Plastics

Researchers in Japan have developed a method for the depolymerisation of PET that can be applied to selective chemical recycling of both textile and plastic waste mixtures, offering a promising solution for achieving a circular economy.

A new study has found that synthetic apparel is by far the largest source of plastic waste. The synthetic value chain accounted for 18 million tonnes of waste in 2019, making up 89% of all plastic waste from the global apparel industry that year. 

Oh gosh! Says a new research — plastic products result in lower GHG emissions compared to their alternatives. The reduction in emissions spans from 10% to as high as 90% across the product lifecycle.

A team of scientists is working to reduce CO₂ emissions by harnessing the gas as a raw material to produce sustainable, degradable polymers or plastics as a potential alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastic.

The recent methodological proposal on lifecycle assessments (LCAs) by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the scientific body of the European Commission, has come in for flak as the policy landscape in which the methodology is implemented creates systemic disadvantages for innovative industries using alternative feedstocks.

A Global Plastics Treaty that seeks to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of plastic pollution, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic through the prevention, progressive reduction and remediation of plastic pollution, management and utilisation of plastic and plastic waste according to national priorities by 2040, is closer to reality.

Innovation startup Protein Evolution is collaborating with several US agencies with the overarching goal to reduce emissions from petroleum-based plastic production and the landfilling and incineration of plastic waste.

Two activist groups have released a new report 'The Real Truth About the US Plastics Recycling Rate', which documented a recycling rate of just 5-6% for post-consumer plastic waste in the US for 2021. The groups also revealed that while plastics recycling is on the decline, the per capita generation of plastic waste has increased by 263% since 1980.