To consolidate the leading position of the Belgian plastics and rubber industry to promote sustainable development
Belgium produces and converts more plastics per capita than any other country in the world. Contrary to what certain people would have you believe, this is a solid launchpad for transitioning to a more sustainable society. Plastic materials are far from incompatible with the challenges of sustainable development. On the contrary, they are part of the solution.
Context
Plastics are the materials of the 21st century. In 1907, our compatriot L. H. Baekeland invented the first entirely synthetic material: registered under the trademark Bakelite®. A hundred years later, from child-safe toys to indispensable medical equipment, new materials continue to bring essential and expanding contributions to the comfort and quality of life of modern man. Thanks to their lightness, vast "plasticity" and insulating properties, they help both energy efficiency and in the economic use of natural resources.
Plastics are made of hydrocarbons, which at present originate from oil. But it is important to note that plastics are responsible for only 4% of oil consumption. Their basic components can also be extracted from natural gas, coal and renewable natural resources such as lactic acid. Certain plastics even can be made by modifying natural polymers such as cellulose and starch. Plastics are one of the rare applications in oil that prolongs the lifetime of this scarcer and scarcer raw material and more and more offers an opportunity to “close the loop". Moving from an economy based on fossil fuels and scarcely available natural resources to an economy based on renewable energies and the recycling of natural resources will have consequences on the plastics and rubber industry.
The European PVC industry’s voluntary commitment is an example of transitioning towards a more sustainable future. This mutual commitment between PVC producers and converters involves the reduction of emissions during production as well as replacing problematic additives and recycling of 200,000 more tons per year of postconsumer PVC waste.
The importance for chemistry and life sciences industries
The plastics and elastomer sector accounts for approximately 1/3 of sales and employment in the chemical and life sciences sector. It is also the biggest customer for basic chemical products. The plastics industry is represented within essenscia by essenscia Polymers (a section comprised of 56 plastics and elastomers producers and distributors) and by the non-profit organisation Federplast.be (a joint-association of essenscia and Agoria that brings together 254 plastics and rubber products producers).
In 2006, Belgium produced 10.9 billion euros worth of plastics and elastomer materials. In addition, members of Federplast.be manufactured 7.5 billion euros worth of plastic and rubber items. Total industry sales of plastics and elastomers within Agoria and essenscia rose to 18.4 billion euros with a workforce of 36,000.
The plastics and rubber industry contributes to the prosperity of many other sectors. These materials have applications in packaging (23%), construction (22%), transportation (20%), electronics and electricity (9%), furniture and bedding (6%), medical equipment (3%) and appliances (3%).
The sector’s position
Plastics are part of the solution for transitioning towards a more sustainable society. They support the three pillars of sustainable development: the social pillar, the economic pillar and the environmental pillar.
The social pillar
The use of plastics contributes to increased well-being:
• safer, more user-friendly packaging;
• less expensive and more hygienic medical supplies;
• increased safety and sound-proofing of vehicles and machines;
• more affordable, safer electric and electronic devices;
• better performing, more affordable communications and computer equipment;
• longer-lasting construction materials that require less maintenance;
• increased comfort and safety in kitchen and household chores, furniture, sports and leisure.
The economic pillar
The plastics industry is the prime contributor to Belgium’s trade balance. Its contribution to our economic prosperity is substantial. The plastics and elastomers sector directly employs 36,000 workers, with job growth expected for the future. Because of the lightness of plastic items and the projected rising costs of transportation, the plastics conversion industry is less vulnerable to relocation to countries with lower salary costs than many other industrial sectors are. Since 2000, activities in plastics and elastomer conversion have risen 17% in our country, the largest growth in Western Europe. And in 2006, synthetic material production increased 6.5% in volume and 11% in value.
The environmental pillar
The use of plastic products often means a savings in use of energy and natural resources:
• energy savings in production due to a low fusion temperature;
• internal conversion of production waste;
• thermal and electric insulation materials;
• longer-lasting construction materials, vehicle parts and appliances that require less maintenance;
• lighter packaging: reduced weight for transport;
• lighter vehicles translating to fuel savings;
• better performing drink water and sewage systems; rainwater infiltration systems.
The ecological profile of the plastics industry can furthermore be improved while streamlining recycling systems and increasing the quality of final waste treatment. Over 15 years, the recycling of post-consumption plastic has gone from 0% to more than 25%. The rest is used to generate energy. By combining recycling and energy recovery with high yields, we have prolonged the lifespan of use of oil: after having used this natural resource to manufacture quality products in one or several applications to save energy, its final use is that of an energy source.
essenscia and Federplast.be hope for long-term foresight and constructive cooperation from authorities to continue the preeminent position of the Belgian plastics and rubber industry on the international stage and to guide this sector in its transition towards a more sustainable society.
Recommendations
Innovation
To preserve Belgium’s position on the international market in converting plastics and elastomers, additional effort and initiatives in training engineers in a deepened knowledge of plastics and rubber technology are essential.
Structural cooperation must be set up between research institutes at the sectoral and university levels and plastic and elastomer converting businesses. Authorities are requested to support the creation of regional centers of competences in Wallonia (Plastiwin) and in Flanders (PlasticVision).
Sustainable use of materials
It is necessary to create an objective framework to evaluate the ecological performance of materials and products. A negative example is the recent environmental tax on plastic film for domestic usage, a product whose very slight thickness translates into absolutely negligible environmental costs compared to many other products that we use daily.
It is equally important to define recycling and final treatment objectives in consultation with the industries concerned. Applying life-cycle and eco-efficiency analysis principles allows for avoiding unrealistic recycling objectives that could lead to replacing plastics with products that have a higher environmental cost. Positive examples include the cooperation with the European Commission that set the objectives of the European PVC industry voluntary commitment and the work with regional environmental authorities during its implementation in Belgium.
R&D
essenscia and Federplast.be request that authorities stimulate R&D to achieve more sustainable usage of materials in the future. R&D is essential from technology and process perspectives for the following tasks:
• economical usage of materials courtesy of foam technology and composite structures, for example;
• recycling and "feedstock recovery" (recuperation of raw materials in waste);
• energy recovery with higher energy yields;
• diversification of theraw materials base: biopolymers and "feedstock" from renewable raw materials.
Contact :
Geert Scheys, Secretary general of Federplast.be, tel: 02 238 97 39, gscheys@essenscia.be