在。采用多学科方法，该项目将首次量化在英国三种已建立的供应系统模式中应用可降解塑料包装的环境和经济影响：在已建立的闭环系统中使用食品服务用品，在市政收集中使用零售袋（重新利用为有机废物袋）和其他可降解材料，以及在在线零售商的回收计划中使用柔性产品包装。将收集行为见解，并开发、测试和部署有针对性的消费者干预措施，以增加可堆肥塑料包装的有机回收，同时优化可堆肥塑料包装在帮助有机废物回收方面的潜力。该项目将与英国领先的船内堆肥运营商密切合作，首次全面使用旨在量化到达有机废物设施的包装和其他塑料的协议。除了为有机回收过程中的堆肥提供一个强有力的方法外，它还将确定最常见的不可堆肥塑料格式，然后可以针对回收活动或重新设计。在回收循环中，包装将在零售商的分散设施中堆肥。可堆肥塑料包装将通过集中式（市政）和分散式堆肥过程进行追踪，并评估堆肥质量至PAS100。对于没有确定有机回收途径的产品，如咖啡荚和小格式包装，向消费者和堆肥者澄清其性能是很重要的。选定的家庭将获得产品，然后通过城市有机废物系统追溯到最终的堆肥。除了广泛的报告外，该项目还将根据英国第一个项目的经验提供开放获取的通信工具。

Compostable plastic packaging is increasingly prevalent in both the retail (physical and online) and catering sectors. Predominantly it comes in the form of food service-ware and bags (carrier and those for loose fresh produce), but increasingly it is used for flexible packaging for fresh produce, small format such as twist wraps, crisp bags and non-packaging applications like coffee pods. In these formats, compostability presents a new opportunity for increasing circularity: for transferring organic waste to composting, to enable the (organic) recycling of the food contaminated unrecyclable packaging or simply a solution for which no mechanical or other recycling route exists at scale today.Using a multi-disciplinary approach, this project will for the first time, quantify the _environmental and economic_ impacts of applying compostable plastic packaging in a trio of established UK supply system models: food service ware in established closed loop systems, retail bags (repurposed as organic waste bags) alongside other compostables in a municipal collection and flexible produce packaging in an online retailer's take back scheme. Behavioural insights will be gathered, and targeted consumer interventions developed, tested then deployed to increase the organic recycling of compostable plastic packaging whilst optimising the potential for compostable plastic packaging in aiding the recovery of organic waste where applicable.Working closely with the UK's leading in-vessel composting operator, the project will deliver the first full-scale use of a protocol designed to quantify packaging and other plastics arriving at organic waste facilities. Further to providing a robust methodology for accounting for compostables into organic recycling processes, it will also identify the most common non-compostable plastic formats which can then be targeted for recycling campaigns or redesign. Within the take-back loop the packaging will be composted in the retailer's decentralised facility.The compostable plastic packaging will be traced through the centralised (municipal) and decentralised composting processes with compost quality to PAS100 assessed.For products which do not have an established route to organic recycling such as coffee pods and small format wrappings, it is important to clarify their performance with both the consumer and the composter. Selected households will be provided with products which will then be traced through the municipal organic waste system back to the final compost.Further to extensive reporting, the project will deliver open access communication tools based on the learnings from this UK first project.