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 world’s top companies by plastics use look almost certain to miss their sustainability goals, according to a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the UN Environment Programme. Companies including Nestle, Unilever, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Mars and others have signed on to a pledge to use only reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025. The plastics promise is currently voluntary, but a global legally binding UN treaty to reduce plastics use that is currently in the works could place additional pressure on companies. (Bloomberg)
- The German cabinet has backed a levy on plastics makers in a bid to cut down on litter. Under the draft law, manufacturers of products made with single-use plastic will pay total annual fees of up to 450 million euros ($445.10 million) into a fund to help municipalities clean up waste. The levy would come into effect from spring 2025. (Reuters)
- Is plastic recycling a waste of effort? While chemical recycling — which breaks down plastic into its constituent parts to be remade — is attracting growing investment from petrochemical giants like Chevron and Dow Chemical, critics say fossil fuel companies pursuing plastic production as a new growth area are only exacerbating a problem they helped to create. (Financial Times)
