Design of a Reuse System for Plastics Packaging: A Food Supply Chain Perspective

1. Introduction
The production-consumption model of our economy is predominantly characterised as take-make-dispose. This production-consumption pattern has resulted in 1.3 billion tons of general waste a year and expected to rise to 2.2 billion by 2025. If one takes this growth rate of waste and extrapolates it, humanity will have generated waste equivalent to the earth mass in around 840 years. Unlike organic and paper waste, that only take a small amount of time to biodegrade, plastic, which is the third largest waste contributor after organic and paper waste, takes significantly longer: according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution plastic products take up to 600 years to biodegrade, depending on plastic type. While the various segments according to which plastic waste is classified should not be neglected, plastic packaging waste is by far the biggest contributor to plastic waste peaking at 40% overall contribution. Circular Economy is believed to tackle this challenge. They propose 6 activities that promote a CE. The activities on which CE is built (Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbishment, Remanufacturing, Recycling) are informative, however, the detailed description of such an industrial system in terms of manufacturing system configuration (operational feasibility) and relationships within the system remains absent. Furthermore, while a multiplicity of indicators is suggested for the performance measurement of such a system, it remains unclear which indicators to use for performance measurement and what a general approach would be.

Therefore, the principle objective of the research is to develop a system architecture with the reference scenario reuse based on manufacturing system design, distributed manufacturing, supply network configuration and performance measurement (environmental, economic and operational). Consequently, the following research questions are inquired: (1) How can a plastic packaging reuse system be developed, operationalised and evaluated in food supply chains? (1.1) What is the manufacturing system configuration required for a reuse system? (1.2) When is reuse not applicable within the context of certain system boundaries? (1.3) How can the reuse system be evaluated and what metrics are required for performance measurement with regards to environmental, economic and operational feasibility? In order answer the research questions, we employ qualitative case study research guided by semi-structured interviews, supply network mapping and system modelling. We then derive an integrated financial assessment model for reuse of plastics packaging incorporating manufacturing system configuration and environmental considerations. The integration of the economic and environmental perspective with regards to the manufacturing system configuration is novel to our knowledge. Furthermore, this research contributes to the much-needed operational perspective on Circular Economy. It provides empirical evidence, under what circumstances R-activities of the Circular Economy lead to environmental and economic benefits with regards to the manufacturing system employed. Hence, this research is very interesting for academia, industry and legislative bodies, that can use the tools developed to expand the knowledge and operationalisation of CE, create real examples of CE activities working, and shape policy that supports a truly CE.

The expected outcome of this research is: (1) Manufacturing system configuration for reuse based on distributed manufacturing, (2) Environmental assessment tool involving manufacturing system configuration, (3) Integrated financial evaluation model involving environmental assessment and manufacturing system configuration..