rethinking plastics in a circular economy28 May rethinking plastics in a circular economy
"Current actions aiming at achieving circularity may be overly focused on superficial effects and losing sight of true circular economy goals," the four researchers argue. We foster a global conversation on how to make it a reality. In this report, Economist Impact examines the distinguishing characteristics of a range of plastic recycling technologies and presents the results of an in-depth assessment informed by an advisory board and desk research. 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All rights reserved, Closing the loop for the climate: Harnessing the circular economy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Sign up to the free World Ocean Initiative newsletter, Receive a monthly round-up of articles, videos, infographics and other content from the World Ocean Initiative. At the same time, alternatives - such as glass packaging - could cause even more environmental burden or have poorer product properties. A new report by McKinsey, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and the World Economic Forum, The new plastics economy: Rethinking the future of plastics, finds that applying circular-economy principles to global plastic-packaging flows could reshape the materials economy. While the ones under Operating the Loop (O strategies) should be applied in parallel and as completely as possible. For example, reusable packaging must be designed to avoid the release of microplastics . Food designs that encourage regenerative food production and the business solutions aimed at reducing food loss and waste, Episode 3: Circular Fashion Credit: Waste Management (2023). EU calls for agreement on global rules to end plastic pollution "Our aim is to trigger a scientific discussion on how to best combine scientific knowledge and research on the flows of materials, components and products through society to achieve the broader objective of sustainability, while keeping up with the timelines imposed by the pace of business and policy decisions. The second in a three-article series on ocean-centred climate change mitigation and adaptation. We are a catalyst of change both within the plastics industry, and together with all our value chain partners. We are determined to keep working for ambitious action across the world, as the fight against the pollution, climate and biodiversity crises must involve all of us. University of Delaware. These monomers are linked by chemical bonds to become polymers, which can be used in the formation of plastics to be crafted into various forms for many different uses. He calls it a "convenient truth" -- the convenience and cheap cost of such products make them compelling to consumers, without recognizing the inherent value and cost to the planet. Identify the news topics you want to see and prioritize an order. Rethinking plastics in a circular economy. While voluntary action is important, it is not sufficient by itself. That is why we are making a plea for meaningful circularity goals, to avoid that business or policy decisions involuntarily contribute to cementing policy and infrastructure that do not contribute to true sustainability," they conclude. 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. Small Island Developing States call for ambitious Global Plastics Circular economy measures to keep plastics and their value in the Ciprian Cimpan et al, Keep circularity meaningful, inclusive and practical: A view into the plastics value chain, Waste Management (2023). By 2040 a circular economy has the potential to: reduce the annual volume of plastics entering our oceans by 80%. by How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy. They need professionals to break down the costs and benefits and explain the options. The report further explores the policy framework necessary to implement and scale up these emerging technologies. such as leakage into oceans as plastics escape established waste-collection systems. With four strategic approaches, researchers from the German institute Fraunhofer UMSICHT and the Dutch institute TNO now provide insights into how this future scenario could look like in their recently published white paper "From #plasticfree to future-proof plastics". It also addresses the production of recyclates and their use in different applications. Marketing strategies that claim certain plastic products are "green" and biodegradable to draw well-intentioned consumers are especially concerning to him. Circular Plastics | Economist Impact In March 2020, the European Commission adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan - one of the main blocks of the European Green Deal, Europe's new agenda for sustainable growth.The new Action Plan announces initiatives along the entire life cycle of products: It targets how products are designed, promotes circular economy processes, encourages sustainable consumption and aims to ensure that . Rethinking plastics: Urgent call to action on plastics pollution. With plastic production forecasted to triple by 2060, the EU will call for legally binding provisions to address the production of primary plastics, with a view to making production and consumption sustainable. For Slowing the Loop, measures are needed to extend the useful lifetime of materials and products. The newly released report is a contribution towards a better understanding of the circular economy of plastics in the EU27 + Norway, Switzerland and The United Kingdom. "We have to develop a new, sustainable way of designing and using plastics.". LaShanda T. J. Korley, Thomas H. Epps, Brett A. Helms, Anthony J. Ryan. ocean. But how can plastics be designed so that all of their components can be deconstructed for future use in other products? Rashid Abdi on Twitter: "RT @NLinKenya: Today's dialogue centers University of Delaware. This site uses cookies to assist with navigation, analyse your use of our services, collect data for ads personalisation and provide content from third parties. To create a circular economy for plastic we must take three actions: Eliminate Eliminate all problematic and unnecessary plastic items Innovate Innovate to ensure that the plastics we do need are reusable, recyclable, or compostable. As such, in 2022, SIDS supported the UNEA 5.2 Resolution 5/14 to end plastic pollution and work towards an international legally binding instrument that will focus on reducing plastic production, phasing out single use plastics, and transitioning to a circular economy. governments and business leaders to rethink the plastics value chain, including strengthening recycling. That requires new approaches to chemistry, engineering, industrial processes, policy and global collaboration, according to co-authors LaShanda T.J. Korley, director of the Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI) at the University of Delaware and the principal investigator of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Partnerships for International Research and Education effort in Bio-inspired Materials and Systems; UD's Thomas H. Epps, III, co-director of CPI, lead principal investigator of an NSF Growing Convergence Research (GCR) effort in Materials Life-Cycle Management and director of the Center for Hybrid, Active, and Responsive Materials (CHARM) at UD; Brett A. Helms of the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California; and Anthony J. Ryan of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. 2 mins ago. Episode 4: Circular Cities "If these facilities were designed to recycle or upcycle PDK and related plastics, then we would be able to more effectively divert plastic from landfills and the oceans. The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics 3 Contents 3 Preface 4 Foreword 5 In Support of the New Plastics Economy 5 Project MainStream . The new report explains that improvement efforts to date are highly fragmented and subscale. All rights reserved, Plastic recycling technologies assessment, Closing the loop for the climate: Harnessing the circular economy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. G7 summit: 3 key takeaways for net zero action, nature and the circular Recognising the value in plastic waste is critical to strengthening efforts to collect and recycle these materials, Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily, its staff, its contributors, or its partners. (2021, July 1). Abid Qaiyum Suleri on Twitter: "RT @SDPIPakistan: SDPI under the The covid-19 pandemic starkly revealed peoples dependency on plastic as well as the ongoing failure of This site is managed by the Directorate-General for Environment, EU calls for agreement on global rules to end plastic pollution, Follow the European Commission on social media. If business proceeds as usual, this number is projected to double to more than 600 million metric tons in the next 20 years. technology (Tech Xplore) and medical research (Medical Xpress), The EU and its Member States believe that the new instrument should include the necessary obligations enabling countries to step up actions to prevent plastics from entering the environment. In a sweeping introductory article, the scientists -- including two from the University of Delaware, one from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California and another from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom -- call for fundamental change in the way plastics are designed, produced, used and reused. "From a scientific and societal point of view, we can therefore neither continue to use plastics as we did in the past nor can we do without them," explains Manfred Renner, Head of Institute Fraunhofer UMSICHT. The goal is to bring change to the public and industry. In this episode, we'll explore worldwide cutting-edge upstream innovation examples to tackle We need a legally-binding global treaty to end plastic pollution. "We're at a critical point where we need to think about the infrastructure needed to modernize recycling facilities for future waste sorting and processing," Helms said after the new material was announced. It provides a European overview of 2020 plastics production, conversion, consumption and waste flows. In cases where Member States have initiated new laws on packaging waste, and where the business community is committing to ambitious targets to increase the circularity of their products a meaningful, inclusive and practical circularity that promotes sustainability is crucial.>, More information: Technologies that could transform how industries use energy, Visit our Resource-Productive Operations page, Sustainability & Resource Productivity Practice, The new plastics economy: Rethinking the future of plastics. Therefore, in a next step, TNO and Fraunhofer UMSICHT are building a hands-on platform for plastics in a circular economy: European Circular Plastics Platform CPP," explains Esther van den Beuken, Principal Consultant from TNO. A holistic change, as we envision it, can only succeed if science, industry, politics and citizens work together across sectors. Today, almost a third of all plastic packaging leaks, with about 8 million metric tons annually polluting oceans. How does a future-proof, circular and sustainable plastics economy look like? The principle behind this sustainable production model is to keep raw materials and finished goods in circulation for as long as possible to further extend . Lifecycle analysis data are key to making evidence-based decisions, Ryan said, and consumers and lawmakers can't do that on their own. A circular approach looking at the entire plastics life cycle will be key for the change needed. Rethinking Plastic - About the Project This shift in focus has resulted in legislation, such as the European single-use plastic directive, which aims at regulating plastic at several different .
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