Jeff Bezos announces $10 billion investment to fight climate change; Greenpeace publishes study showing that common plastic items may not be labeled properly; the EU considers using revenues from plastic tax to make up for Brexit financial loss; France, South Korea, and Ireland take measures to reduce waste; Companies are paying more attention to how their packaging makes customers feel; and more.
Dutch designers Iris van Daalen and Ruben Thier have started The Plastic Mine, a series of home accessories made from plastic clumps gathered from a factory floor. Photo and article from Dezeen.
INITIATIVES
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that he would be committing $10 billion to fight climate change through a new fund called the Bezos Earth Fund. The Fund will back scientists, activists and organizations working to mitigate the impact of climate change. Read more on CNN.
Greenpeace USA released the results of a comprehensive survey of the nation’s 367 material recovery facilities, revealing that only PET #1 and HDPE #2 plastic bottles and jugs may legitimately be labeled as recyclable by consumer goods companies and retailers. The survey found that common plastic pollution itemsco may not be labeled as recyclable according to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requirements for products and labeling. Additionally, many full body shrink sleeves that are added to PET #1 and HDPE #2 bottles and jugs make those products non-recyclable as well. Read more on Bioplastics News.
Recycling textiles, batteries and packaging will be the priority in a new plan to halve waste in the European Union by 2030. Under the new plan, the Commision will present initiatives aimed at prolonging the life of products such as electronic devices, and encourage consumers to seek repairs. Read more on Reuters.
The European Union is considering plugging the financial gap from Brexit by leveraging revenue from a plastics tax and augmented carbon trading scheme. This revenue could generate 14 billion to 15 billion euros a year — more than enough to fill the gap. Read more on Reuters.
France is banning designer clothes and luxury goods companies from destroying unsold or returned items under a wide-ranging anti-waste law. The groundbreaking law also covers electrical items, hygiene products and cosmetics, which must now be reused, redistributed or recycled. Read more on the Guardian.
This season, Arsenal FC began using a returnable cup program at their stadium, which already has offset half a million single-use plastic cups. Friends of the Earth, the partner organization, is now urging other sport stadiums and venues across the UK to introduce reusable cup initiatives. Read more on Circular.
South Korea has enforced regulations banning the usage of plastic materials that are difficult to recycle such as PVC and coloured PET bottles for the packaging of food and beverage items. Read more on Food Navigator-Asia.
Microbeads have officially been banned in Ireland. The country is the first EU country to ban microplastics in household and industrial cleaners, including the sale, manufacture, import and export of products containing microplastics. Read more on Image.
In the U.K., a coalition of more than 50 business leaders, politicians and campaigners is demanding that the plastic sachets – used for everything from ketchup to shampoo – be included in European and UK legislation outlawing other “throwaway” items such as plastic straws and cotton swabs. 855bn sachets are used every year globally – enough to cover the entire surface of the Earth – and with many thrown away without being opened. Read more on The Guardian.
The Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica has announced it will provide sustainable bags for all households bags to reduce plastic waste. The move is part of the government’s Go Green Dominica initiative to make the island plastic-free. As part of the initiative, the government has started providing households with bags made from jute and cotton. Read more on Packaging Gateway.
Indonesia is preparing to create a circular economy ecosystem where resources and waste are managed sustainably and targeting its full implementation by 2024. To that end, Indonesia, Denmark and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have launched a new initiative to help Indonesia develop a maiden national strategy for the ecosystem, setting the country up to become the first in Southeast Asia to adopt it. Read more on Jakarta Globe.
The Nigerian National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Environment are putting the finishing touches to a bill meant to prohibit the production of plastics, which pollute the environment. Read more on Business News Report.
In the Philippines, the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said an inter-agency commission has approved a resolution banning “unnecessary” single-use plastics in all government offices. It covers national government agencies, local government units (LGUs), and all other government-controlled offices. Read more on GMA News.
Delta Air Lines Inc said it will invest $1 billion over the next decade in initiatives that would limit the impact of global air travel on the environment. It is the first airline to make a commitment of that scale. Read more on Reuters.
British Airways has pledged to remove more than 250 million plastic items from its flights by the end of the year. The airline is replacing plastic packaging and wrapping for items such as blankets and headsets with sustainable alternatives. It is also seeking reusable or recyclable substitutes for plastic cutlery, tumblers, cups, toothpicks and butter packaging. Read more on Glasgow Times.
Amcor has joined the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC), a coalition of industry peers across healthcare, recycling and waste management, seeking to improve recyclability of plastic products within the healthcare sector. Amcor will support the coalition with extensive expertise in packaging design for medical devices and applications in hospitals and other treatment settings. Read more on European Plastic Product Manufacturer.
India-based UFlex Limited has announced it is setting up two washing and recycling lines in an Indian city to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and multi-layer packaging scrap. The company is referring to the facility as “India’s first plant for [the] washing and recycling of postconsumer multi-layer plastic and PET bottle” scrap. Read more on Recycling Today.
In Northern Ireland, plastic bag tax have raised more than £2m for environmental programs. The money will help with work including maintaining butterfly habitat, bird and bat monitoring and supporting bees and other pollinators. Read more on BBC.
VFS Global has announced breaking free from plastic bottle usage starting from its Visa Application Centre in Dubai. VFS is the visa outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions, and this initiative will cut the use of 50,000 bottles. Read more on Gulf News.
U.S. legislation that has been introduced at the federal level seeks to address deficiencies in U.S. recycling infrastructure, with one targeting grants for recycling education and the other taking a more comprehensive approach with a heavy focus on regulating single-use plastics. Read more on Waste Today.
Thanks to public pressure from an activist shareholders groups, Westlake Chemical Corp. has agreed to publicly report its spills of tiny preproduction plastic pellets, or nurdles. This is major progress, as most companies do not report - and are not required to report - how much of their nurdles are spilled. Read more on the Houston Chronicle.
PACKAGING
Companies increasingly are focusing on whether a customer feels guilty or virtuous about how the product was packaged to drive business results. More companies are trying to drive business results by extending their focus beyond the actual products for sale to concentrate on moments that get increasingly bundled under terms like “consumer experience.” Read more on The Wall Street Journal.
Unilever has recently launched its first plastic packaging made from 100% recycled flexible materials in Nairobi, Kenya. Thousands of tonnes of virgin plastics will be reduced each year in Africa as a result of this initiative. Read more on Afrik21.
A town in India has introduced bamboo water bottles for tourists in a bid to completely stop the use of plastic water bottles and littering. Lachen, arguably the first town to completely ban packaged drinking water bottles, is introducing bamboo bottles as an alternative. Read more on India Times.
Members of the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance (AFPA) and major Australian retailers are working together to help reduce packaging and food waste. The partners plan to work together at future roundtables in 2020 with the aim to drive industry efforts in minimizing packaging and food waste. Read more on Packaging Gateway.
Taos Ski Resort is going far beyond banning single-use plastics at their resort. The B Corp also takes part in a sustainable foresting program, dehydrates food waste to create composted soil, and is working on eliminating single-use packaging for their company gear. Read more on Penta.
London-based global online food delivery business Just Eat, together with sustainable packaging firm Notpla, has developed what it describes as a “fully recyclable” takeout box lined with seaweed. The container is able to decompose in four weeks if put in a home compost, as the seaweed-lined cardboard boxes are produced from tree and grass pulp, and contain no synthetic additives. Read more on CNBC.
The cities of San Francisco and Palo Alto are set to trial "smart" reusable cup systems developed with support from McDonald's and Starbucks, in a bid to reduce the amount of single-use coffee cups that are being sent to landfill. Read more on edie.
Yum Brands Inc. - the owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut - is ditching expanded polystyrene packaging by 2022. The company plans to make all plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by the end of the year, according to a release. Read more on Plastics News.
Supermarket Aldi has announced it will remove all plastic lids on its own-label fresh cream and ready-to-drink coffee products, as part of its ongoing campaign to reduce single-use plastics. Across England and Wales, the supermarket will stock these products without unnecessary plastic lids in over 780 stores, thus removing around 34 million pieces of single-use plastic from the market. Read more on British Plastics & Rubber Magazine.
FloWater, a company that makes water refill stations, is now beginning to offer a new type of aluminum reusable bottle next to its equipment—for roughly the same cost as premium bottled water sold in single-use plastic. The company says it is not the end solution, but rather a pathway for people who are in the habit of buying single-use to buy something that they can reuse multiple times. Read more on Fast Company.
PRODUCTS
Adventure company Salomon has created a shoe that can be recycled and made into ski boots. The recyclable shoe took 18 months of research and development, but it is finally ready as part of its Play Minded Program, which addresses Salomon’s commitment to operating more sustainably. Read more on Running Magazine.
In India, the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) has licensed technology for “Recycling of Plastic Waste into Useful Tiles.” The technology offers a simple and novel process of production of tiles, pavement blocks, panels, etc. from the waste plastic bags and bottles. Read more on PSU Watch.
Fashion company Boots has become the first major high street retailer to offer a range of eco tights, with the launch of a range of tights made from plastic bottles. Tights are one of the most polluting items in your wardrobe, and this line will divert 86,000 plastic bottles from landfills each year. Read more on the Evening Standard.
Dutch designers Iris van Daalen and Ruben Thier have started The Plastic Mine, a series of home accessories made from plastic clumps gathered from a factory floor. The Plastic Mine collection includes shelves and tables created out of brightly colored lumps of polyethylene, which were selected from the waste produced by a factory that makes pipes and tubing for industrial use. Read more on Dezeen.
In an industry-first, Eastman Chemical Company is collaborating with Mazzucchelli 1849 to provide premium eyewear materials made from bio-based and recycled content. Mazzucchelli is the world leader in materials for premium eyewear, and the materials will be made from entirely sustainable acetate flake and to divert waste from landfills in the process. Read more on Plastics Today.
The Fraunhofer Institute has developed novel, bio-based insulation boards. The Institute believes this product can be competitive in manufacturing, processing and performance against market-leading polystyrene insulation boards. Read more on European Plastic Product Manufacturer.
Graphic Packaging International has announced a line of PaperSeal trays as an alternative to the vacuum-sealed packaging that holds meat and fish in a grocery store. The trays are made of 80-90% paperboard and 10-20% film depending on the trays dimensions. The film liner is designed to be easily separated from the paperboard to enable easy recycling. Read more on Packaging Gateway.
Mats for a Mission, a group that weaves plastic bags into sleeping mats for the homeless, has expressed concerns over the effect that the New York plastic ban will have on their organization. If you would like to donate your existing plastic bags and keep this operation running, please see their Facebook page.
TECHNOLOGY
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the U.S. Marine Corps are looking at new environmentally friendly alternatives with 3D printing from recycled plastic waste. The new method could enhance the safety of the troops, lower supply chain dependence, and strengthen the operational readiness of soldiers. Read more on Army Technology.
Beaverton, OR-based company Digimarc has begun using invisible bar codes that can be read at recycling facilities to streamline the sorting of plastics. Walmart is using the bar codes in some of its packaging. And Proctor and Gamble just announced it will be using Digimarc technology in its products in Europe. Read more on KGW8.
CleanRobotics has created a robotic trash can that automatically sorts recyclables. The technology currently is being used at an office in San Francisco, and the company is a semifinalist in the current IBM Watson AI XPRIZE. Read more on Fast Company.
A startup that supplies an ink allowing shrink sleeve labels to be separated from PET flakes with a magnet has successfully completed early testing of the innovation. Read more on Plastics Recycling Update.
Scientists have developed open-source software to analyze economics of biofuels and bioproducts. 'BioSTEAM' allows researchers to quickly compare and prioritize strategies for converting biomass to fuels and products. Read more on EurekaAlert!
OTHER NEWS
Reports of increased recycling rates, particularly of PET bottles, are showing success in closing the loop. The latest report from sustainability consultancy Eunomia, in collaboration with the European Federation of Bottled Water (EFBW), Petcore Europe, and Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE), projects a strong trend toward the use of recycled PET (rPET) thanks to increased demand. Read more on Plastics Today.
Parks Canada and McGill University are teaming up to harvest green crabs, an invasive specie, and use their shells to create biodegradable plastic. Read more on CBC.
Scientists from the UK and India have recycled the byproducts of mustard oil production to develop an enzyme that can be used in commercial laundry detergents. Read more on Labiotech.eu.
The University of Southern California has installed 1,500 solar modules on the roof of its athletic arena, as well as more than 3,000 LED light bulbs and a commitment to waste diversion starting with a “green game” on Saturday. Read more on USC News.