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November 16, 2021 08:30 AM

Kickstart: A reusables boost for plastic at COP26

Steve Toloken
Assistant Managing Editor
Plastics News Staff
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    A reusables boost for plastic at COP26

    For new technology, there's nothing like getting world leaders to carry around your product for a little extra buzz. Just ask Bockatech Ltd., developer of plastic foaming technology to make reusable polypropylene cups.

    Both Barack Obama and Joe Biden (and others) were photographed holding the blue, reusable coffee cups at the COP26 climate summit, which ended Saturday in Scotland.

    The company said the summit was using its reusable, recyclable injection molded foamed PP cups to cut down on an estimated 250,000 single-use cups that would normally be used at the two-week event.

    PN's Catherine Kavanaugh dove into the interesting technical details in this article, like how the process can achieve injection molding speeds for the foam cup similar to regular molding of unfoamed packaging.

    The project also highlights pilot efforts to make reuse, as opposed to single-use, more practical. It's an area that people thinking about the evolution of packaging, like the U.S. Plastics Pact, are giving more attention to. NGOs like Upstream have made reuse a priority.

    A foamed cup made with PP resin is also counter to the conventional narrative we always see about plastics, that it's use in packaging is always in single-use. There's a strong potential role for its reuse applications as well. Every material has carbon and pollution impacts and plastics in a reuse situation can do well.

    At Glasgow, the cups were collected, washed and sent out again. As you'd expect, Bockatech has life cycle studies comparing the environmental impact of its cups to both single-use and other reusables.

    Project Exploration
    Ineos, STEM & representation

    Resin maker Ineos Styrolution is kicking in $10,000 to two organizations that work to increase science, engineering and technical education for communities who are underrepresented in those technical jobs.

    The plastics firm said Nov. 12 it was making $5,000 donations each to Mission Fulfilled 2030 in Dulles, Va., and Project Exploration in Chicago to support their work in building STEM opportunities for girls and youths of color.

    "Black men make up less than 5 percent of the high-tech and STEM workforce," said Gerald Moore, executive director of Mission Fulfilled. "Black males make up less than 2 percent of the public school workforce. … We have a visible representation gap in the workforce and the education system."

    "Partnerships with companies like Ineos Styrolution and Mission Fulfilled 2030 are important to the GDP of the country as we are in a deficit of tech/STEM talent," he said.

    Project Exploration, which started in 1999, said it works to create opportunities in STEM, with a focus on students of color and girls from kindergarten through 12th grade. It said the donation would help it continue providing free programs.

    On its website, it said it wants to fight "STEM deserts" in Chicago and said it sees education around science, technology, engineering and math as a social justice issue.

    Building with plastics in Washington's infrastructure plan

    A plastics group is saying that the $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan signed by President Joe Biden Monday includes spending that could be a significant benefit in replacing lead pipes with plastic.

    The Plastics Industry Association said the package includes $15 billion to replace lead pipes, as part of $48 billion to be invested in water infrastructure.

    The group also said the plan includes more modest funding related to recycling: $275 million for a grant funding program created by last year's Save Our Seas 2.0 Act and $75 million from the Recycle Act, which would go toward education and boosting consumer participation in recycling programs.

    "The inclusion of key recycling infrastructure and waste management provisions demonstrates the bipartisan support from Congress and the Biden Administration to invest in the sustainability of plastic now and well into the future," said Tony Radoszewski, president of the Washington-based group.

    Still unclear is the fate of Biden's social spending and climate plan, and a 20-cent-per-pound tax on virgin plastic that some Democratic lawmakers have been trying to include in it. Plastics groups say so far, it appears that the resin tax is not in the detailed legislation.

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