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:
- The Philippines’ lower house of Congress approved a bill that would tax single-use plastics, in line with the president’s commitment to tackle ocean pollution. A tax of 100 pesos ($1.75) would be levied on firms for every kilogram of single-used plastics that they produce or import. The tax would rise by 4% annually from 2026 to discourage usage and protect the environment. (Reuters)
- LyondellBasell, the major multinational chemical company, is moving forward with plans to build a chemical recycling plant in Wesseling, Germany. The plant will use the company’s proprietary recycling technology, with capacity to process 50,000 metric tonnes of waste per year. The plant start-up is planned for the end of 2025. (Plastics News)
- The world is seeing a boom in global patent applications for biodegrable plastics innovation. According to the Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report 2022 from intellectual property firm Appleyard Lees, biodegradable plastics leads by a long shot in the number of patent filings across several key environmental issues. Researchers noted a particular uptick in global patent applications for butylene-based biopolymers. (Circular Online)