Sustainability Science

This video is sponsored by Dow.

In a conversation with GreenBiz Executive Editor Joel Makower, Dow CEO Jim Fitterling details strategy for the company’s latest sustainability commitments — including being carbon neutral by 2050.

“That includes looking at Scope 1 through 3 emissions. And also taking a look at some of the positive benefits our products bring to society,” Fitterling said, pointing to energy-efficient housing and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that that creates.

Its other commitments are related to protecting the climate, stopping waste and closing the loop.

Fitterling noted that the company is currently putting together a consortium of partners that would help come up with an index that allows it to measure, account and verify its work as it progresses toward its goals.

Dole Packaged Foods and Dole Asia Fresh, which are divisions of Dole Asia Holdings, announced plans to move toward zero fossil-based plastic packaging by 2025.

That little recycling symbol on the bottom of a soda or shampoo bottle has a dirty secret. There’s only a 30 percent chance the PET plastic in the bottle will get turned into a new plastic product, and the chance it will become another soda or shampoo bottle is almost zero.

The French startup, Carbios, hopes to change that with a new enzyme — one that could usher in an entirely new way to recycle plastic, one that actually lives up to the arrows of the symbol.

Many of these medical elements currently use single use plastics or have some sort of sustainability challenge. Without doubt, the immediate focus should (and is) on meeting the impending need. Indeed, many innovative approaches are being used during this emergency in the very short term. 

At the same time over the medium to longer term, many other companies are working on alternatives to plastics that could offer options to replace single-use plastics for medical purposes. Indeed, if the strict social distancing and stay at home measures introduced yesterday are successful, there will be a lot of surplus equipment after ‘Peak COVID-19,’ and a flattened curve.

Much of the discarded medical waste in the US is sterilized and taken to landfills in a regulated manner (incineration has been discouraged since 1997). However, other countries may not have as advanced bio-hazard waste protocols. This could potentially lead to a secondary environmental crisis with billions of small items of hazardous single use plastics ending up in waterways and oceans around the world.

To shed light on the current state of recycling and to help advance the circular economy, Hi-Cone, a leading manufacturer of beverage multi-packaging solutions, presents its first annual report on The State of Plastic Recycling. Findings of the report show that only one third of adults across four territories reported recycling all of their plastic waste, with over half reporting they found recycling different plastics difficult to understand. Those surveyed also expressed low confidence in the recycling systems in their countries, with over two thirds reporting to believe only 50% or less of what they put into their recycling bins is actually recycled.

Buyers from the food and beverage, chemical, cosmetics, personal care, and pharmaceutical sectors are deepening their focus on implementing sustainability in their production process and their overall operation. This focus is primarily contributing to spend growth in the sustainable packaging market. With the environment-related regulations bringing operations of these sectors under their scanner, buyers are being compelled to adopt sustainable measures in their operations.

The demand in the sustainable packaging market in North America is being governed by the dynamic consumer preferences and their purchasing trends. In Europe, stringent environmental regulations and legislations are compelling buyers to partner with suppliers who are known to adhere to waste disposal and directives that govern the use of recycled content.

Thermoforming manufacturer Macpac has produced a tray design and raw material solution to ensure bakers and food processors OGGS keeps its supply chain as sustainable as possible.

Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has announced that it’s switching the carriers on its multipacks from shrink wrap to paperboard to reduce packaging waste. CCEP estimates this change in its beverage packaging will remove about 4,000 metric tons of single-use plastic per year from its current supply chain.

PepsiCo has priced its first ever green bond at $1bn, with proceeds from the issuance aimed at funding the food and drink giant's sustainability drive to slash greenhouse gas emissions, packaging waste,...

The North Face has unveiled its new limited-edition Recover Tee, showcasing the label’s sustainability commitment by recycling plastic bottles. Titled “Bottle Source,” the three-tee capsule has been produced from more than 18,000kgs of plastic bottles that were collected from waste streams in the Alps.

The T-shirts themselves come in either long or short sleeve, and feature a new version of the The North Face’s heritage logo. For the capsule, the logo is decked out in blue, pink or green.

As well as aiming to reduce the plastic waste in the Alps, “Bottle Source” is also intended to raise awareness for the rubbish dumped in the mountains. With each item created, The North Face will also be donating 1 Euro to the Summit Foundation. This foundation supports the clean-up programs in the Alps and helps to protect wild places, ensuring that the mountains remain a great place to explore.

CG brands including 3M, Coca-Cola, P&G and Unilever have solidified their obligations to developing a circular economy by extending their capital commitments with the Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund (CLIF). Their investments are directed to support recycling infrastructure and spur growth and tech innovation around end markets for post-consumer materials across North America.

At some stores in Switzerland, it’s now possible to buy Purina cat food and Nescafé coffee from new refill stations instead of in single-use packaging. Nestlé, which owns both brands, is testing new technology as part of its broader goal to cut packaging waste.

Nestlé has announced that it is to co-fund a new chair for sustainable materials at the EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland, together with Logitech, SIG and other industry partners.

Short of wasting all this food, isn’t the food industry set up to donate products to food banks or large school systems feeding their communities? How could the supply chain be altered to make the industry more sustainable?

Yes, some of this is happening. But again, this requires a different distribution capacity and takes time to adjust to. Food waste has been a big problem in the U.S. food system with many causes. According to a study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, globally around one-third of all food produced is lost or wasted along the food chain from production to consumption. This is exacerbated in the pandemic. Our food system travels long distances, on average 1,200-1,500 miles, to get to the plate. It’s a complex problem that requires creative solutions from productivity, ecosystem diversity, supply chain, technology and consumer behavior issues.

Although “this will not be easy,” multinational food and beverage firm Nestlé said it has joined the list of other big companies committing to eliminate use of virgin plastics by one third by 2025 as part of Europe’s first regional initiative toward a circular plastics economy.

A statement showed that Nestlé has signed the European Plastics Pact, initiated by France and the Netherlands, targeting to stop the region’s sole dependence on virgin plastics, which are made from non-renewable fossil fuel.

The world produces more than 300 million tons of plastic every year, 50% of which is for single use, according to Plastic Oceans. A significant amount of plastics each year ends up in the waste stream — in oceans, landfills and elsewhere. Great volumes of plastics — think six-pack rings, water bottles, containers, single-use bags and microplastics from manufacturing waste — are generated by the more than $12 trillion global food and grocery retail market.

The Swiss-based multinational food and drink processing firm, Nestlé, has announced it is set to invest US$2bn as it seeks to increase its sustainable packaging initiatives.
Nestlé will reduce its use of virgin plastics by one third by 2025 whilst working to advance the circular economy and endeavor to reduce plastic waste from oceans, lakes and rivers. 

A new Nike sneaker released this week (1 January) aims to reduce material waste by using scraps created during the production process.

Label for Recycling (L4R), the Singaporean not-for-profit organisation will help brand owners to assess the recyclability of their packaging and provide a market proven set of recycling labels for Singapore. In Singapore, packaging represents one third of the domestic waste. Packaging is primarily made of plastic and, as it can be seen below, in the last 15 years, the recycling rate of plastic in Singapore has steadily decreased down to 4 per cent in 2018. 
The difficulty in segregating materials and the high-level of contamination are two of the main reasons explaining this low recycling rate.