Recyclates in the spotlight: digital marketplace as a driver for the Circular Economy

The forthcoming EU packaging regulation is casting its shadow: minimum quotas for recyclates are putting the plastics industry under pressure. Cirplus presents a digital platform that not only makes the recyclate market transparent, but also enables real-time coordination between the players.

In an interview with K-Mag, Christian Schiller explains the challenges and opportunities facing the plastics industry, how Cirplus uses quality standards to improve the perception of recyclates and what role digitalisation will play in the future of the Circular Economy.

Mr Schiller, what challenges do you currently see in the plastics industry, particularly with regard to the use of recycled plastics as opposed to virgin material?

Christian Schiller: The core problem remains the price difference. Artificially cheap virgin material stands in contrast to higher-priced recyclates. In addition to the relatively cheap crude oil and subsidy advantages, this is also due to the technological and organisational advantage of virgin material production over recycled material. The latter is also due to the complexity of the recycling markets: The comprehensive collection, tracing and clean separation of plastic waste streams is not a given beyond the PET stream, which leads to volatile qualities and material availability. As a result, hardly any investor in the world has really taken a serious look at the recyclate market in the past, where losses were inevitable as soon as the price of virgin material plummeted.

To summarise, the current challenges in the recycling market can be traced back to four causes: too expensive, too low quality, too little transparency and too little supply.

As you have just mentioned, the quality of recycled materials is often perceived as inadequate. How does Cirplus deal with this?

Schiller: We see standardisation, which ensures a uniform language along the value chain, as a key lever for quality assurance. For this reason, we initiated and financed DIN SPEC 91446, the world's first standard for high-quality plastics recycling and digitalisation. It provides clear guidelines for the classification and description of waste and recyclates across all polymers and thus simplifies the trade in recycled plastics. After standardisation is before quality assurance. That is why we are now consistently taking the next step and have been offering plastics processors and product manufacturers integrated and increasingly digitalised quality tests and certifications for recyclates via Cirplus since October 2023, in cooperation with recognised testing laboratories such as UL, SKZ, Fraunhofer and the Lüdenscheid Plastics Institute. In this way, we enable reliable supply chains, especially in markets where recyclates were previously hardly used or not used at all.

In short, our motto is: Guarantee quantity and quality.

How do you see the role of digitalisation in the future of the plastics industry, especially in the context of the Circular Economy?

Schiller: Digitalisation is not everything, but without digitalisation everything is nothing if we are serious about building a globally scalable Circular Economy.

Example: In the procurement of recyclates and processing of waste, fully digitalised supply chains will provide the basis for real-time information on the type of material, quantity, quality and price. Sales markets, transport costs and material qualities can thus be estimated more quickly and recycling flows optimised as a result. Keyword: digital product passport. Overall, the entire process chain becomes more transparent, more accessible, more scalable, of higher quality and, above all, more efficient. Not to mention the resulting cost savings. This brings the vision of a genuine Circular Economy within reach. 

Based on this fundamental digitalisation, applications of artificial intelligence could be implemented in the future, the possibilities of which are still almost impossible to grasp today.

How does collaboration work on your platform?

Schiller: Buyers and product developers can easily post material requirements. Our search algorithm suggests a curated list of suppliers and materials internally, which our team then compares with the specific requirements in order to present the customer with a relevant shortlist. Our promise is that we will find a suitable supplier within 24 hours; and if there isn't one, for example because the material is not currently available on the market, customers can make a note of their requirements or we can suggest alternatives if necessary. Conversely, suppliers can easily register with us and make their entire product catalogue available to the whole world in digital form at the touch of a button.

As a member of the Federal Government's Round Table on Plastics, what insights and experience from your work at Cirplus are you contributing to the National Circular Economy Strategy?

Schiller: Our main concern is to firmly anchor the role of digitalisation in the NKWS as one of the key levers for the circular economy turnaround. Our first guiding principle is therefore a fully digitalised material flow in the Circular Economy.

Our second concern is the correct allocation of investments and technology funding for the transition from a linear to a circular economy. Cirplus is in favour of a strict subsidiarity principle here. This means that funding resources and technologies must always be exhausted at the most environmentally friendly level before a less suitable technology is considered. Companies wishing to qualify for funding in the downstream technology levels must first prove that they have made a significant commitment at the previous level.

This ensures that mechanical recycling, for example, is always prioritised over chemical recycling or incineration. This requires a real rethink, a new self-image on the part of all individual market participants. Closing the loop in a way that is open to all technologies is the task of all market players and starts with product design.

What is your vision for the future of Cirplus and the Circular Economy in general?

Schiller: Our vision is clear: 100% circular plastics, which means no more plastic waste in the environment. The solution is a holistic, regenerative Circular Economy in which it is always economically viable to use the most sustainable material and technology. To achieve this, we need enablers to drive the change from a linear to a circular model in order to realise efficiency gains in complex supply chains. and this is exactly where we see Cirplus. To achieve this vision for our customers, we see ourselves as the first partner in transforming our own value chain today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.