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Project title

Advancing packaging waste statistics and recycling

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

Repak Limited

Lead Organisation

University College Dublin (UCD)

Lead Applicant

Craig Bullock

Project Abstract

The project will examine what lies behind Ireland's high use of packaging and disposal to determine how much this characteristic relates to the accounting methods used and how much is a product of the behaviour of producers, retailers and consumers. It will identify the most suitable methodology for recording packaging waste and recycling, including for very light weight plastic bags, following a review of current packaging waste reporting in both Ireland and other EU States. It will undertake an integrated analysis of packaging waste from production/import, through the distribution chain to consumers and then to disposal, re-use or recycling, including export. Working with retailers and the waste processing sector, the project will also establish a recycling index to identify the recyclability of different elements of packaging produced at different stages in the manufacturing/distribution/consumption chain, linking this recyclability to the opportunities presented by the Circular Economy and the present and potential marketable value of each element. Final outputs will advance existing research in the field, including that funded by the EPA and relevant Government Departments. It will include a detailed and summary report for policy makers and stakeholders containing recommendations on how to improve reporting with regard to packaging waste and recycling statistics. The final report will be adapted in response to the discussions of the final workshop. There will be recommendations advanced in an interim report and finalised for the final report on methodologies to account to the use and recycling of very light weight plastic bags. A software program is proposed to account for the nature and composition of packaging to assist with retailers' product management systems and/or to identify the ultimate recyclability, in terms of ease and value of different types of packaging. Peer-reviewed publications will be actively sought, at least three from a project of this scale, along with book chapters and technical reports. Through the composition of the research team, the project will strengthen collaboration between materials scientists and social scientists, and between academia, industry, and the consultancy, including in the EU. This will increase our capacity to deliver more comprehensive assessment for future reuse and recycling studies of all kinds.

Grant Approved

�275,678.67

Research Hub

Green and Circular Economy

Research Theme

Resource efficiency

Start Date

29/03/2019

Initial Projected Completion Date

28/03/2021