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:
- Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of this year’s UN climate conference has been criticised as “greenwash” by campaigners. Cop27, which will take place in Egypt from 6-18 November, is the world’s primary forum for governments, businesses and environmental organisations to tackle the climate emergency. Plastics campaigners are outraged that Coca-Cola, which has been described as the “world’s top polluter” by an environmental group, is bankrolling the event. (The Guardian)
- Polymer producers are racing to establish recycling infrastructure and ramp up their use of waste plastic for feedstock as they work toward their environmental goals. Many top chemical companies see chemical, or advanced, recycling of mixed waste plastics, complemented by mechanical recycling, as the key to achieving industrial-scale capacity to create a circular plastics loop. (S&P Global)
- A representative of chemicals giant Dow discussed the need for a careful approach to bio-based plastics to drive circularity. The company is exploring how bio-based plastics can be used in a way that doesn’t compete with other sector’s needs for bio-based feedstocks, noting that circularity and recyclability are the main focus for its plastics production. (Edie)
