Our vision
After 15 years in the plastics recycling industry, it is clear that the approach needs to change radically. We come from a linear society where recycling was long equal with incineration and raw materials were exclusively based on virgin materials. Now these two worlds are suddenly going to collaborate: recycling actors are expected to produce materials that work in the plastics manufacturers' end products, while plastics manufacturers and their customers need to learn to design products for recycling.
This requires a completely new way of working where all actors – from materials development to product design and waste collection – must collaborate to create products that can compete with virgin raw materials.
Ultimately, however, it is always the manufacturer who decides whether to use recycled or virgin material. Although the materials fulfill the same function, they have completely different histoical backgrounds, climate impacts and production methods, which also affect the cost. Recycled material often has to be cheaper than virgin because the market does not yet reward the use of recycled. This makes the recycled raw material directly dependent on the price of oil – and when the price of oil falls at the same time as energy and transport costs increase, the climate and the recycled material are the losers.
At Orbit, we are working to create circular solutions for plastics, despite these challenges. Regulations, taxes and instruments can increase the use of recycled plastics, but someone also has to do the work: build the infrastructure and show what is possible. Every day we prove that plastic recycling works. We are convinced that information and communication are the key to solving the recycling problem and taking us from today's 10% recycling to 100%.