Welcome to the Plastics Weekly, NEO’s regular news monitoring of the plastics industry.
This week’s highlights:
- Plastic use in G20 countries is on course to nearly double by 2050 unless a comprehensive and legally binding global treaty to curb consumption is drawn up, according to new research published by Back to Blue (an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation). If negotiations fail, annual plastic production in the G20 could rise to 451 million tonnes by mid-century according to current rates of growth – up nearly three-quarters from 2019. The group called for a more aggressive ban on single-use plastic, along with higher production taxes and mandatory schemes to make firms responsible for the entire lifespan of their products, including recycling and disposal. (Reuters)
- Thailand is restricting plastic waste imports and will ban scrap shipments of the material starting in 2025, as officials seek to halt a flood of refuse from rich countries that has impacted the health of its citizens and polluted its air and water. From this year, plastic waste imports will be restricted to 14 manufacturers located in Thailand’s free trade zone that use the scraps as raw materials, the government said. Inflows will be cut by half next year, although exceptions may be made on a case by case basis. (Bloomberg)
- As the EU cracks down on plastic, will others follow? Over the past four years, in legislation and negotiations, the EU has begun to make its case for a world less reliant on single-use and virgin plastics. Its vision centers on a global set of rules around the most harmful chemicals used in plastic, a ramping-up of recycled content and reusability, and — most controversially — stricter controls on plastics production. The bloc has also begun tackling possibly its greatest global plastic sin: the wholesale export of waste to developing countries. (Bloomberg)