The circular plastics buyer group was set up by MVO Nederland and Rijkswaterstaat, within the framework of the Circular Purchasing Acceleration Network, in order to make the purchasing of plastic products by companies and consumers more sustainable. A spearhead of this buyer group is the expansion of the circular plastic chain. This study analyses a case study for plastic paint buckets made of polypropylene (PP). This involves a cradle-to-gate analysis. The processing and possible recycling of paint buckets after use is not currently included in this analysis.
The climate impact of paint buckets can potentially be reduced by approximately 3,700 tonnes CO2-eq. if all 8 million paint buckets in the Netherlands are produced with at least 90% recyclate in the bucket and 80% recyclate in the lid. This is a reduction of 37% compared to a situation where these 8 million paint buckets would have been produced with 0% recyclate (100% primary PP). This reduction is equivalent to about 19 million car kilometres or the annual electricity consumption of 3,000 households.