Welcome to the Plastics Weekly, NEO’s regular news monitoring of the plastics industry.
This week’s highlights:
- Plastic contributes more global greenhouse gas emissions than the aviation industry, according to a new report. The plastic waste prevention startup CleanHub found that plastic is the source of 3.4% (1.8 billion tonnes) of emissions every year, more than the aviation (1.9%) or shipping (1.7%) industries. According to the report, 60% of plastic emissions come from its production, 29% from distribution and 11% from disposal. (Circular Online)
- The World Bank and Citi have launched a $100mn bond to combat plastic waste, with repayments to be partly determined by the sale of plastic and carbon offset credits. The bond will fund plastics collection and recycling projects in Ghana and Indonesia, highlighting the recent growth of exotic debt structures that are geared at environmental causes. (Financial Times)
- In what may be the world’s first fully sustainable gas pipeline, French utility network operator GRDF and petrochemicals giant INEOS have announced a gas pipeline made from bio-based high-density polyethylene (HDPE) material. The new pipeline, which is being installed in France, was made using only low carbon footprint INEOS polymer and is part of a GRDF programme to “green up” pipelines in the country. (Forbes)