Circular Economy

Over five million cartons recycled since launch of dedicated sorting at Ireland’s largest MRF

17 Jul 2024 by David O'Donnell Leave a Comment

Industry collaboration between ACE Ireland and Panda is paving the way for increased beverage carton recycling in Ireland using AI powered robotic sorting technology

More than five million beverage cartons have been sorted and fully recycled since AI powered robotic sorting was launched at Panda’s materials recovery facility (MRF) in Ballymount, Dublin. Installed last year in partnership with the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment – ACE Ireland, the automated system is the first of its kind in Ireland – providing a highly efficient solution for identifying, picking, and sorting cartons at the MRF for onward recycling.

To mark the first year of dedicated carton sorting, ACE Ireland and Panda have today (17.07.24) launched a new consumer campaign to drive increased awareness of beverage carton recycling. Titled #RecycleYourCartons, the campaign calls on households to place used beverage cartons in their household recycling bin – clean, dry, and loose to kick start the carton recycling journey.

Commenting, ACE Ireland’s Senior Recycling Manager, Mandy Kelly said: “The initiation of robotic sorting at Ballymount is proving hugely successful in showcasing how beverage cartons can and should be recycled in Ireland. It’s very encouraging to see over five million cartons sorted and sent for full recycling at ACE’s specialised carton facility within the first year of our partnership with Panda. However, there is huge potential for a further increase in carton recycling rates in Ireland and improved recycling practices through targeted investment and working with industry partners”

“Building on the carton industry’s relationship with Panda we’re focused on actively exploring new opportunities to further increase the volume of cartons sorted in Ballymount. To achieve this, as a first step it’s critical used cartons enter the recycling system. Our simple message to consumers is to start the recycling journey of cartons by placing them in the green or blue bin for collection – we’ll manage the rest.”

Mrs Kelly added: “Households across Ireland rely on beverage cartons as an everyday packaging choice. We want to ensure that consumers are aware of the sustainable nature of cartons, that they are fully recyclable, and that they are included on Ireland’s national household recycling list.”

The Ballymount facility receives over 90,000 tonnes of mixed dry recycling materials from over 400,000 homes and businesses each year. The automated sorting technology, which was developed by Recycleye and Fanuc, has the capacity to deliver 33,000 picks over a ten-hour shift. Sorted cartons are then sent to ACE’s specialised carton recycling facility where they are pulped and turned into high quality paper and core board. Fibres from beverage cartons can be recycled many times making them an ideal raw material for paper-based products.

CEO of Beauparc, the parent company of Panda, Brian McCabe said: “Robotics and automation are playing a pivotal role in increasing the efficiency and accuracy of our sorting processes. Through ongoing investment in the latest generation of robotic sorting technology, we’ve been able to significantly improve the quality of sorted materials. Importantly, this is being achieved with minimal disruption to existing infrastructure in the MRF. The initiation of dedicated carton sorting at our Ballymount MRF is an excellent example of this.

“Working with industry partners is a key part of our role in delivering and supporting innovation to enhance recycling and waste management in Ireland. As such, in partnership with ACE Ireland we are committed to increasing the volume of beverage cartons collected, sorted, and sent for full recycling through our Ballymount MRF. At Panda, we place significant focus on educating and communicating with our customers on how they can play their part in the recycling process. I’m very pleased that this latest joint campaign with ACE Ireland encourages our customers to engage with the recycling journey of beverage cartons.”

ACE Ireland response to call for expert evidence on Climate Action Plan 2024

17 Jul 2023 by David O'Donnell Leave a Comment

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications launched a call for expert evidence to support and inform the preparation of the next Climate Action Plan, which is due for publication later in 2023.

The updated Climate Action Plan will have a strong focus on implementation, including actions with specific timelines and steps needed to achieve each action, assigning clear lines of responsibility for delivery. It will be informed by successful approaches in other countries, where such approaches could be adapted for implementation in Ireland.

Outlined below is ACE Ireland’s response to consultation questions posed under the section of ‘Waste and the Circular Economy’.

What are the main barriers to consumers embracing the Circular Economy, e.g. lack of awareness, increased costs compared to disposable products, lack of access to circular goods and services?

A key barrier to consumers embracing the Circular Economy is a lack of awareness of what packaging can be recycled through their kerbside collection service, and of the advantages of packaging in reducing food waste.

Focus must be placed on the continued roll-out of extensive citizen information campaigns based on clear and concise messaging that resonates with the public on what a Circular Economy means and how they can support it. As part of this, particular focus must be placed on increasing the presentation rates of recyclable materials, by continuing to highlight what can be placed in the mixed dry recycling bin. Beverage cartons should be included in such campaign messaging.

Consumers should also be informed about the importance of using low-carbon, renewable materials. As part of the beverage carton industry’s ‘Roadmap to 2030 and Beyond’[1], ACE Ireland members are committed to making packaging only from renewable and/or recycled material by 2030, and today 100% of the wood fibre used to make beverage cartons is sourced sustainably and chain of custody certified, ensuring the forests remain a renewable resource for generations to come.

Greater emphasis should also be placed in communications on the role that packaging plays in reducing food waste and therefore in reducing carbon impacts – particularly packaging that is low-impact in itself, low plastic and circular, such as beverage cartons.

The ‘Roadmap to 2030 and Beyond’ sets out the industry’s vision to deliver the most sustainable packaging for resilient food supply systems which is renewable, climate positive and circular. The Roadmap commits to action on all parts of the industry value chain, with increased targets of beverage carton collection rates of 90% and recycling rates of 70% by 2030.

2. What other opportunities exist to support decarbonisation through the acceleration of a transition to the circular economy?

ACE Ireland continues to advocate for continued investment in and improvement of Ireland’s recycling infrastructure and sorting technology in Irish material recovery facilities (MRFs). In July 2023, ACE Ireland announced a new partnership with Panda aimed at significantly improving the recycling process of cartons placed on the Irish market. As part of the collaboration, ACE Ireland funded the installation of state-of-the-art robotic sorting technology at Panda’s MRF in Ballymount, Dublin.

Using ground-breaking artificial intelligence as accurate as a human eye, this new robotic sorting technology has the capacity to identify, pick, and sort cartons in Irish MRFs into their own dedicated streams. The sorter is quick and easy to install over existing recycling lines with minimal disruption to the operation of the MRF. This offers MRFs a real option to drive recycling innovation by separating materials like beverage cartons, while lowering the cost of automated sorting.

This new technology offers an effective solution for sorting cartons from mixed paper and fibre streams. The sorted cartons from Panda’s Ballymount MRF will now be sent onwards to ACE’s specialised carton recycling facility in the UK. Nationwide dedicated sorting of beverage cartons for onward recycling would provide full transparency of recycling rates and ensures all components of cartons can be fully recycled.

Introducing new and emerging sorting technologies across Ireland’s MRF network should be a key focus in the transition to a circular economy. This will allow MRFs to separate more materials and increase overall recycling rates, helping Ireland meet EU reuse and recycling targets.

[1] The Beverage Carton Roadmap to 2023

ACE Ireland’s consultation response to the draft National Waste Management Plan for a Circular Economy

5 Jul 2023 by David O'Donnell Leave a Comment

This National Waste Management Plan for a Circular Economy sets out a framework for the prevention and management of waste in Ireland for the period 2023 to 2029.

Ireland is moving away from the traditional linear ‘take-make-use-dispose’ model towards a ‘circular economy’ regenerative growth model where resources are reused or recycled as much as possible and the generation of waste is minimised. The transition to a circular economy is essential to reduce pressure on natural resources, aid in achieving climate targets, support Sustainable Development Goals and create sustainable growth and jobs.

The Plan includes specific targets, policies and actions to enable the waste and resource sector to meet the circularity challenge and accelerate the transition to a circular economy. In July 2023, ACE Ireland made the below submission as part of the statutory consultation phase of the Plan.

Response to Consultation

ACE Ireland supports the overall approach taken in the draft National Waste Management Plan for a Circular Economy, particularly to improve the capture of materials to optimise circularity. We recognise this as an important step in improving Ireland’s waste collection and reducing waste generation. We are encouraged to see a focus on increasing recycling rates listed as a key priority within the Plan and an acknowledgement that Ireland is struggling to achieve the ambitious recycling targets set by the European Union.

To reach these recycling targets, greater support must be provided for the development of sorting and recycling infrastructure in Ireland. The National Waste Management Plan outlines that Ireland’s recycling rate has shown little increase over the last decade, stating that just 16% of the packaging waste generated in 2019 was recycled in Ireland.

ACE Ireland strongly believes that the introduction of ambitious recycling targets for specific packaging types which can be overlooked by the current system, such as beverage cartons, should be used to drive collection and sorting of recyclable packaging, and hence to drive more and better quality recycling overall. We believe the National Waste Management Plan for a Circular Economy presents the opportunity to set a recycling target for beverage cartons, actioning the 2020 commitment made in the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy 2020 – 2025 to set specific packaging format / product targets e.g., beverage and food cartons, to continue Ireland’s progression and attain EU packaging, recovery and recycling targets.

Beverage cartons are included on the MyWaste.ie household recycling list for kerbside collection but are typically treated as a non-target material by MRFs and not sorted, meaning cartons collected are usually recycled as part of a mixed fibre or cardboard stream. However, beverage cartons should be sorted and sent to a specialist facility for recycling, so that all their component materials can be fully recycled. Not only would this improve the recycling of beverage cartons, it would also reduce the proportion of non-target material entering traditional paper mills. The non-fibre elements of the beverage carton, comprising LDPE liners, HDPE caps and aluminium foil, are also recyclable. ACE’s specialised large-scale carton recycling facility in Halifax in the UK, one of around twenty such plants throughout Europe, is ready and available to receive sorted used beverage cartons from Irish MRFs.

A specific beverage carton recycling target would also lead to better recycling data and therefore greater transparency, and enable beverage carton recycling progress to be tracked and reported more accurately.

The beverage carton industry already collaborates with the waste management sector to improve carton recycling and has set targets of 90% collection and 70% recycling by 2030. Through ACE Ireland, it has recently partnered with Panda to install state of the art robotic sorting technology at Panda’s Ballymount MRF to sort cartons. This demonstrates our recognition of the principal of embedding co-ownership into the responses to the challenges identified as part of the National Waste Management Plan for a Circular Economy.

Supported by binding targets, recycling rates will be further improved through investment in sorting capability at Irish MRFs. This will allow packaging such as beverage cartons, which are low-carbon and made mainly from renewable materials, to be fully recycled and therefore fully support Ireland’s ambitions to transition to a circular economy.

To conclude, we encourage the regional waste management planning offices to consider introducing recycling targets for more specific material types, including beverage cartons as part of VOLUME II in the National Waste Management Plan for a Circular Economy. This would be a positive development which would improve the quantity and quality of materials recycled, through increased collection and sorting, as part of Ireland’s wider challenge to achieving European Union targets.

Beverage carton recycling to significantly improve with introduction of dedicated sorting in Ireland’s largest materials recovery facility

4 Jul 2023 by David O'Donnell Leave a Comment

Minister for Circular Economy launches new generation of robotic sorting technology in Panda’s Ballymount MRF marking its partnership with ACE Ireland

The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment – ACE Ireland, has announced a new partnership with Panda aimed at significantly improving the recycling process of cartons placed on the Irish market. As part of the collaboration, ACE Ireland funded the installation of state-of-the-art robotic sorting technology at Panda’s materials recovery facility (MRF) in Ballymount, Dublin.

Using ground-breaking artificial intelligence as accurate as a human eye, the new robot will identify, pick, and sort cartons at the MRF into their own dedicated streams. The sorted materials will then be sent onwards to ACE’s specialised carton recycling facility in the UK operated by Sonoco Stainland.

Minister of State with special responsibility for Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth TD officially launched the new sorting technology during a site visit of the Ballymount MRF. Commenting Minister Smyth said: “The creation of a circular economy and the achievement of our ambitious reuse and recycling targets requires strong partnerships and innovative solutions. I’m delighted to be here today at the launch of this new technology, which will improve recycling processes and drive higher recycling rates. Today also demonstrates the important role that cross-industry collaboration can play in the transition to a circular economy.”

ACE Ireland & Panda announce commencement of dedicated sorting of beverage cartons at Ireland’s largest materials recovery facility for onward recycling

ACE Ireland represents Tetra Pak, Elopak, and SIG Combibloc, the leading manufacturers of beverage cartons for the Irish and European markets. Chief Executive of ACE Ireland, Richard Hands said: “The beverage carton is a sustainable, recyclable, and renewable packaging choice used by Irish households as part of everyday life for many decades. As an industry we are committed to increasing carton recycling rates and improving recycling practices through targeted investment, the development of new technology, and working with industry partners.

“The carton industry has set a target of achieving a 70% recycling rate by 2030. The launch of dedicated sorting at Ireland’s largest MRF in Ballymount is an important step in meeting that target. Introducing new and emerging sorting technologies across Ireland’s MRF network should be a key focus in the transition to a circular economy. This will allow MRFs to separate more materials and increase overall recycling rates.”

Mr Hands added: “We welcomed the commitment to introduce specific packaging recovery and recycling targets for beverage cartons in the Irish Government’s Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy. We encourage the Department of Environment, Climate, and Communications to follow-up on that commitment and prioritise the setting of these targets. This together with the installation of new technology can drive higher recycling rates and lower residual waste streams. We’re delighted to see the launch of this technology through our partnership with Panda and look forward to working with Minister Smyth, his Department, and our industry partners to further expand dedicated sorting of cartons in Ireland.”

The automated sorting technology, which was developed by Recycleye and Fanuc, has the capacity to deliver 33,000 picks over a ten-hour shift. Capable of scanning, detecting, and picking materials across 28 classes including beverage cartons, the sorter is quick and easy to install over existing recycling lines with minimal disruption to the operation of the MRF. This offers MRFs a real option to drive recycling innovation by separating materials like beverage cartons, while lowering the cost of automated sorting.

CEO of Beauparc, the parent company of Panda, Brian McCabe said: “Working with ACE Ireland, we are delighted to announce our long-term commitment to sorting cartons at our Ballymount MRF. We receive over 90,000 tonnes of mixed dry recyclable materials into the Ballymount facility per annum from over 400,000 homes, all of which needs to be sorted into different waste streams. As such, we recognise the important role we have in delivering and supporting innovation to enhance recycling and waste management in Ireland.

“The installation of this latest generation of robotic sorting technology in Ballymount will allow us to significantly increase the quality of target materials extracted from sorting lines in the MRF. We anticipate over 500 tonnes of cartons will be sorted per annum for onward recycling with an expectation that this will further increase as we bed in the new technology.

“Ireland has the unique advantage of having a 100% kerbside collection system in place for household mixed dry recycling. Our message to the consumer is to place cartons into the green or blue recycling bin – clean, dry, and loose – along with their other recyclable materials,” Mr McCabe concluded.

ACE Ireland’s response to the consultation on the legislative framework and scope of Ireland’s proposed Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)

7 May 2021 by David O'Donnell Leave a Comment

The Irish Government in its Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy committed to introducing a Deposit and Return Scheme (DRS) for Ireland. In May 2021, ACE Ireland responded to an Irish Government ‘consultation on the legislative framework and scope of the proposed Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)’.

ACE Ireland strongly advocates for consideration to be given for the inclusion of Beverage Cartons in any DRS for Ireland. See below our response to the questions asked as part of the consultation.

ACE Ireland supports the preferred producer owned and led, centralised model proposed by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) for the Scheme. We believe that a DRS owned and operated by industry will help deliver DECC’s objective of a circular economy and will help achieve recycling targets as referenced in the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy. We would also strongly recommend that the DRS is designed to take advantage of the digital monitoring and collection technologies now being developed, to increase the quantity and quality of materials collected and to improve convenience and ease of use for citizens.

ACE Ireland’s call for an ‘all-in’ model

We recognise that the initial scope of the DRS will be limited to the inclusion of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles up to three litres in size and aluminium beverage cans to allow DECC prioritise delivery of obligations under EU legislation. However, we reiterate that we would support a comprehensive, ‘all-in’ model that considers all materials and products for inclusion, including packaging formats such as beverage cartons that are currently out of scope. This would provide a level playing field for all packaging materials and would help avoid unintended consequences.

ACE Ireland’s position on an ‘all-in’ model aligns with environmental groups such as VOICE Ireland and Friends of the Earth. Results from a consumer survey run by VOICE Ireland in October 2020 also supports this position with 88% of respondents indicating that they are in favour of an ‘all-in’ model. With opinion relatively consistent across age ranges of those polled, the results echo growing consumer trends to prioritise sustainability.

Why DECC should consider a digital DRS

To achieve an ‘all-in’ model quickly and inexpensively, ACE Ireland believes that the DECC should consider a digital or smart DRS rather than the conventional ‘return to retail’ scheme. A digital DRS would ultimately provide a more flexible and adaptable system for accepting additional materials such as beverage cartons.

We believe the adoption of a digital DRS would result in a more user-friendly system, where consumers could access the scheme through placing materials in their mixed dry recycling (MDR) bins collected at kerbside. A digital DRS would remove the burden on consumers to store used packaging materials in their homes and having to return them in bulk to the shop or supermarket during their next visit. We suggest that this system would secure greater consumer buy-in and in turn would increase presentation rates in the MDR kerbside system with the potential to drive up recycling rates across multiple materials including beverage cartons as listed on the MyWaste.ie household recycling list rather than just two material types as proposed in the current scheme.

While we acknowledge that digital DRS is a relatively new concept, we have seen this trialled in Northern Ireland and in North Wales using smartphone technology and applications. We believe this is the natural progression from the traditional manual and relatively low-tech systems and it offers exciting potential for future upgrading, which would otherwise prove very expensive to implement, for example if the scope of materials in the scheme was to be extended.

Why beverage cartons should be included in the DRS

Life cycle analysis by the Heidelberg Institute for Energy and Environmental Research shows that beverage cartons are among the best environmental performers of all drinks packaging formats; fully recyclable, low carbon and primarily made from wood fibre – a renewable, bio-based material. The inclusion of beverage cartons within the DRS would support and reward their strong life-cycle performance, thus helping Ireland to meet its objective of building a circular economy.

In summary we welcome DECC’s intention to consider options to incorporate other materials in the Scheme later, following a period of successful operation of the DRS focusing on plastic bottles and aluminium cans. However, as outlined above we believe due consideration should be given to the introduction of a digital DRS which could include a wider range of drinks packaging. Additionally, as part of the legislative framework around the Scheme, there should be a commitment to set specific timelines and frequencies for reviewing the Scheme and a commitment to actively consider additional materials.

Response to details of the Scheme to be set in regulations

Producer responsibility

The DRS will be a mechanism for producers to comply with the overall Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation. Therefore, producers whose packaging is in scope of the deposit system should be subject to the same requirements as producers whose packaging is not in scope of the deposit system.

DRS system operators

ACE Ireland supports the proposed DRS operator framework, consisting of relevant producers, or a corporate body acting on their behalf. This approach has worked well in terms of other EPR systems in operation in Ireland and will help ensure transparency and accountability for the implementation of a DRS system. We do not believe the responsibility of operating the Scheme should fall to the retailer, but retailers and producers should be involved through representation on the board of the designated operator.

Retailer obligations

The retailer obligations as set out in the framework align with what ACE Ireland envisages for the DRS. To achieve full support and engagement, it is important that the designated operator ensures the DRS works for smaller retailers as well as larger retailers, and that participation in the DRS does not impact on their overall business operations, for example because of having less floor space in store.

The deposit

While ACE Ireland does not have a specific view on the deposit rate, we would encourage the Minister, DECC and the DRS operator to ensure a balance is struck in setting an appropriate rate which provides an incentive for citizens to use the scheme but not one that adversely impacts on sales.

We support the preferred option, arising from the previous consultation, to have variable deposits based on volume of the product, and we welcome the commitment to provide for this in the regulations. In this regard, ACE Ireland believes specific provision needs to be given for setting rates for multi-packs. Failure to address this will result in significant price increases for products in multi-packs compared to – for example – those in large plastic bottles.

Citizen / consumer role

For a DRS to work effectively it must be accessible and enable easy use for citizens. The opportunities offered by digital DRS systems – which can also be integrated into existing kerbside collections – should be explored.

An extensive citizen information campaign should also be activated by the designated operator to align with the launch of the DRS. The campaign should be driven by clear and concise messaging on how the DRS works and how citizens should use it.

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