Emotions hinder rational thinking in plant pot manufacturing

Soparco, in Condé-sur-Huisne, halfway between Paris and Le Mans, is a third-generation family business. (Left to right: Adrien Cohu, Philippe Cohu, and Romain Cohu.)

Soparco, a French manufacturer of horticultural pots and containers, acknowledges that the environmental impact of plastic waste has become a growing concern. However, in keeping with a glass-half-full approach, it would also like to emphasise that sustainable products for the horticultural market have already been on the radar for many years. The industry has since taken bold steps to reduce plastic waste, writes Brand Wagenaar for FCI.

In France, the market for horticultural pots represents around 770 million units/year or 20,000 tonnes/year. Compared with its neighbouring markets, the French market has some very specific characteristics due to the typical structure of national production: a few large uniform monocultures and many small companies growing a wide range of plants in different pots with as many different sizes, shapes, and colours as possible. This variety presents a real challenge for pot manufacturers in France.

Recycled polypropylene.

The solutions exist and are ready to be implemented

Since early in the 1970s, Soparco has specialised in manufacturing pots and containers for horticultural professionals. It is a 100 per cent family business with a more than 25 per cent market share in the French market. The company attributes 60 per cent of its output to export sales in many countries.

Soparco’s position in the plastics debate is far from being hazy. According to the company’s managing director, Mr Cohu, it is a complex issue often distorted by virulent attacks from environmental stakeholders in France and Europe. “Plastic pollution is real and obvious, but the opinions put forward are often radical, extremist, often unfounded and very little science-based. The solutions exist and can be implemented collectively at the European level if they are applied rationally and not emotionally.”

Basil growing in a Soparco bio-pot.

Processes ahead of time

At the same time, he emphasises that industrial processes are far ahead. Cohu says, “Manufacturers of horticultural plastic pots have not waited for the current threats to find solutions. For over twenty years, Europe’s leading plastic pot manufacturers have made considerable progress in improving the techniques used to manufacture more robust, thinner pots and plant trays, which use a third less material.”

Work has been done to increase product detectability and improve the recyclability rate. Cohu notes, “So much so that the horticultural plastic pot industry is regarded as exemplary in the wider plastics industry and considered to be the best and most virtuous branch member in terms of progress and improvement. It already meets 100 per cent of regulatory requirements and obligations.”

In the slipstream of CITEO^*, horticultural pot manufacturers in France have responded to the ecological emergency and accelerated the transition into a circular economy.

The role of interprofessional organisations

In 2021, VALHOR, the umbrella organisation for ornamental horticulture in France (regrouping all trade unions from the ornamental sector, from growers to retailers, landscapers, and florists), signed a commitment paper by French and European plastics manufacturers, including Soparco.

Together, they have been working (some of them for many years already) on the development of plastic materials and additives for making pots as well as on likely alternatives to plastic. They have tailored their offer, and new materials, such as pots made with recycled or bio-sourced materials, have arrived on the market.

Machine for manufacturing plastic plant pots by the injection moulding process.

A capable industry

Today, the horticultural pot manufacturing industry is capable of reaching 100 per cent of recycled material reused in its production.

An estimated 95 per cent of horticultural pots used by the sector are made of polypropylene (PP), a recyclable material.

Furthermore, three-quarters of horticultural pots placed on the French market contain 60 to 100 per cent recycled plastic derived from industry scrap or from post-consumer waste.

As such, it is one of the few industries capable of reincorporating 100 per cent recycled material into its production and, in turn, of manufacturing new products that do not use any virgin raw material of fossil origin.

Some manufacturers have also worked on reducing the plastic content of horticultural containers by 30 to 40 per cent, thanks to technological breakthroughs and innovations in equipment and materials. The share of non-detectable PS pots decreases rapidly year on year.

Soparco’s range of Altereco plant pots are made of bio-sourced and bio-compostable material.

Constantly evolving regulations

Many organisations in France and Europe are concerned about plastics. Regulations and legislative decisions evolve rapidly, with trade associations regularly updating their members. Regarding horticultural pots, the current question being debated with European authorities is to determine whether the pot is part of the plant from the cradle to the grave or whether it is considered packaging. Taxation could be very different depending on the EU Commission’s answer expected this month (April 2024).

Hacking through a jungle of denominations

Regarding bio-pots, some manufacturers have developed product ranges that comprise bio-sourced materials such as coconut fibre, wood fibre, potato starch, rice husk, etc. These novel product ranges are currently undergoing technical testing to ensure they can be used for plant cultivation and marketing. Their life cycle will also be analysed because the actual environmental benefits remain to be proven. Soparco’s product portfolio includes bio-pots, but it remains a niche product that costs four to five times the price of a plastic pot.

The term ‘bio-sourced’ refers to the category of bioplastics, dealing with the composition of the material rather than the fate of the waste produced. “Bio-sourced” means that the material has been partly or entirely manufactured from biomass resources such as agricultural crop residues, sugar cane, or starch.

This characteristic in no way prejudges the end-of-life fate of the waste, which may well not be biodegradable.

So, vigilance is required when speaking about ‘organic’, ‘plant-based’ or ‘degradable’ alternatives in comparison with conventional plastics.

The single best solution(s)

Of course, the solution to plastic pollution lies first and foremost in reducing our consumption and developing reusable alternatives to single-use products and packaging. In this respect, bioplastics are far from being a ‘miracle’ solution. However, Soparco and its European industry peers invest continuously in R&D.

Reusable solutions, especially for plant trays, are currently being promoted, but they require a considerable investment and do not meet all expectations because of the variety in pot sizes and the logistical issues involved in guaranteeing exchanges.

In the meantime, the best alternative is to improve recycling further so as to achieve 100 per cent recycled material in the manufacture of pots and trays. The quantity of virgin material used can be considerably reduced.

19cm Fuji plant with thin sides.

Political will and goodwill of the processing industry

Europe’s leading manufacturers of pots and plant trays are highly skilled in processes using recycled materials. The mass of material to be recycled is sufficient, whether it comes from industrial sources or from household plastic waste.

However, many decisions still depend on the political will of the authorities and the goodwill of the large industrial companies responsible for waste collection and the distribution of recyclable materials. The material to be recycled generates processing and logistics costs, and the price of recycled raw materials competes with the price of virgin material.

The price of recycled materials depends very much on the goodwill of the French waste processing industry and, finally, political and regulatory decisions concerning these major industrialists.

This article was first published in the April 2024 issue of FloraCulture International.