Investors pour billions of dollars into alternative plastics; Taco Bell announces goal to make all packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable; Technologies develop for processing non-sorted recyclables, and for plastics-to-hydrogen facilities; Kenya has world’s strictest plastic bag ban; BBC to launch series on climate change; and more.
Last year, SoulBuffalo held the Ocean Plastic Leadership Summit; this year, they launched the Ocean Plastics Leadership Network. Article and photo from Forbes.
INITIATIVES
Investors are pouring billions of dollars into the alternative plastics industry. Currently, more than $30 trillion is currently held in sustainable investments around the world. The biodegradable plastics industry alone is expected to reach nearly $7 billion by 2025, according to one estimate. Read more on Business Insider.
A new report shows that the U.S.’s recycling rate for PET and HDPE bottles was far below the volume needed to meet the 2025 goals set by the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry. The 2018 recycling rate of 28.9% for plastic bottles lagged far behind the rates recorded in Europe, and far behind the rates needed to fulfill the CPG’s commitments. Read more on Packaging World.
Environmental summit organizers SoulBuffalo announced the launch of the Ocean Plastics Leadership Network. This network is a community to advance scientific breakthroughs, product and process innovation, and new business models to the ocean plastics crisis. Read more on Forbes.
Kenya is said to have the strictest plastic bag ban in the world and is at the forefront of environmental initiatives. But some believe that the country’s implementation methods are too harsh. Read about this issue on Reader’s Digest.
The Coca Cola Foundation has awarded a $100,000 grant to a recycling scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment (RESWAYE) in Nigeria. Coca-Cola is currently running a world without waste program which seeks to not only educate people on waste disposal, but also to work with relevant stakeholders such as MEDIC to improve plastic waste disposal and recycling procedure. Read more on The Nation.
A Thai entrepreneur has developed a start-up that upcycles old flip flops and turns them into new shoes. This is significant, as there may be 1.3 trillion flip flops floating amongst ocean debris, according to surveys. Read more about the issue and the start-up on Mongabay.
Researchers have carried out a study for the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago that applied economic principles to its plastics management challenge. They recently published some findings and recommendations for those looking to manage plastics in other areas of the world. Read more on The Conversation.
The Greek island of Paros is set to become the first plastic-free Mediterranean island. The initiative is called the Clean Blue Paros project, and its aim is to make the island a plastic-waste-free-zone within three years. Read more on Intelligent Living.
PACKAGING
Taco Bell has announced a goal to make all of its consumer-facing packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025 worldwide. Read more on The Rising.
In Australia, Glad has partnered with REDcycle to recycle GladWrap at stations in front of major grocery stores. The three-year deal includes the recycling of other Glad soft plastic products including Snaplock bags, which are not made from PVC. Read more on Inside FMGC.
Health and wellness company doTERRA International has unveiled new sustainable shipping solutions, as part of its sustainable strategy. Earlier this year, doTERRA has decided to replace plastic bubble wrap and air pillows with paper solutions. The company also intends to use shipping boxes made from sustainable forestry, as well as encompass less corrugated, include more recycled materials and printed with soy-based ink. Read more on NS Packaging.
According to a Crunchbase survey, a group of at least 20 startups have raised more than $850 million in funding within the sustainable packaging space. There are at least seven recently-funded startups in the eco-packing space that have individually raised $20 million or more. Read more on Crunchbase.
TECHNOLOGY
Saipem, one of the world’s largest oil drilling companies, has signed a license agreement for a new plastics recycling technology that could help to recycle unsorted, non-recyclable mixed plastics, or “Plasmix.” This process could potentially be used even in small-sized facilities, and could allow for Plasmix to be processed along with sewage sludge from wastewater treatment. Read more on Chemical Engineering.
A firm developing hydrogen production from waste plastic has been offered a conditional £1.25m grant for a planned plastics-to-hydrogen facility. Waste2Tricity, the company developing the technology, says there has been significant progress towards its commercialization. Read more on Envirotech Magazine.
OTHER NEWS
A gut-wrenching photo of a dead turtle caught in fishing line has won the annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition. The photo took first place in a new category: Conservation. Read more and see the photo on Business Insider.
The BBC has announced plans for a year-long series of special programming and coverage on climate change. The program will include a new monthly Climate Check video feature from BBC Weather, and coverage of debates and events around the globe. Read more on BBC News.
Also part of the BBC’s programming, renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough will host an hour-long documentary on climate change. In a related interview, he recently warned that “The moment of crisis has come,” with regard to climate change. Read more on BBC News.
Activists in San Antonio, Texas have found evidence that a Formosa plastics manufacturing plant is still releasing plastic pollutants after a $50 million settlement. A range of conditions were imposed as a result of the settlement, which found that the plastics manufacturer was violating the Clean Water Act. See Desmog for more information.
An informal survey of experts suggests that while the fashion industry has done a masterful job of dabbling in sustainable innovation and running pilot projects, it hasn’t yet brought any of it to the scale that’s needed. Vogue Business has touched on what steps the fashion industry has taken so far, and the issues that stand in the way of real transformation. Read more on Vogue Business.
Plastic isn’t just choking the marine wildlife - it’s also a hazard for children. Last week, a 4-year-old boy in Texas was hospitalized when he inhaled the plastic stick from his lollipop. As his mother said, “It was a hard plastic sucker stick, not a paper stick. It's not going to dissolve in his stomach.” Read more on WKYT.