Welcome to the Plastics Weekly, NEO’s regular news monitoring of the plastics industry.
Every week, we publish a roundup of the top developments in plastics and sustainability – from regulatory changes to company news.
This week’s highlights:
- Bacardi has announced plans to remove plastic pourers from its rum bottles. The company is set to remove non-refillable fitments from its bottles in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Spain and Portugal in an effort to save around 140 tonnes of single-use plastic each year. Bacardi also said it is working to remove all single-use plastic from its gift packs and point-of-sale materials in 2023. (Packaging Europe)
- Asda, one of Britain’s largest supermarkets and a founding member of the UK Plastics Pact, is set to ditch plastic from 550 million teabags. The move will see Asda replace the non-renewable oil-based plastic bags to new material derived from corn starch, which it said would allow the products to be disposed of in kerbside food waste bins. (The Grocer)
- Industrial manufacturer Milliken & Company is working with PureCycle Technologies to create what is claimed to be the first fully sustainable PP resin concentrate on the market. The product is thought to have a 35% lower carbon footprint than virgin PP and encourages lower-carbon production of plastic packaging. Milliken earlier partnered with PureCycle and Nestlé on the planned use of chemical recycling to produce virgin-like resin. (Packaging Europe)
