Kickstart: Tackling ocean plastic in Malaysia

Plastics is in the world's oceans are a real thing. But how many of you have heard a rebuttal from people in Europe or North America noting that the problem is coming from Asia, not their territories, so why aren't we focusing cleanup efforts there rather than banning straws?

Who says Asian countries aren't trying?

Consider Steve Toloken's story this week about the work from Malaysia (No. 8 in the Top 20 most polluting nations) where recycling company Heng Hiap Industries Sdn. Bhd. is collecting waste specifically from waterways and coastal communities in its home country, and turning it into chairs injection molded by Kian Group. The Louvre Chairs, based on work by a Dutch designer, found "overwhelming" interest from corporate, hotel and restaurant furniture buyers.

Shahid Khan runs one of the country's largest suppliers to the auto industry, one with an estimated $330 million in injection molding production in North America, according to the best estimates Plastics News' data guru Hollee Keller can generate.

As owner of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, he has a high profile. At least when it comes to football. Khan rarely makes himself available to the automotive or plastics business press, so when he does, it makes headlines.

On Nov. 19, he spoke to the Detroit Economic Club and took some questions on a range of issues, from his views on tariffs (good) and immigration (also good). Dustin Walsh from sister publication Crain's Detroit Business has more.

To return to the topic of ocean plastics, reporter Jim Johnson has a blog on packaging company Sana and its new ocean plastic-based lid for cannabis packaging.

Sana "designs and develops" packaging using bio-based and recycled plastic, focused on customers in the legal cannabis industry. It's latest offering its customers lids made from recycled plastics that were captured in waterways.

It's the second ocean plastic package Sana is offering, though as Jim points out, it's a very appropriate item. (You'll have to click through if you, like me, had somehow missed out on the multiple meaning of the word "lid.")

And while we're on recycling, Colgate-Palmolive announced Nov. 20 that it is rolling out a fully recyclable tube (made of HDPE) with its Tom's of Maine brand switching its Antiplaque & Whitening toothpaste to the tube in 2020.

Which is great. Design for recyclability is important. But ... doesn't that tube need to be cleaned? And don't toothpaste tubes always have just a little bit more in them if you squeeze them hard enough? So does this mean consumers will have to cut open the tubes and clean them? And will they be able to be placed in curbside bins or will they have to go in the bag collection bins at grocery stores?

Thankfully, Jim Johnson has some answers.

Although as Editor Don Loepp quipped: "Maybe this means recycling centers will smell minty fresh rather than like spoiled milk."