And what would be the way to make this possible?
Tom Szaky: I think there are two ways: the first, which is what has been worked on the most, is to make it lighter, produce less and less packaging. But the problem here is that by becoming lighter and less recyclable, the concept becomes more linear at the same time. I think it is more interesting to see it from another angle, which is something that has been little considered so far. It's about adopting durable packaging, which is heavier and offers more properties and benefits at the same time. You have to think about how to achieve the properties of this possibility, which are convenience and affordability.
We need to create the way to bring consumers a more innovative packaging, with different functions and properties and that could perhaps be reused, but not cost more; and the only way to do it, one that contemplates the real income to the circular economy, is to change a fundamental concept of packaging, closely linked to the old model, in which the consumer bought the container. Today, when you buy a coffee, you are also buying a package that you do not necessarily want, a package that started your life from the forest, that someone turned into a cup, which later the coffee brand acquired and then one receives, but discard after a very brief moment to turn it into waste. Why then possess something we do not want? What we really need to think about is the ownership of the package.
What do you think will be the conclusions of the World Economic Forum regarding the waste crisis in the environment?
Tom Szaky: The first thing is that I think that companies are taking the crisis of plastics and waste in the oceans very seriously, which is very important and encouraging. The second, something that is recognized, is to begin to accept that traditional models no longer work, and not assume that a single model represents the answer. You have to experiment, because there are as many models as possible directions. One model can propose to eliminate packaging, another increase recycling systems, another create packaging from waste, but you have to experiment again and again. There will not be a single solution but a broad set of solutions.
Many governments, companies and NGOs in Latin America and the world are talking about a world without plastics. Do you think that an objective like this can be achieved?
Tom Szaky: Something interesting in this regard is that the plastic has been demonized. I personally do not consider it that way, I think all the materials are equally harmful. Metal has its pros and cons, as well as glass, fibers, leathers, all, and plastic has them too. But in plastic, the main negative factor is its one-time use, which is the concept we must address in the first place.
In that sense, what elements do you consider essential to make a successful transition from the linear model to the circular one?
Tom Szaky: Several things have to happen and one of them depends on the actors. Retail sellers need to understand that there really is a problem, and the only way this happens is when consumers get up and let their voice be heard, and the media, the reporters, the politicians, the legislators act accordingly. But everything starts with consumers. If many consumers meet, the media will meet their demands, and politicians will start working.
A large number of the actions of retailers respond to the wishes of consumers. The latter tend to think that they have no power, but I believe that they have everything. Addressing their wishes is what producers and sellers are looking for, so consumers have to take what they buy very seriously and start thinking about a different future. Nothing will happen before this happens. Once that platform is established, things will start to change.
What we need to understand is why products are today linear, why something is recyclable or not, what makes something recyclable or not. There is a source of profits for companies that handle garbage and that is the only factor that makes something recyclable. Understanding the reasons that make something recyclable is of the utmost importance. Once this is understood, one can begin to move towards the circular economy concept and define a road map for today, tomorrow, next month, the next five years.
What is the scope that you expect the work that you have just published, at this critical moment of the global crisis for waste impacting the environment?
Tom Szaky: I do not expect results, what I want is for it to become a pillar for change, to create new models that allow consumers to manifest themselves.
Let's talk now about the Loop initiative , which will be presented at this year's Economic Forum in Davos. What is the origin of this idea and how would you describe it?
Tom Szaky: The essence of
Loop is in the change of the concept of property, and from the passage of cheap disposable packaging to durable, beautiful and reusable packaging. It is a project in which the main world players participate, almost all of them. But let's wait for its launch to refer to this initiative in greater depth.
But is it a possibility that will be offered only in the United States?
Tom Szaky: No, once presented to the public, it will be extended, and in the spring we will see it applied in France, at the end of the year in London, and then it will be integrated into a global strategy.
How long did you work on this idea?
Tom Szaky: Two and a half years.
And what do you think the impact of Loop will be?
Tom Szaky: In the beginning there will be a lot of awareness, people will be very enthusiastic about the idea and then it will come alive in the spring. Then we can measure success with a real measure, which would be, for example, that one percent of consumers' personal purchases are reusable.
And you at TerraCycle will continue with the supply project of plastic extracted from the oceans to manufacture new containers?
Tom Szaky: Of course, it is necessary to do many things in parallel, we can not limit ourselves to a single solution. It's a crisis and you have to fight it like an army, and the armies have more than one weapon. In the circular economy, we also need more than one weapon, we need to do as many different things as possible.
A road map to the circular economy
The Future of Packaging: From Linear to Circular, where the perspectives of Tom Szaky and fifteen innovative leaders in the efforts towards sustainability are gathered, was defined by the director of one of the main producer groups of consumer goods as "a course intensive on the concepts of design for the circular economy ". The work contextualizes the historical and economic factors that have given rise to the growing concern of society for the way packaging is arranged, and explains the current state of its manufacture, recycling and resource management, to propose a look criticism of the true role of packaging in today's life.
During the launch of the work, Tom Szaky said he had the privilege of creating the book together "with some of the most brilliant minds in the global packaging movement, people who have led this new conceptual framework for decades."
The work includes topics such as the evolution of plastics and recommendations and warnings for production and consumption in the circular economy, and questions traditional concepts such as the sustainability of biodegradable plastics and biological base; declares the inability to recycle black plastics, among others.
The book will be available from February 5 and could be ordered in advance at Amazon and the Barnes & Noble bookstore.
Lilián Robayo
Media Director for Latin America at PMMI
