Packaging in a Circular Economy: Exploring the Ability to Implement Recyclable Design to Plastic Packaging in the Danish Food-Industry
Translated title
Packaging in a Circular Economy: Exploring the Ability to Imple-ment Recyclable Design to Plastic Packaging in the Danish Food-Industry
Authors
Malskær, Jonas Fischer ; Jakobsen, Jesper ; Molt, Frederike
Term
4. Term
Publication year
2019
Submitted on
2019-06-06
Pages
93
Abstract
Plast er blevet udbredt i løbet af få årtier: den globale produktion steg fra ca. 1,5 mio. ton i 1950 til 322 mio. ton i 2015. Dårlig håndtering og design, der ikke kan genanvendes, gør plastaffald til et voksende problem. I Danmark genanvendes kun 36% af plasten, bl.a. fordi emballagedesign og affaldssystemer ikke passer godt sammen. Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan genanvendeligt design kan omsættes til praksis i Danmark. To danske designmanualer med retningslinjer for genanvendelig plastemballage danner udgangspunktet, og de aktører, der har ansvar for produktdesign, sammenlignes i en dansk kontekst. Fokus er fødevareemballage, fordi skrappe krav til hygiejne, sikkerhed og holdbarhed ofte indsnævrer designmulighederne. Virksomheder blev identificeret ved at spore husholdningers plastemballage tilbage gennem værdikæden. Blandt disse blev de fødevarevirksomheder og plastproducenter, som havde medvirket i udarbejdelsen af designmanualerne, udvalgt og interviewet om deres erfaringer og deres evne til at implementere genanvendeligt design. Interviewene viste, at de skitserede designprincipper i princippet kan gennemføres, men at ydre forhold – formet af relationer i netværket – begrænser mulighederne i praksis. Netværksrelationerne blev analyseret gennem en netværksanalyse af tre sfærer: et regulativt netværk, et forretningsnetværk og et udviklingsnetværk. Analysen udfoldede, hvilke barrierer netværket skaber for designmulighederne i plastemballage, og undervejs blev også muligheder for implementering i netværket identificeret.
Plastic use has grown rapidly: global production rose from about 1.5 million tonnes in 1950 to 322 million tonnes in 2015. Poor handling and hard-to-recycle designs make plastic waste a growing problem. In Denmark, only 36% of plastic is recycled, partly because packaging design and waste systems are not well aligned. This thesis examines how recyclable design can be put into practice in Denmark. It uses two Danish design manuals with guidelines for recyclable plastic packaging and compares the roles of the actors responsible for product design in a Danish context. The focus is food packaging, because strict requirements for hygiene, safety, and shelf life often constrain design choices. Companies were identified by tracing household plastic packaging back through the value chain. From these, food companies and plastic manufacturers who had taken part in developing the design manuals were selected and interviewed about their experiences and their ability to implement recyclable packaging design. The interviews indicate that, in principle, the recommended design principles can be applied, but external conditions—shaped by relationships within the network—limit implementation in practice. Network relations were examined through a network analysis of three arenas: a regulatory network, a business network, and a development network. This analysis elaborated on the barriers that the plastic packaging network creates for design possibilities and, in the process, identified opportunities for implementation within the network.
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