Disruptive innovation is the key to plastics sustainability
Disruptive innovation is the key to plastics sustainability
A sustainable plastics production chain requires shifting from a linear to a circular economy
BY FASTCO WORKS
Plastic plays a critical role in virtually all industries, from agriculture and construction to healthcare and manufacturing. Time magazine has called plastic one of the four materials (along with cement, steel, and ammonia) without which modern societies would not be possible. However, as global production of this cheap, lightweight, and highly versatile material doubled during the past two decades, plastic consumption grew even faster, according to the OECD, creating significant sustainability challenges. Meeting those challenges will require disruptive innovation from companies both large and small.
“Many companies are under significant pressure from employees, customers, regulators, and investors to show progress toward sustainability goals,” says Paige Marie Morse, sustainability lead at AspenTech, an industrial software provider. “For the companies that make plastics, they also feel a responsibility to meet the increasing demand for resources among a growing population, but without sacrificing sustainability.”
KEY TRENDS EMERGING
Three noteworthy trends in the plastics sustainability movement are legislation and mandates for increased use of recycled content in manufactured products and elimination of single-use plastics, efforts to make packaging more easily recyclable, and growing recognition that mechanical recycling alone will not be enough to meet the growing demand for recycled raw materials, says Kevin Quast, global business lead for Honeywell’s plastics circularity business.
Honeywell UOP, which develops technology and processes for the petrochemical industry, has been an innovator for more than a century. “We have been known for helping our customers transform and transition as society, technology, and regulatory environments have evolved,” Quast says. “We are not just focused on plastics circularity, we are investing in and commercializing solutions for energy storage, clean hydrogen and carbon sequestration, as well as green and renewable fuels, bioplastics, and other areas related to circularity, sustainability, and environmental improvement.”
Quast notes that about 60% of Honeywell’s research and development (R&D) budget goes toward creating sustainability solutions, such as its UpCycle Process Technology. This new technology expands the types of plastics that can be recycled and creates recycled polymer feedstock (RPF), which is then used to make recycled plastics with a lower carbon footprint.
SIZE DOESN’T MATTER
Plastics circularity is on the radar of most companies these days, regardless of size or where on the plastics chain they reside. Jay Baker, CEO of Jamestown Plastics, a contract packaging business based in Brocton, New York, is responding to sustainability trends by proactively assuming responsibility, before regulation demands it, he says. For example, he recently developed a circularity option to keep the plastic trays used by one of his customers out of the landfill.
“We collect the old trays, grind them up, and send them back to the extruder,” Baker explains. “The extruder then makes ‘new’ recycled material, and we use that material to form recycled plastic trays for this customer and keep those expended trays out of the waste stream for as long as possible.”
Across the country in Palo Alto, California—and at the other end of the size spectrum—HP is taking multiple steps to improve its plastics circularity. “The elimination of unnecessary plastic is the first priority when it comes to our circularity strategy,” says James McCall, HP’s chief sustainability officer. “As of 2021, we achieved a 44% reduction in single-use plastic packaging, towards our 2025 goal of a 75% reduction compared to 2018.”
Additionally, HP has committed to a goal of using 30% post-consumer recycled plastic across its personal systems and print product portfolio by 2025, and it aims to achieve 75% circularity for its products and packaging by 2030.
WORLDWIDE CONCERN
Plastics sustainability is a global challenge requiring global solutions, of course. Braskem, an international petrochemical company headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is working with other innovation leaders around the world to do just that. “We believe that the transition from a linear to a circular economy is key to driving sustainable development in the plastics production chain,” says Antônio Queiroz, vice president of innovation, technology, and sustainable development. “Promoting sustainable development in our operations is in our DNA. We are consistently focused on developing sustainable solutions that improve people’s lives through chemicals and plastics.”
Braskem has committed to a 15% reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to becoming a carbon neutral company by 2050. It was the first company in the petrochemical industr y to develop a large-scale biopolymer from sugar cane, and it develops partnerships focused on both mechanical and advanced recycling. It has multiple ventures underway in its home country, the latest being Cazoolo, an innovation hub to help customers, brands, designers, startups, and universities develop more sustainable packaging in an effort to improve plastics circularity and reduce environmental impact.
Braskem is also partnering with like-minded enterprises around the world in its push for plastics sustainability. Its investment in U.S.-based Nexus Circular, an advanced recycling company, is part of its effort to expand its circular polymer portfolio. Such collaborations have helped in Braskem’s development of two new polypropylene grades with post-consumer recycled (PCR) content that can be used in a wide range of FDA food contact applications.
BETTING ON INNOVATION
“We know that in order to achieve real sustainability, we also need to bet on innovation when creating new business,” says Queiroz. Braskem increased its R&D budget by 50% this year, and it maintains multiple centers for disruptive innovation in Brazil and the U.S. It has partnered with Danish company Topsoe to develop a greener version of MEG, a component for producing PET plastic bottles that is widely used in plastics manufacturing. Derived directly from sugars, this green MEG has the potential to disrupt the polyethylene value chain as it significantly improves its carbon footprint.
“We believe transformation is everywhere,” says Queiroz. “It’s time to use our potential to establish a new relationship with our ecosystem and tackle climate change as our planet’s greatest challenge. We understand that the more people and organizations are engaged, the more we can do to build a better world for current and future generations.”
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