Plastics
This month, we dig deeper into the growing number of innovations and initiatives aimed at eliminating pollution caused by the most ubiquitous material on earth.
DuPont & Archer Daniels Midland Company Open Groundbreaking Biobased Pilot Facility in Illinois
PRESS RELEASE - DuPont Industrial Biosciences (DuPont) and Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) announced the opening of the world’s first biobased furan dicarboxylic methyl ester (FDME) pilot production facility in Decatur, Illinois. The plant is the centerpiece of a long-standing collaboration that will help bring a greater variety of sustainably sourced biomaterials into the lives of consumers. Nearly one-tenth of the world’s oil is used to make the plastic products we use every day. From shampoo bottles to frozen food containers, fossil-fuel-based plastics are virtually impossible to avoid because of a lack of commercially available alternatives — a significant gap in the marketplace that DuPont and ADM’s new biobased FDME will help address.
WRAP Convenes 42 CPG Giants in Global Pact to Eliminate Plastic Packaging Waste
THE NEXT ECONOMY - Building on their individual efforts and those under the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF)’s New Plastics Economy initiative, dozens of businesses have made their commitment to the new UK Plastics Pact.
Trending: New Partnerships for Unifi, Kimberly-Clark, North Face To Eradicate Plastic Waste
COLLABORATION - Plastic bottles will find new life in textiles and nitrile gloves are being recycled into new consumer goods through corporate partnerships.
Earth Day at HEINEKEN USA: Responsible Recycling? Don’t Forget About Glass.
PRESS RELEASE - Started in 1970, Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22 to support and celebrate environmental protection. This year, Earth Day Network, the organization that leads Earth Day worldwide, is focused on mobilizing the world to end plastic pollution.
Over 1M People Join Greenpeace Call to Corporates to #BreakFreeFromPlastic
WASTE NOT - Around the globe, over one million individuals have signed petitions, taken to stores and restaurants, and posted photos of ridiculous packaging on social media to call out corporations for their massive single-use plastic footprints.
Trending: Enzymes, Recycled Roads Offer More Solutions to Our Plastic Problem
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Growing consumer awareness and pressure has pushed plastic waste to the forefront of sustainability concerns, prompting numerous commitments to reduce single-use plastics, more efforts to combat marine plastic pollution, and the adoption of a bottle deposit scheme in the UK, to name a few.
Why the Food Industry Can’t Risk Anything Less Than ‘Radical Transparency’
WALKING THE TALK - As food supply chains grow more complex, consumers are setting higher expectations for food quality, safety and sustainability as they seek more aspirational choices around what they eat. But food scares continue to happen, one of the most famous being the horse meat scandal in 2013.
Braskem, Embalixo and Pão de Açúcar join forces to produce garbage bags with recycled material
PRESS RELEASE - Braskem and Embalixo, Brazil's leader in the production of waste bags, in partnership with Pão de Açúcar, one of the leading retailers and pioneers in the collection of post-consumer materials, will be producing new garbage bags using plastic materials discarded by customers at the Pão de Açúcar Recycling Stations Unilever and industrial sacks previously used by Braskem in the delivery of its resins. The partnership is part of the Wecycle platform, created by the petrochemical company for the utilization plastic waste in the production chain.
Trending: More Startups Revolutionizing the Food Industry
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Everyone’s gotta eat – and it makes for a big industry. Globally, food and agriculture is a $7.8 trillion industry. Its also growing (pun intended): global investments in the food and agriculture sector have grown three-fold since 2004 and, according to McKinsey, on average have demonstrated higher returns to shareholders than other sectors. In the US, agriculture, food and related industries generated 5.5% of the country’s GDP at $992 billion, $137 billion of that coming directly from US farms.
Trending: Tees, Jeans, App Unlock New Ways to Avoid Waste in the Textile Industry
WASTE NOT - Water and waste are issues at nearly every step of the textile and apparel lifecycles. Luckily, solutions are being developed across the board.
P&G Smashes 2020 Goals, Raises the Bar with 'Ambition 2030'
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE - The Procter & Gamble Company today announced it has achieved many of its 2020 environmental sustainability goals, has plans in place to meet the rest and has established new, broad-reaching goals for 2030.
Q&A: Fuji Xerox on the Circular Approach That Redefined Its Business
WASTE NOT - Long before concepts such as future-fit and circular became buzzwords, Fuji Xerox was already busy redefining business as usual and demonstrating the opportunities to be harnessed by embracing a more sustainable, resource-efficient business model.
How Blockchain Is Helping The Plastic Bank Create a Global Economy of 'Social Plastic'
FINANCE & INVESTMENT - As much hype as cryptocurrencies and digital tokens are getting these days, their real-world, practical uses remain few and far between. But one Vancouver-based organization, The Plastic Bank, is working to exchange plastic waste for digital currency in some of the world’s poorest places.
Canadian Municipalities Struggling with Costs of Contamination, Markets for Recyclables
BEHAVIOR CHANGE - The world’s first curbside recycling program started where I live. Ontario, Canada’s Blue Box program made its official debut in the City of Kitchener in 1981 and became a blueprint for recycling programs in more than 150 countries around the world. Many Canadians don’t realize recycling “started” here in the Great White North, and unfortunately, many also don’t know what can go in their blue boxes these days.
Nestlé aiming at 100% recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025
PRESS RELEASE - Nestlé today announced its ambition to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or re-usable by 2025. Its vision is that none of its packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill or as litter. Nestlé believes that there is an urgent need to minimize the impact of packaging on the environment. Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said, "Plastic waste is one of the biggest sustainability issues the world is facing today. Tackling it requires a collective approach. We are committed to finding improved solutions to reduce, re-use and recycle. Our ambition is to achieve 100% recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025."
Braskem and Condor develop paint kit with post-consumer plastic
PRESS RELEASE - In order to promote initiatives for the recycling of plastic waste through its Wecycle platform, Braskem has joined Condor, a manufacturer of materials for real estate painting and other products, to develop the "Special Sustainable Kit" for paintings, using post-consumer plastic. This is the first product deriving from the reuse of plastic packaging of printing and road marking paints. Indicated for wall paints, smooth surfaces and finishes, the kit consists of a tray, a brush, two paint rollers, and a holder for fixing them.
Trending: Fabric Scraps, Flint Water Bottles Being Recycled into New Textiles
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - This year has already seen some great steps forward in the uphill battle against fashion and textile waste: industry agreements and action plans have been announced; sustainable fashion startups are receiving support from the Fashion for Good-Plug and Play Accelerator and the Nike Circular Innovation Challenge; and collaborations have produced a
Trending: Unilever, Co-Op, Waitrose Unveil ‘Clear’ Plastic Alternatives
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Amidst a wave of negative public opinion on plastics and the waste associated with it, several companies have responded with commitments to reduce single-use plastics, combat marine plastic pollution, and support startups with
Will Bottle Deposits Help or Hinder the UK’s War on Plastic?
WASTE NOT - With the public mood turning against plastic waste, British policymakers now have a new cause to rally behind.
Dow, Keep America Beautiful to Award $100,000 in 2018 Hefty® EnergyBag™ Grants
PRESS RELEASE - The Dow Chemical Company is again teaming up with national nonprofit and longstanding partner Keep America Beautiful to award a total of $100,000 in grants for organizations to establish Hefty® EnergyBag™ programs in their communities.