Packaging converter ALPLA invited guests from the worlds of politics, business and academia to Germany last month, to discuss the virtues of plastics as part of the company’s ‘PlasticCanDoThis’ campaign. A call to action, the campaign seeks to shift the focus to the benefits of plastics.
As dialogue goes, it doesn’t get much more important than the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastics pollution, including in the marine environment. INC-5 takes place at the end of this month in Busan, South Korea. The ambition is to complete the negotiations for a UN treaty in this final round of talks.
Evopak’s MRCM recyclable paper crisp packet was the talk of the UK Packaging Awards last month, scooping the Innovation Award because of a sustainability offering that comes on the back of the Hydropol polymer by Aquapak and a very thin layer of vacuum deposited aluminium. The pack features in this issue of the magazine.
High-level talks reached a conclusion recently after months of ‘concrete negotiations’ culminated in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) offering upwards of $16 billion for German polymers firm Covestro. Covestro, which provides raw materials for inks and adhesives, has 50 production sites and posted sales in 2023 of $15.9bn. ADNOC plans to make a cash injection of $1.3bn into Covestro, a company that was spun out of Bayer in 2015.
Several other deals took place in October, including: AmerCareRoyal’s acquisition of Mat-Pac, a provider of products to the North American foodservice and janitorial/sanitation markets; automation and bottling systems platform Omnia Technologies’ purchase of Tecnomaco, an Italian producer of pharmaceutical packaging machines; and Novvia Group’s acquisition of US-based rigid packaging supplier Liquid Bottles.
During a roundtable discussion with US Department of Commerce assistant secretary Grant Harris, the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) expressed concern about the state of trade in the US, as dockworker strikes threatened to disrupt supply chains and negatively impact the macroeconomy. PLASTICS chief economist Perc Pineda said he hoped that talks would resolve the issue soon, but added that the US plastics industry had the capacity to address potential supply gaps in manufacturing inputs.
Analysts were busy talking turkey last month after Shell abandoned its goal of recycling 1 million tonnes of plastics waste into pyrolysis oil by 2025, a move that called into question the future of the chemical recycling technology. Economics are a complex matter for pyrolysis, but Shell attributed its target change to slow technology development and a lack of available plastics waste feedstock.
While the Shell news was a setback to pyrolysis, the On-Pack Recycling Label scheme called the UK’s decision not to include mandatory labelling in the first stages of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging a ‘slight setback’. Interim managing director Jude Allan said it was important not to lose momentum when it comes to providing clear advice to householders about how to dispose of their packaging.
Waste management firm Biffa was talking the talk at its Waste Net Zero conference, as it welcomed the new UK government’s early prioritisation of a circular economy. However, chief executive Michael Topham said it’s imperative that the government also walks the walk and applies the same commitment for the wider journey to UK net zero.
Meanwhile, back in the US, Berry Global was talking up a bipartisan bill that aims to modernise the country’s recycling infrastructure and increase the use of recycled plastics. PLASTICS called the legislation a step in the right direction.
Recycling was the focus in California (when isn’t it?) last month after the attorney general of the State of California, Rob Bonta filed a 147-page lawsuit against ExxonMobil,accusing the company of engaging in a decades-long campaign of deception about the effectiveness of plastics recycling. ExxonMobil exercised its right to reply by blaming California for operating a long-term inefficient recycling programme.
If all else fails, making plastics ‘self-destruct’ in oceans and landfills could be the future, after a Scottish university start-up – EVA Biosystems – applied special bacteria to conventional plastics. Enzymes break down the plastics under certain conditions.
And finally…
Home-compostable packaging materials made from onion skins have been developed by Huid (the Dutch word for skin), which utilise the food product’s natural antimicrobial properties to help extend shelf-life of perishable foods. Cellulose extracted from the skins is combined into a biopolymer blend and creates two prototypes: Cellofil, a flexible film; and Pyber, which the company compares with cardboard.
The start-up business – which knows its onions – sources waste onion peel from farmers and agricultural businesses and is hoping to ramp up production for a launch in 2025. Chief executive Renuka Ramanujam, who started experimenting with the material on her bedroom floor, has brought on board a chief scientific officer to perfect the material and open up new applications for it. It’s an eye-watering tale!
Steven Pacitti
