Welcome to NEO’s series on plastics news monitoring.
Every Monday, we publish a roundup of the top weekly developments in the sphere of plastics and sustainability – from regulatory changes to company innovations.
This week’s highlights:
- Technology giant IBM is designing a data platform to track plastic waste and recovery on a global scale as part of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, which includes 50 member companies. IBM’s platform, called PRISM, will allow data sharing between organizations, manufacturers, waste management companies and NGOs in order to better understand the plastics ecosystem and support the creation of a circular economy. (Forbes)
- The European Plastics Pact — an alliance of 15 national governments, 82 businesses, 3 regional governments and 43 other organisations dedicated to responsible plastics use — has published a roadmap to drive its cross-border initiatives to develop a Europe-wide circular economy for plastics. (Circular)
- China – the world’s largest producer of plastic waste – has ramped up production of biodegradable plastic following bans on several types of single-use plastics. But the massive increase in biodegradables is outpacing the country’s ability to degrade the materials, according to a new Greenpeace report. (BBC)