CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Every year, 3B trees are turned into paper packaging for the products we buy — including for many ‘clean’ beauty brands. These brands must take the same holistic approach to their packaging as their ingredients.
WASTE NOT -
A circular economy for plastics is achievable in our lifetime, though it will require consumers and manufacturers to work together. Whether companies decide to keep it in-house or partner with like-minded third parties, an investment in our future now will lead to more profitable operations and create relentless forward progress.
CLEANTECH -
The electronics giants announced a series of innovations including personal-care device recycling, smart home energy-efficiency improvements, and a new laundry cycle and filter designed to eliminate microplastic pollution from synthetic materials.
WASTE NOT -
While recycling and lightweighting packaging strategies are helpful, they still align more with a linear rather than circular economy. Here, Upstream CEO Matt Prindiville lays out his organization’s vision for a truly plastic waste-free future.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Protein Evolution’s technology can turn unused polyester and nylon fabrics from Stella McCartney’s previous collections into good-as-new, infinitely recyclable fibers — and could present a new circular solution for the fashion industry.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
80M tons of plastic waste will end up in the environment just in the next 10 years. Without voluntary, global producer responsibility programs to unlock capital towards infrastructure and bridge the policy vacuum, how else do polluters suggest for us to tackle this massive financing gap in the meantime?
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Developing and optimizing a fully circular plastics value chain is a complex challenge that can’t be achieved with any single solution. We challenge our peers and other key stakeholders to be courageous and take risks, to explore new possibilities and partnerships, and persist until we have solutions.
WALKING THE TALK -
In 2021, WSL launched WAOO to protect and conserve surf ecosystems around the world. Over the 2022 tour season, it collaborated with community organizations, indigenous groups, surfers and others on activations including replanting native coastal vegetation in Hawaii, removing plastic pollution from Indonesian waterways, and restoring coral reefs in Tahiti.
FROM PURPOSE TO ACTION: BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE TOGETHER -
While flexible packaging plays an important role in keeping food fresher longer, it has long been difficult to recycle. Designing more recyclable flexible packaging from the start and determining a better end-of-life process for current materials is a vital step in reducing food waste.
COLLABORATION -
The joint effort from WM and Dow aims to provide a solution to make it easier for households to recycle the film while the companies explore new options to
reuse it. When fully implemented, the program is expected to prevent 120,000 tons of plastic film from reaching landfills each year.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
As seen in ongoing incidents of greenwashing and a new Greenpeace report, the onus is on consumer product manufacturers to take more comprehensive approaches to stemming their flow of plastic into the world — and turning the tide of public opinion.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The Brazilian cookware giant released its first comprehensive sustainability and environmental impact review, detailing its progress toward and ongoing pursuit of sustainability.
WASTE NOT -
On a practical level, we simply cannot recycle our way out of the damage that plastic waste is doing to our world, our environment and ourselves. That’s why it's time to consider uncycling — or reducing our use of single-use plastics down to zero.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
RanMarine has created the world’s first autonomous marine robot. Utilizing drone technology, it can collect up to 500 kg of plastic waste and destructive biomass each day, harmoniously clearing up and monitoring our waters.
WASTE NOT -
Key recommendations failed to understand plastic pollution from a holistic perspective — placing too much blame on the five most impacted Asian countries and suggesting carbon-heavy options for disposal.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Whether the priority is to reduce the plastic in packaging, increase the recycled content or just figure out where to start, it all begins with opening up a dialogue with suppliers. That is exactly what one major US retailer did when it sought to re-energise its plastics and packaging pledge during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WASTE NOT -
A new accelerator from the US Plastics Pact aims to catalyze broader adoption of reusable and refillable packaging options, while an upskilling program from
rePurpose Global aims to help sustainability leaders more effectively tackle plastic pollution.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
New report shares insights to guide retailers on effective reusable bag models — a key solution as regulations to reduce reliance on single-use plastic bags grow across the US.