Karen Laird

In our October Sustainable Plastics Live, Karen Laird talked about ESG strategies, with an emphasis on carbon reduction and increased circularity. We also previewed the sustainability trends we expect to see at K 2022.

Recycling company MBA Polymers UK has announced it is opening a third United Kingdom site, this time in Duddeston, Birmingham.

During a K 2022 presentation, "Chemical recycling — futue star or black hole," ICIS experts Helen McGeough and Mark Victory will consider energy security concerns and increasing investments in alternative energy sources such as biofueld and chemical recycling.

Slowing demand and economic conditions in Europe have sent Recycling Technologies Group plc and Recycling Technologies Ltd., a United Kingdom-based chemical recycling business, into administration and halted all operations.

Audi’s pilot study with Fraunhofer involves physical recycling to gain experience with as many technologies as possible to establish material cycles for production.

According to the pan-European association of European recyclers, Plastics Recyclers Europe, the high prices of electricity are  starting to affect operations at Europe’s plastics recycling facilities, putting at risk the highly-touted transition towards circularity.

Newlight Technologies Inc. is continuing its growth beyond its current home in California with the help of funding from the North Dakota Industrial Commission to help finance a plant there to produce its AirCarbon plastics from methane.

Skyrocketing electricity and gas prices are increasingly posing a threat to businesses operating in the energy-intensive plastics industry in Europe.

Plastics and rubber machinery exports from Taiwan are on the rise.

The Swiss sports brand On has presented its first running shoe with a foam midsole based on materials derived from carbon emissions.

Sustainable technology company Anellotech has been named  the 2022 recipient of the 2022 Innovation in Bioplastics Award from the Plastics Industry Association.

Koch Technology Solutions (KTS), a Koch Engineered Solutions company, and Ioniqa Technologies have announced they have entered into an agreement to scale up and commercialize Ioniqa’s proprietary advanced PET recycle technology.

Dow Inc. and Mura Technology revealed the site of the companies' new chemical recycling project on Sept. 14, a 120,000-metric-ton unit based on Mura's supercritical water technology, set for Dow's central Germany site in Böhlen, near Leipzig.

In April 2022, five companies, including Japan-based Teijin Ltd., collaborated on the development of a breakthrough solution addressing the problem of disposing of discarded polyester fishing nets.

Value chain collaboration is increasingly seen as a key element in efforts to boost the sustainability of products and processes within the plastics industry.