Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
January 26, 2016 01:00 AM

Industry targets recycling for marine debris

Gayle S. Putrich
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Ellen MacArthur Foundation
    Ellen MacArthur discusses a new study on the extent of plastics pollution.
    Ellen MacArthur Foundation

    Washington — A new report claims that by the middle of this century there will more plastic than fish, by weight, in the world's oceans. But from the plastics industry perspective, it's really revenue swimming away.

    The World Economic Forum/Ellen MacArthur Foundation study, “The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics,” released at WEF's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, says that while delivering many benefits, “the current plastics economy has drawbacks that are becoming more apparent by the day.”

    The report's projections estimate that “by 2050 oceans are expected to contain more plastics than fish [by weight], and the entire plastics industry will consume 20 percent of total oil production and 15 percent of the annual carbon budget. In this context, an opportunity beckons for the plastics value chain to deliver better system-wide economic and environmental outcomes, while continuing to harness the benefits of plastic packaging.”

    The 118-page report claims that 95 percent of plastic packaging — worth between $80 and $120 billion — is lost to the economy every year.

    “A staggering 32 percent of plastic packaging escapes collection systems,” it says, “generating significant economic costs by reducing the productivity of vital natural systems such as the ocean and clogging urban infrastructure.”

    Plastic packaging heavy hitters, from Unilever and Coca-Cola to Nestle and Sealed Air, were part of the study, as well as scores of academics, environmentalists and waste management experts. But the growing peril of marine plastics is hardly news to anyone in the plastics industry, especially on the packaging side.

    The American Chemistry Council noted in a Jan. 19 statement that the U.S. plastics industry already is working to increase recycling — with 6 billion pounds recycled annually now — and recover energy from plastics that cannot be easily recycled.

    “Plastics makers actively support programs designed to dramatically increase plastics recycling, especially for newer categories such as rigid plastics and film,” ACC said, citing the international Declaration for Solutions on Marine Litter, a 2011 manifesto signed by more than 60 plastics industry-related associations in 34 countries that has helped launch more than 185 projects addressing marine litter, as an effort to do something about the problem.

    “If anyone hates seeing these materials wasted, it's the plastics industry, and conversely, no industry wants to see these materials put to their highest, best use more than we do,” said Patty Long, senior vice president of industry affairs at the Washington-based Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. “That's why SPI is engaging the entire plastics supply chain to find, develop and implement market-driven solutions to the collection challenges that prevent plastic materials from having more than one life, whether that's through recycling, energy conversion or any other technology that derives value from plastics that would otherwise become litter or landfill fodder.

    “We look forward to working with world policymakers and thought leaders to move toward a world in which none of these valuable materials are ever wasted,” she said.

    Solving the problem

    Ellen MacArthur Foundation

    The study notes that most of the waste is coming from developing regions in Asia.

    While such hand-wringing studies as the latest from WEF/Ellen MacArthur Foundation sometimes seem to present a desperate problem with rigid and prohibitively expensive solutions, there are plenty of small-scale projects popping up around North America and the world with the potential to stem the tide of the ocean's plastics problem — and the plastics industry's losses — with government help.

    Cited in the report as an example of a successful program in which industry and governments are working together to recover and recycle plastics in order to keep materials out of the environment, is Multi-Material BC (MMBC), a non-profit organization fully financed by industry to manage residential packaging and printed paper recycling programs in Canada's British Columbia province.

    Though it was the first government in the world to establish a container deposit and recycling system, British Columbia has spent two years reimagining a legacy recovery and recycling system designed for paper, glass, tin and aluminum and better equipping it for plastics, said MMBC Managing Director Allen Langdon. Sorting all containers in one central, high-performing facility rather than investing to retrofit four or five traditional material recovery facilities has saved the province money as well as enabled MMBC to drive efficiencies and start using the 2-year-old system as a platform to engage producers in real-time trials and studies to test packaging innovations.

    “What we've done is not just the right decision for today but right for 10 years from now,” Langdon said.

    “It's a total paradigm shift from looking at it as a bunch of individual operations to looking at the entire stream it as an entire system,” he said. “But because we now have oversight over the entire system, we can make more rational decisions at every stage.”

    Plastic film has been a particular success, he said. It used to end up in mixed bales and be sent overseas, “now we're able to recycle it reasonably in North America. And a clean stream means a better price, too.”

    Now that the paradigm shift has been made, and industry is being dealt in on decision-making and development, the model could be portable, Langdon said.

    According to the report, 80 percent of the plastic “leakage” into the oceans is coming from developing countries, particularly in Asia. As overall consumption in developing nations grows, the plastic product and packaging implications seem almost overwhelming — unless it's viewed by the industry and local governments as an opportunity.

    “There are opportunities where there aren't systems in place already, in developing countries, for them to make a wholesale leap forward and go beyond some of the struggles of the developed world,” Langdon said.

    Sister publication PRW contributed to this report.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    2
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    3
    Report urges treaty to regulate plastics like pharmaceuticals, limit growth
    4
    One injured in explosion at Ineos cumene plant in Texas
    5
    Engineering resin prices close the first quarter with a drop
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified