Kickstart: Sustainability and Ukraine

Let's be clear about something: People in Ukraine aren't thinking about what bags they're using right now or if they're drinking from reusable containers on the front lines.

But in a sense, the actions in Ukraine today will impact long-term thinking about sustainability and circular plastics.

"Here in Europe, we're dependent on Russia for 40 percent of our [natural gas] and 25 percent of our oil," Netherlands-based Sustainable Plastics Editor Karen Laird said during the March 1 Sustainable Plastics Live video discussion with Plastics News Editor Don Loepp. "The sustainable choice ... would be for us all not to be so dependent on a state that has invaded another state."

The move toward a circular economy worldwide is all about reducing dependence on fossil fuels. That will help the climate while also reducing the reliance on regions that are big suppliers of oil and gas.

"In the long run, this will speed up the transition to a more green economy, but the question is how are we going to get there," she said. "I don't think anybody knows right now what the way forward is, just that something has to change."

PN subscribers can watch the full discussion here.

To mark its plans to go plastic free, the beer brand Coors Light will host a pop-up store in Brooklyn, N.Y., today through March 6 as the "Plastic-Free Future Mart by Coors Light."

It is marketing the site as "a super sustainable pop-up concept store in NYC."

It's not clear what, exactly, it will sell beyond Coors Light, presumably in six-packs united in cardboard containers rather than plastic six-pack rings. (I'm informed by a former Brooklyn resident that the location on the border of the Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods isn't exactly an area known for a big Coors Light drinking crowd.)

PN's Jim Johnson has the story on Coors Light owner Molson Coors Beverage Co.'s plans to halt the use of plastic ring.

Blenheim Palace, the sprawling 18th Century house and estate in Central England that is also a United Nations World Heritage Site, is about to become home to a major carbon reduction project, with a little help from plastics.

The United Kingdom's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has provided 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) to plant 270,000 trees across the 1-square-kilometer grounds that will absorb an estimated 20,000 metric tons of carbon in the next 25 years.

To make sure those 28 varities of saplings survive and grow strong, Berry Global Group Inc.'s Tubex-brand plastic tree surrounds will be used to protect the new trees from hungry critters while they also develop strong root systems, Sustainable Plastics writes.

"While it may sound counter-intuitive, plastic can be part of an environmental solution, and Tubex is working at pace to offer a range of sustainable tree shelter solutions," James Taylor, marketing and product development director at Tubex, said.

The shelters can be easily removed and recycled once the tree is established.