Welcome to the Plastics Weekly, NEO’s regular news monitoring of the plastics industry.
This week’s highlights:
- Up to 11 million tonnes of plastic pollution is sitting on the ocean floor, according to a new study. Scientists from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and the University of Toronto in Canada say they have carried out the first estimate of how much plastic waste ends up on the ocean floor, which becomes a “permanent resting place” for marine plastic pollution. (Tech Explorist)
- Finland’s Neste will provide renewable raw materials to Lotte Chemical’s plants in South Korea in a collaboration to produce chemicals and plastics with lower emissions. According to Neste, the resulting plastics and chemicals could be used across a variety of sectors, including packaging, construction, textiles and electronics. (Reuters)
- The US is getting closer to developing a way to recycle toothpaste tubes. Around 90% of toothpaste tubes on the market are now made in a way that makes them compatible for recycling with HDPE, the same plastic used for products like shampoo bottles. But recyclable tubes are just one part of the process — the recycling initiative depends on whether private companies and local governments will pitch in with collecting and processing, and whether consumers will recycle their empty tubes. (Bloomberg)