Welcome to the Plastics Weekly, NEO’s regular news monitoring of the plastics industry.
This week’s highlights:
- In a first for any Olympic Games, the podiums at the Paris Olympics are made from 100% recycled plastic. They were produced in a small factory on the outskirts of Paris by a manufacturing start-up called Le Pavé, which also made 11,000 bleacher seats for two sports arenas that were built for the Games — all manufactured from used shampoo bottles and millions of multicolored bottle caps. Le Pavé is part of a growing start-up culture in France that has responded to President Emmanuel Macron’s ambitious policies to transform the economy with a focus on clean technology and the green transition. (The New York Times)
- Major grocery chain Aldi UK aims to incorporate 50% recycled material in its plastic packaging by 2025. In one of its latest steps towards this goal, Aldi has announced plans to use 35% recycled material in its crisp packaging – a move that promises to cut the grocery chain’s virgin plastic consumption by 78 tonnes each year. (The Cool Down)
- Colombia has cut eight single-use plastic items from its consumption and production chain, in a first step towards banning most of these goods within a few years. According to the country’s environment minsiter, the measure is in line with domestic laws that aim to eliminate the manufacture and commercialization of disposable plastic products used by broad sectors of society. (Prensa Latina)