WASTE NOT -
According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), up to 8 million tons of plastic waste are dumped into the world’s oceans annually. In 2016, The Dow Chemical Company announced a commitment to spend $2.8 million over the next two years to drive solutions that address global marine debris and litter. Dow is now making good on that promise with new efforts in Japan and Indonesia.
PRESS RELEASE -
Braskem's sugarcane based bioplastic to be used to package over 500,000 bags of Leafgro®, a soil conditioner for sale in lawn and garden retail locations along the U.S. East Coast.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
2017 was a big year for the circular economy, with innovative new products, initiatives and tech tools popping up almost daily, and making it easier than every for corporates and consumers alike to engage in circularity.
An initiative of the World Economic Forum and the Forum of Young Global Leaders, The Circulars are awarded to individuals, companies (from startups to multinationals) and public and social organizations in recognition for their contributions to the circular economy. This year, 43 innovators have been nominated for pushing the circular agenda forward and paving the way for others in their field.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
An estimated 150 million metric tons of plastic waste are in the ocean today and every year around eight million metric tons more are being added. Earlier this year, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation warned that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans if a more effective system for global plastics is not put into place.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Petroleum-based plastic’s time is running out as new, more sustainable material solutions emerge.
According to the International Air Transport Association, 5.2 million tons of waste were generated by airline passengers in 2016. With the release of its new OCN cosmetic range, Galileo Watermark, a producer of amenity kits and a leader in onboard hospitality design and development for the travel and retail industries, is working to drive these numbers down.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
While there’s plenty of discussion surrounding single-use plastics — namely straws, water bottles, food packaging, coffee stirrers, etc. — the topic of disposable needle counters doesn’t typically enter into the conversation. But with hospitals across the US generating more than 12,000 tons of waste per day — 30 percent of which come from operating rooms — reducing the use of non-renewable plastics in healthcare is imperative.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Thermoplastics resin producer Braskem has been keeping busy, entering into a series of new partnerships to make bio-based packaging the mainstream choice for the personal care and consumer goods industries.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Packaging remains a considerable challenge for businesses looking to reduce their impacts, but innovators such as food-service supplier Eco-Products and Finnish startup Sulapac are helping to accelerate the transition to lower-impact models through cross-industry partnerships and sustainable packaging solutions.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
In an era where brands are becoming increasingly socially conscious to keep up with societal trends, Marc Skid is no exception. The recently launched online underwear retailer is using the finest, sustainably grown materials to provide its customers both a high-quality product and an opportunity to donate to feed, cure and save the world.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Plastic pollution is on the rise, a problem that threatens both human and environmental health. Between 4.8 million and 12.7 million tons of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year and animals aren’t the only ones being affected — a recent report by Orb Media revealed that microplastics have infiltrated tap water across the globe.
PRESS RELEASE -
A businesslike look at America Recycles Day
America recycles one-third of municipal solid waste, and more would be better
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Chemicals management continues to go mainstream, with sporting goods manufacturer ASICS Corporation and chemical company Stahl joining the growing body of brands, manufacturers and chemical suppliers to achieve bluesign® system partner status.
PRESS RELEASE -
Braskem, the Americas’ leading producer of thermoplastic resins, and Danish-based Haldor Topsoe, a world leader in catalysts and surface science, have signed a technological cooperation agreement to develop a pioneering route to produce monoethylene glycol (MEG) from sugar. The agreement calls for the construction of a demonstration plant in Denmark, with operation slated to begin in 2019.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative has published a statement calling for a ban on oxo-degradable plastic packaging, as evidence emerges linking the material to the mounting microplastics problem.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
How a T-Shirt Is Driving a Circular Economy
by Melanie Vella
In this main stage session, Forum for the Future CEO Sally Uren returned to interview Jeffrey Hogue, Chief Sustainability Officer at C&A, to delve into the organic fibre that made up Sally’s t-shirt, quite literally.
PRESS RELEASE -
To many consumers, the ubiquitous plastic beverage bottle is an environmental zero. It's made of nonrenewable fossil resources, holds a low-value product, is used only once, and often ends up in a landfill or, worse, as litter fouling our land and oceans. But plastic packaging remains a fact of life. Chemical and material companies, and their big-brand customers, hope to turn this zero into a hero by making plastic resins from renewable ingredients rather than petroleum.
PRESS RELEASE -
Braskem's Green Plastic will be used for the first time in packages of refined sugar in Brazil. The pioneer in the use will be Caravelas Sugar, one of the country's most important companies in this segment. The 100% renewable raw material will be applied in the packaging of refined sugar and glass. The products will be available for sale as of October.
Currently, the Caravelas brand consumes 140 tons of packaging per month and will be the only one in the segment that has sugarcane in its production cycle from start to finish. Consumers will be able to identify the new packaging through the "I'm greenT" seal, visible on the product front. The seal is the identification of Braskem for packaging made with Green Plastic.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) today released its 2017 Citizenship Report, detailing progress in improving social conditions for those in need, advancing Diversity & Inclusion, building a world free from gender bias inside and outside the Company and reducing its environmental footprint. As P&G operates in about 70 countries and serves nearly 5 billion people, the Company leverages its brands and people to make the world a better place through its Citizenship efforts.
LEADERSHIP -
In a country infamous for being the second-biggest contributor of plastic waste to the oceans, a city in West Java has achieved a close to 100 percent segregation rate. This is how Depok transformed its waste system.
Waste is rapidly becoming one of the most pressing issues of all time. More than a decade after Bandung’s Leuwigajah dumpsite disaster in West Java, in which 143 people died buried under a waste avalanche, there is still no strict law enforcement to divert waste from filling up landfills.
PRESS RELEASE -
After the arrival in space of I’m greenTM plastic for the 3D printing of tools, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) now may start using, by 2018, a recycler of plastic objects and packaging that would improve the autonomy and sustainability of future missions beyond our planet.
The initiative represents an expansion of the “Printing the Future” project, a partnership between Braskem and Made In Space, the U.S. based leading developer of 3D printers for operation in zero gravity and a supplier to NASA. This will be the first commercial plastic recycling operation in the history of space missions.