In the so-called linear economy, products fly off the shelves wrapped in cheap plastic and paper that companies dont have to keep track of. Trim, with Zero Waste Washington, said these measures could help institutionalize some of the reuse infrastructure thats being laid out by the private sector. By aligning regulatory frameworks, it is hoped that the industry can navigate requirements and constraints more effectively and drive the adoption of sustainable practices. Multiple end-of-life strategies must be implemented to minimize environmental impacts and retain valuable plastic material, but it is challenging to compare options that generate products with different lifetimes and utilities. How a true circular economy could be the answer to our plastic problem Packaging must be fit for purpose to protect, preserve and present goods efficiently to avoid waste and negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and not just appear sustainable from an aesthetics perspective. Instead, theyre required to offer disposable tubs or bags, meaning many bulk-food systems arent actually advancing a circular economy. . EMF has broken down the reuse market into four models defined by who owns the packaging and where it gets refilled. Moreover, brand owners can use the certification to highlight the sustainable material content of their products, offering consumers a more responsible choice. It was acknowledged that there is an increasing focus on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions among companies and that using recycled content significantly contributes to this goal. June 29, 2023, Source: Fraunhofer-GesellschaftFraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI - A Global Vision of the Future: The Circular Economy and its Importance in Different Countries, Online in Internet; URL: https://www.isi.fraunhofer.de/en/blog/2023/circular-economy-kreislaufwirtschaft-zukunftsvision-bedeutung-verschiedene-laender.html. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation works to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Lab-grown meat is now approved for sale in the US. It was great.. All plastic packaging is free of hazardous chemicals, and the health, safety, and rights of all people involved are respected. It is a concept that combines economic development with the most efficient use of natural resources, including reusing, reducing, and recycling. Copyright HT Digital Streams Ltd. All rights reserved. ", For Germany, Antonia Loibl, researcher at Fraunhofer ISI, emphasises the importance of measures to avoid production by changing consumption and use patterns: "Our research results for Germany show that the greatest potential for reducing material consumption can be tapped through avoidance measures and extending product lifetimes. Congdon, with Beyond Plastics, said its important for consumers to not only demonstrate demand for reusable products, but to fight for policies that tip the scales away from plastics. The design of a circular economy can target different phases of a product's life: production, use or end-of-life. While discussing the complexities of transitioning to a circular economy, the panel proposed that five crucial steps and four enablers were required to move forward: 1. The mass balance accounting follows predefined and transparent rules, which then define whether a product can be classified as renewable or circular. Yoo was soon seeing plastic throughout her life: It held her childs vitamins, her toothpaste, the ketchup she kept in the fridge. Our five main pathways to decarbonization are Reliability; Energy Efficiency and Improvements; Renewable Energy; Electrification; Carbon Capture; and Green/blue Hydrogen. through reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing or recycling. 5 and Sustainability [see Geissdoerfer et al., 2017, Figure 3: 762 for the full list]). Businesses face additional challenges in communicating the cost savings of bulk, particularly for concentrated products. However, for these recycling rates to be formally notified under the EPR framework, recyclers need to be appropriately registered, and this may prove to be a challenge for the large informal sector, Anantakrushnan said. In order to do that, the EU created a strategy for plastics in a circular economy that lays the foundations for a new plastics economy. Shifting perceptions the plastics and packaging industry image needs attention. The system is particularly promising for restaurants and cafes, which can participate together in a third-party reuse program that would be too complicated to manage on their own. CocaCola Partners with MSMEs to Create Circular Economy for Recyclable PET Plastic Bottles. circular economy is a bigger idea than incrementally reducing the harm of our current model. More than 1000 organizations, including businesses and governments, have united behind the vision of creating a circular economy for plastics, setting key targets to be reached by 2025. Yoo had been breastfeeding her son for a few months and was looking to transition him to a dissolvable formula in 2018. For in-store refills to catch on more widely, Gordon said shed like to see stores offer their own reusable containers, which customers could borrow and return later. The mass balance of both the certified renewable and certified circular feedstocks in SABICs TRUCIRCLE portfolio are validated by independent third-party accounting according to the widely recognized International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) regime, following a set of clearly defined and transparent rules. Sodastream, for example which was acquired by PepsiCo in 2018 sells a machine that lets customers make their own carbonated water, which can then be turned into a sort of DIY root beer or cola with the addition of some concentrated flavor droplets. As per data shared by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), over 390 plastic manufacturing companies and 230 recycling companies in Maharashtra have registered under EPR in 2022 alone. Starbucks says it wants to implement the program in all its Europe, Middle East, and Africa locations by 2025. Glass deposit scheme makes a comeback in France One beacon of hope: Americans across the political spectrum support policies to address plastic pollution, including by replacing single-use plastic with alternatives. H&M Group's vision is to become 100% circular Some of these reusable solutions are relatively new inventions, like lightweight, concentrated formulas of familiar body care products, while others represent a return to systems that have been around for a long time: say, bringing your own container to the bulk aisle at the grocery store, or leaving glass bottles curbside to be picked up for cleaning and reuse, la the milkmen of generations past. Recently, we teamed up with Stella McCartney Beauty and three French plastic converters, Texen, Leygatech, and STTP Emballage, to develop refillable skin and eye care containers. Facebook, Follow us on We develop and promote the idea of a circular economy, and work with business, academia, policymakers, and institutions to mobilise systems solutions at scale, globally. Petcore is involved in the creation of design guidelines and has developed a platform to make assessments of these guidelines specifically for PET thermoformed packaging. We work with our partners across the value chain (eg. Eliminate all problematic and unnecessary plastic items. To achieve our vision of a circular economy for plastic, we believe that progress must be achieved in three critical areas: 1. Rafael Jaumotte from Petcore Europe, the European association for companies and member associations involved in the PET value chain, called for more evaluation, development of design for recycling guidelines, and increased promotion of the circularity of the thermoformed PET packaging to consumers. It origins from different schools of thought and makes use of concepts developed independently, adding a systemic perspective of joint actions with the potential to . This collaboration would fundamentally drive the need for innovation and facilitate knowledge sharing to establish common goals and standards, they believe. Aida Cierco, group sustainability senior manager at kp, pointed out the need for better reporting guidelines on the circular economy for increased transparency and that the use of the same methodologies across companies would avoid unnecessary complexity. Yoo began connecting the dots, tracing those microplastics tiny shards of plastic that form from the breakdown of larger plastic items back to their source. considers every stage of a products journey before and after it reaches the customer. To tackle the "plastic crisis", the concept of circular economy has attracted considerable attention over the past years, both by practitioners and scholars alike. Zero plastic packaging to landfill. The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021 would have implemented a national bottle bill at the federal level, but it never moved out of committee. Instagram, Follow us on Even though EU recycling rates for certain plastic streams have increased in recent years, the challenges linked to managing the large volumes of plastic waste produced each year persist and could even . Creating a Circular Economy for Plastics - ERM Some companies, like Blueland, are making plastic-free refills for soap available through the mail so customers can fill up their own empty containers. The vision for a circular economy for plastic packaging has 6 key points described in this video. Our vision for a circular economy for plastics is available in: English. Will it help the climate? The approach allocates the renewable and circular content used in the production and conversion of plastic materials to the ultimate application. for plastic in which it never becomes waste. We delve into specific initiatives undertaken by SABIC, such as the production of certified circular polymers from advanced recycling of used plastics, and their collaborations with renowned brands to develop sustainable packaging solutions. We are working to build circularity into every stage of our value chain (from design and production to customer use, reuse and recycling) and to . Chemical recycling: what contribution can it make to addressing the EU Assuring a more sustainable future requires innovation in creating recyclable products and driving toward carbon neutral products. The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment - UNEP Circular Economy through Objectives - ScienceDirect American culture needs to dispose of that disposable mindset, where everything is to be used and thrown away, said Linda Corrado, a board member for the reuse nonprofit Upstream and an independent consultant in sustainable business strategies. Although shes willing to take on some inconveniences for the sake of reuse like schlepping around a heavy load of stainless steel, glass, and ceramic jars every time she does a grocery run not everyone feels the same way. The work of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is supported by our Strategic Partners and Partners. There are all kinds of things to refill, she said. Containers then have to be inspected and weighed by store clerks before they can be refilled. Design and build by Upstatement. Delphine Garin, Manager, Plastics & Packaging, WBCSD | 26 May 2023. PDF Plastics: A Vision for a Circular Economy - Rototek A UN treaty based on legally-binding global rules and comprehensive circular economy measures is a unique opportunity to accelerate systems change and end plastic pollution. Once customers have made an initial investment in a companys reuse system, buying their containers or technology, theyre less likely to switch to another one at least in theory. By setting and striving for more ambitious recycling targets, the organisations believe that companies can drive the circularity agenda forward and increase the availability of recycled materials in the market. But she found herself wondering what kind of water to mix it with bottled or tap. If you liked this article, you might also enjoy: The Lidl approach to packaging sustainability. SABICs certified renewable and certified circular materials are certified under the ISCC PLUS scheme that uses a mass balance accounting system to trace the material flow across complex supply chains from the feedstock to final products. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) under (plastic) extended producers responsibility (EPR) gave Shah a target of processing 120 tonnes of plastic annually, which is at least 70% of the overall plastic his company sends to the market. ""The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, or EMF a nonprofit that advocates for a circular economy estimates that businesses have an opportunity to save some $10 billion in material costs if they replace just 20 percent of their single-use plastic packaging with reusable alternatives"" Over 480 applications for registration are pending which covers nearly 95% of the entire industry, according to MPCB officials. Facebook, Follow us on For the other two kinds of reuse systems,known as return from home and return on the go,businesses own the containers, rather than individuals. A self-described serial entrepreneur, she ended a self-imposed break from starting new businesses to co-found Blueland in 2019. We dont take that lightly, she told Grist. It was also agreed that there is a key need for packers and retailers to be involved, being a key part of the PET value chain. Linked to this is the need to simplify packaging to improve recyclability and that common use of clear (versus coloured) mono-material packaging would increase the availability of high-quality post-consumer recyclate. ", In addition to the island's limited resources, Pei Chiun Li also describes the importance of CE for sustainable transformation in Taiwan: "By practicing the circular economy, Taiwan can transition to a society of sustainable consumption and production. The panellists highlighted the need to close the loop by converting recycled materials back into similar products (like tray-to-tray recycling) as a crucial step towards circularity. According to Lubna Anantakrushnan, member, SWaCH, Pune, the important contributions by the waste pickers in the city include: door-to-door waste collection, segregation of plastic material, and sending of the same to recycling centres. Instagram, Follow us on Ellen MacArthur Foundation 49.7K subscribers Subscribe 118K views 2 years ago #circulareconomy Find out more here: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.. Plastics are versatile materials, but the. Loop, for example, helps its corporate clients set up the reverse logistics infrastructure that forms the backbone of returnable packaging systems. Various efforts ranging from collection of plastic waste, recycling, and research on chemical analysis of different types of plastic are being undertaken. Researching it plays a central role in understanding potentials, recognising limits and tailoring implementation to individual countries. She adds, "The Circular Economy is not only the answer to protect the environment but also to help drive the socio-economic transition and create innovation in Thailand. Ana Fernandez, global innovation director at kp, raised the issue of the current competition that exists between PET packaging producers and the bottle market. This site uses cookies. Similarly, the chemical recycling branch analyses the chemical formulation of plastic materials. For SABIC, this means that for each ton of renewable or circular feedstock fed into the production process to substitute fossil-based feedstock, approximately one ton of the output material can be classified as either renewable or circular. The EU's transition to a circular economy will . Towards a Circular PET future. In Washington, it wasnt until late 2020 that an update to the states food code finally began allowing customers to bring their own containers to the bulk section, as long as a cashier visually inspected each one before use. What is the circular economy? 380 million tons of plastic are made every year. Grist is powered by WordPress VIP. And the solutions proposed by the industry, such as 100% recyclable, biodegradable or compostable packaging, in no way meet the founding principles of a circular economy, such as limiting resource extraction or maintaining the value of materials used. The pressing issue of plastic packaging circularity, specifically focusing on PET, took centre stage in a recent round table discussion held at interpack 2023, hosted by Klockner Pentaplast (kp) and featuring experts from CEFLEX, Petcore and Indorama. One such research institute in Pune carrying out important research in the circular economy of plastic waste is the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL). While certain materials in the container space for example can be produced through mechanical recycling, others in the cosmetics space need to use advanced recycling processes to meet the demands of the customers. SABIC also came together with REN Clean Skincare where they wanted to implement a circular solution that can provide a transparent look and feel while also supporting the complex assembly of parts requiring tight tolerances, such as for airless packaging systems. At the heart of the New Plastics Economy initiative is a vision of a .css-63febw .e716bcn3:hover+.e716bcn2{visibility:visible;}.css-1r0g86b{cursor:help;}circular economy.css-iq7jxc{background-color:#f2f2f2;box-shadow:0px 12px 16px -4px rgba(16, 24, 40, 0.08),0px 4px 6px -2px rgba(16, 24, 40, 0.03);border-radius:8px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-items:flex-start;-webkit-box-align:flex-start;-ms-flex-align:flex-start;align-items:flex-start;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:flex-start;justify-content:flex-start;padding:12px;gap:4px;position:absolute;left:0px;top:25px;z-index:99999;width:auto;max-width:320px;visibility:hidden;cursor:help;-webkit-transition:visibility ease-out 0.1s;transition:visibility ease-out 0.1s;}.css-iq7jxc:hover{visibility:visible;}.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-label,.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-definition,.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-link{font-size:12px;line-height:16px;letter-spacing:0.0015em;}.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-label{font-weight:bold;text-transform:capitalize;}.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-definition{font-weight:normal;}.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-link-label{font-family:'Arial',sans-serif;}.css-iq7jxc dfn{font-style:normal;}circular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Sustainability and Infrastructure Systems, Transformation and Innovation Systems for urban areas, Transformation to a new added value paradigm, recently launched research project Circularity, The Circular Economy and its Importance in Different Countries. There were no good options. The companys mission is to eliminate unnecessary plastics from familiar cleaning and personal care products like dish soap, toilet bowl cleaner, and body wash all of which it sells in concentrated tablet form, shipped directly to customers in recyclable paper packaging. It sounds like a lot of work, but there are reasons beyond good PR for companies to embrace returnable packaging. With companies like Blueland, the customer owns the container potentially one sold by Blueland for $8 to $11 (although, for many products, any old container will do). Twitter, Follow us on Circular economy measures/models retain the added value of goods as long as possible, reducing waste and keeping the value of plastics in the economy, without leakage into the . The former dumping ground that became a flourishing food ecosystem, The global plastics treaty can fight climate change if it reduces plastic production. You can read the second blog in this series here. Model of a Circular Economy And because refills are ordered online and delivered straight to peoples doorsteps, the system is labeled refill at home.. Miriam Gordon, a strategist for the nonprofit Story of Stuff Project, which advocates for policies to reduce plastic pollution, shops at a co-op grocery store in San Francisco that carries many of its products in bulk. We must change how we design, use, and reuse plastics. Bold Reuse helps by offering a subscription service for restaurants, which can sign up to replace either some or all of their single-use dishware with reusable inventory. Most plastics arent truly recyclable, and a growing body of research shows that plastics recycling can harm low-income communities of color and keep thousands of hazardous chemicals in circulation, but the industry still promotes plastics recycling as part of a circular economy. PDF The Circular Economy: What, Why, How and Where - OECD 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. The informal recycling sector is already recycling a substantial portion of the expected recycling under EPR. Plastics in a Circular Economy | Ellen MacArthur Foundation Companies like these refill-at-home models because they can boost brand loyalty. OSCR Registration No. If we dont act now, by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans. That scenario could cause more than 44 million metric tons of aquatic plastic pollution every year. We develop and promote the idea of a circular economy, and work with business, academia, policymakers, and institutions to mobilise systems solutions at scale, globally. She gotpizza, Indian food, Burmese food, salads. This part of the supply chain has been optimized to death for 60 years. These plastics, with dramatic consequences on living organisms, are mainly present in the form of micro-fragments, making illusory the idea of cleaning up the Ocean. Accelerating the circular economy: WBCSD releases updated circularity metrics to measure climate and nature impact. The .css-63febw .e716bcn3:hover+.e716bcn2{visibility:visible;}.css-1r0g86b{cursor:help;}circular economy.css-iq7jxc{background-color:#f2f2f2;box-shadow:0px 12px 16px -4px rgba(16, 24, 40, 0.08),0px 4px 6px -2px rgba(16, 24, 40, 0.03);border-radius:8px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-items:flex-start;-webkit-box-align:flex-start;-ms-flex-align:flex-start;align-items:flex-start;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:flex-start;justify-content:flex-start;padding:12px;gap:4px;position:absolute;left:0px;top:25px;z-index:99999;width:auto;max-width:320px;visibility:hidden;cursor:help;-webkit-transition:visibility ease-out 0.1s;transition:visibility ease-out 0.1s;}.css-iq7jxc:hover{visibility:visible;}.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-label,.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-definition,.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-link{font-size:12px;line-height:16px;letter-spacing:0.0015em;}.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-label{font-weight:bold;text-transform:capitalize;}.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-definition{font-weight:normal;}.css-iq7jxc .tooltip-link-label{font-family:'Arial',sans-serif;}.css-iq7jxc dfn{font-style:normal;}circular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. Through SABICs TRUCIRCLE portfolio, we aim to provide manufacturers access to our circular innovations and more sustainable materials, which can provide consumers with confidence, as they are buying products with the knowledge that the material can be recycled and repurposed, or that it has been produced in a way that can help protect our planets natural resources. Circulate all the plastic items we use to keep them in the economy and out of the environment, Explore the vision for a circular economy for plastic. U.S. Plastics Pact to Be Catalyst for Circular Economy Collaboration emerged as a crucial element in achieving PET circularity in the discussion. What is a Circular Economy? | US EPA
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