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Waste Not

The latest in the growing number of efforts directed at reducing, repurposing and ultimately eliminating waste in all its forms.

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Alaska’s Move to Eliminate Inflight Plastic Reveals Issues Within US Recycling Infrastructure

Cross-Posted from Chemistry, Materials & Packaging. The airline quickly hit a roadblock in the unrecyclability of paper cups with an integrated plastic lining necessary for beverage service.

England’s Partial Single-Use Plastic Ban Greeted with Lukewarm Response

Starting in October, the country will phase out a variety of single-use plastic products; but most think it does not go far enough to tackle pollution and waste.

BIER Guides Beverage Companies on Water Circularity

The Guide provides easy-to-follow processes, as well as important considerations when pivoting focus from on-site techniques to off-site circularity endeavors.

Will Mill Be a Game-Changing Solution to Home Food Waste?

Cross-Posted from Behavior Change. The Mill system offers a practical, circular solution for reducing home food waste and the resulting, climate-changing greenhouse gases — with minimal effort on the part of users.

Trending: Reports Call for Fashion to End Its Wicked Ways

Cross-Posted from Supply Chain. New reports by Zero Waste Europe and Planet Tracker slam the industry for piecemeal attempts at sustainability and circularity; where it fails to adopt more holistic approaches and take greater responsibility for environmental and social issues, investors must help move the needle.

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Food Donation Improvement Act Brings Measured Change, Opportunity to Reduce US Food Waste

Updated federal guidelines that reduce donor liability could begin to change the conversation around what is acceptable to consumers, especially as much-needed food begins to make its way to those who need it most.

Turning Plastic into Possibility: How Closing the Loop in Asia-Pacific Is Building Waste Infrastructure for the Future

Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. The region continues to face waste challenges. But with the right solutions, Asia-Pacific has a huge opportunity to turn the tide — finding more value in post-consumer plastic and closing the loop on waste.

Moving Toward a Circular Economy for Packaging

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.

The New Reuse Economy: What’s Working (and Not Working) on the Quest for a Packaging Waste-Free Future

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.

Putting Recycling to Work for People, Communities and the Planet

Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. To create a truly circular ecosystem for plastics, we need scalable innovations to close the gap between what consumers can recycle now and which plastics might become a regular part of a future recycling system.

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Stella McCartney to Pilot Mixed-Textile Recycling Venture

Cross-Posted from 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.

Opinion: Why Some Big Brands ‘Aren’t Convinced’ by Plastic Credits

Cross-Posted from 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?

A Completely Different Definition of ‘Waste’: 5 Key Takeaways from the Sustainability Next Summit

Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. Last month, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics and Fast Company co-hosted the virtual summit to convene policy experts, industry leaders and innovators with the expertise and resources to drive real progress toward a circular economy.

New Marketplace Matches Tesco Suppliers to Swap Surplus Stock to Cut Costs, Reduce Waste

Cross-Posted from Supply Chain. Tesco Exchange, aka ‘Tesco Tinder,’ matches suppliers who have too much of a product — for example, crops, byproducts, ingredients or packaging — with other Tesco suppliers that can put it to use.

Closing the Loop: Rethinking Operations, the Economy to Save the Planet

Whether making a widget or a culinary treat, prioritizing a circular life cycle for products helps keep them out of waste streams until they are negligible — or better yet, they never land there.

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Q&A: Why Partnerships Are Essential for Delivering Circular Packaging for the Food Industry

Cross-Posted from 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.

New Program Aims to Expand Plastic Film Recycling Capacity in US

Cross-Posted from 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.

Brand Blind Spots, Empty Promises Hindering Effective Action Against Plastic Pollution

Cross-Posted from 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.

Recycling Isn’t Enough: Our Goal Should Be ‘Uncycling’

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.

Accelerating Circularity Requires Creating a Viable Marketplace for Advanced Recycling

Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. A circular plastics supply chain is still in its infancy. So, how do we work together to create a viable marketplace for advanced recycling to thrive? Here are a few strategies and approaches that show early promise.

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