Plastics

• [New] The United Nations Environment Organization has recently launched a campaign for the elimination of primary sources of plastic litter which includes microplastics in cosmetics and also banning the handling of single-use plastic by the end of 2022. / Frontiers
• [New] The dense accumulation of plastic has been reported in the Atlantic beaches near urban and industrial areas with port amenities and the Mediterranean Sea could build up floating plastic debris in a range of 1,000 and 3,000 tons making it worst affected marine habitats. / Frontiers
• [New] As the global demand on plastics is growing continuously, the trend of plastic emission into open environments is unlikely to reduce until 2030 unless key policies, consumption behaviors and waste management measures regarding plastic products will be radically transformed immediately. / Frontiers
• [New] In South Korea, home to three of the world's 10 biggest refining complexes, four new steam crackers will come onstream over the next 4-5 years to make ethylene, the building block for plastics. / Yahoo Finance
• [New] Asia's expanding middle class will drive demand for consumer goods and plastics used in buildings and packaging. / Yahoo Finance
• [New] Policies that keep pace with innovation, are data-driven and consider systems-level impacts are what will ultimately shepherd the U.S. towards economic, social, and environmental sustainability in the circular plastics economy. / Forbes
• [New] The new sustainability goal set by Advil is part of GSK's ambition for all consumer product packaging to be recyclable or reusable, including eliminating all problematic and unnecessary plastics when permitted, by 2025. / Environment + Energy Leader
• [New] In 2014, the EU set some of the world's highest targets for recycled plastic content in product packaging: sixty percent by 2025 and eighty percent for packaging made of wood by the year 2030. / HERE 360
• Sainsbury's continues to send plastic packing by packaging fresh fish and strawberries using Prevented Ocean Plastic - high-quality certified recycled plastic that has been collected from coastal areas at risk of ocean plastic pollution. / Retail Times
• The sportswear giant identified a great opportunity to combat the global issue of plastic waste, turning it into a fashion item. / Reconomy
• Indonesia pledged US$ 1 billion to curb 70% of its ocean debris by 2025 and Malaysia plans to eliminate single-use plastic by 2030. / https://www.bangkokpost.com
• Unilever said almost half of its range has moved to the new recycled plastic, with plans for the full range to have switched by the end of 2022. / Talking Retail
• In 2030, 15% of plastics will be sustainable, fueled primarily by a tripling of global plastics recycling along with strong regulatory action that bans the most problematic types of plastic products. / Robotics & Automation News
• With Google's support, UNEP will create a new machine learning model that reveals a more detailed and accurate view of plastic pollution in the Mekong River. / United Nations Environment Programme
• Morrisons, a UK based leading supermarket will gradually remove plastic bags completely from its stores, with an aim to reduce the plastic waste, as it currently sells 1.9 million plastic bags a week. / Phronesis
• Within the global fluoropolymer market, industrial processing will remain the largest end use industry and it is also expected to witness the highest growth over the forecast period due to increasing demand for fluoropolymer based plastic products in chemical processing equipment. / GlobeNewswire News Room
• Grocer Morrisons will end the sale of plastic carrier bags and instead only offer paper and reusable ones made from cotton, jute or other materials to be purchased. / Mintel
• Mondelez set a virgin plastic reduction target for 2025 that will result in a 5-percent absolute reduction in virgin plastic use in overall plastic packaging, including a 25-percent cut in virgin plastic in its rigid plastic packaging. / Convenience Store News
• In the U.S. and Canada alone, the existing combined addressable market opportunity for plastics and petrochemicals that could be met, in part, by recovering waste plastics, totals $120 billion annually. / Forbes
• Plastic cutlery and straws are among the types of single-use plastics to be phased out in Australia from 2025 under a plan to reduce plastic waste. / The Guardian
• Expanded use of refillable options could remove more than 130 tonnes - over 21 million pieces - of plastics annually from its stores. / Corporate Citizenship Briefing
• Last year, Aldi pledged to halve the volume of plastic packaging it uses annually by 2025. / edie.net
• If alert consumers start boycotting single-use plastic asking manufacturers and service providers to use the biodegradable variety, it could be effective in reducing the solid waste management in Nepal. / Latest

Last updated: 09 May 2021