Kickstart: Mounting pressures on plastics

It probably seems like plastics is under attack lately, between California's challenge to plastic bags, a recent Greenpeace study on "failures" of plastics recycling and a lot of coverage from media outside of the plastics industry on those studies.

But there's an element to the steady drumbeat of news that echoes the tropes of many a suspense movie: Some of these calls for drastic change are coming from inside the house.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's network of partners includes major plastics users such as Coca-Cola Co. and Unilever and molders and materials suppliers such as Amcor, Borealis and Solvay. But in its 2022 progress report, the foundation said key targets for 2025 are "expected to be missed."

While brands have doubled their use of recycled content, Karen Laird from Sustainable Plastics writes, the total amount of plastic packaging increased, so the use of virgin plastics actually climbed 2.5 percent in 2021 vs. 2020.

Meanwhile, Marco ten Bruggencate, the president of the trade group Plastics Europe, used his spot with a closing speech at K 2022 to call for the plastics industry to more quickly embrace ways to reduce the reliance on carbon-based feedstocks.

"Whatever we decide today will be decisive for the future of this industry," he said.

Meanwhile, Canada's pending ban on single-use plastics isn't set to start until December — if it withstands a challenge from the plastics industry — but the country's largest retailer isn't waiting for the official date.

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. announced Oct. 31 that it would eliminate plastic shopping bags starting Nov. 1 in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. That's ahead of a June announcement that it would halt the use of the bags by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

"We are a purpose-led organization, with a goal to help Canadians live life well. Our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint is an important part of that," Robert Sawyer, chief operating officer, said in a news release. "Our efforts to remove single-use plastic bags from our stores have already resulted in 13 billion fewer bags going to landfill. But we know there's more work to be done. Today's announcement represents our continued commitment to protecting our environment across the region and beyond."

Girl Scouts in northeast Texas can now earn recognition in polymer science in a program created along with the Society of Plastics Engineers Foundation.

More than 200 Girl Scouts earned their SPE Color Your World with Polymer Science patch during a special event at the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Stem Center of Excellence in Dallas in September.

SPE also has launched a fundraiser to expand the program to other regions.

"Our goal with the Girl Scouts patch program is to inspire girls to become engineers and scientists and to help solve problems and create innovative materials and products to make the world a better place," Eve Vitale, CEO of SPE Foundation, said in a news release. "The plastics industry will greatly benefit from women who understand the advantages we enjoy and the challenges we face — particularly when it comes to plastics."

Girls who are Scouts are more likely than girls who are not Scouts to become science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professionals with leadership aspirations, SPE noted.