Welcome to the Plastics Weekly, NEO’s regular news monitoring of the plastics industry.
This week’s highlights:
- Marks & Spencer has replaced plastic bags for life with paper carrier bags in an effort to reduce its impact on the environment. The food and clothing retailer said the new Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper bags were now available in every one of its UK stores. The bags can be reused more than 100 times, the company said. (The Guardian)
- Saudi chemical giant Sabic and three other partners are collaborating on a bio-sourced in-mould labelling solution. Along with Sabic, Dubai-based Taghleef Industries and two Greek partners, Karydakis IML and Kotronis Packaging, announced they successfully produced the first mono-polypropylene (PP) thin-wall containers with in-mould labelling made from a mass balanced, certified renewable resin. The partnership demonstrates that certified renewable polymers are also suitable for use in in-mould labelling food packaging applications. (Sustainable Plastics)
- Upsycling plastics into liquids that store energy: scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have created a process that can upcycle most plastics into chemical ingredients useful for energy storage, using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a commercially available catalyst, all at room temperature. This innovation overcomes the current challenges in recycling plastics such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS), which are typically incinerated or discarded in landfills. (Plastics Today)