Page 29 - Plastics News June 2019

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GPS 2019: The 7th Annual Global Plastics Summit

James Bruggers
The two day summit focused on technical content and insight into the global plastics industry from experts –
A report

PS 2019- The 7th Annual Global Plastics Summit challenges ahead as the public becomes more aware of the
Gwas held in Houston, TX during on 4-6 June 2019. growing waste problems and the climate change impact of
Organised by IHS Markit, the world leader in market plastics across their lifecycle. In an interview, Johnson said
intelligence and expertise, and the Plastics Industry industry leaders are starting to recognize sustainability is
Association, a Washington based purpose-driven part of their social license to do business.
organization supporting the entire plastics supply chain.
The two day summit focused on technical content and The Visual Impact of Ocean Plastics
insight into the global plastics industry from expert In the hallways and meeting rooms of a glitzy hotel that
analysts, economists, business executives, and technology boasts a Rolls-Royce dealership, people from chemical
innovators. manufacturers listened to presentations and talked
business with representatives of plastic product makers,
One by one, they stepped to a clear plastic lectern at
the Global Plastics Summit here and talked about what consumer products companies and recyclers. Government
their companies were doing in response to the world's officials were also there for a meeting that was dominated
crisis in plastics waste. Representing businesses all along
the supply and packaging chain, the speakers suggested
solutions ranging from new technology that would take
plastic back to its molecular building blocks for repeated
recycling to redesigning plastic bottles with caps that stay
connected to the bottle. But none of that is happening
fast enough to keep pace with the global production of
plastics, an analyst from IHS Markit told some 270 people
attending the 2019 Global Plastics Summit.
IHS Market, a co-host of the
conference, expects plastics
production to grow on average
3.5 to 4 percent per year through
at least 2035. With recycling
programs largely underfunded and
ineffective, there's potential for
billions more tons of plastic waste
to be headed to landfills or out into
the environment, said Dewey Johnson, an IHS Markit vice
president. And new recycling technology is a decade or
more away, he said. "The solution isn't going to happen
overnight," Johnson said. "The solution is going to happen
over decades." The industry, he cautioned, will need to
work to "maintain trust along the ride." Don't delay, he said,
because "this continuing increase in the plastics market
increases the scale of the size of the solution."Johnson's
comment set the tone for a conference that, unlike past
gatherings, revealed an industry that is recognizing the

29 June 2019 Plastics News