Page 31 - Plastics News June 2019

FEATURES

two thirds of countries worldwide have adopted some form need to look at how to
of legislation to regulate plastic bags. India is one of them. save the molecule and
keep it in circulation."
Lifecycle Problems, Including Climate Change
Companies are
The conference theme was sustainability and focused a aggressively working
lot on waste and recycling. But increasingly questions t o de ve lop t h a t
are being raised about plastics' role in climate change. technology, said Dhaval
Last month, a report by the Center for International Shah, a technical
Environmental Law and several other environmental director with the global
groups found that in 2019, the production and incineration petrochemical company, SABIC, based in Saudi Arabia. It
of plastic will produce more than 850 million metric would reduce the need for extracting oil or gas, putting
tons of greenhouse gases—equal to the emissions from the industry closer to a circular economy, which designs
189 large coal-fired power plants—and that the plastics waste out of the system, speakers said.
industry's carbon footprint was on track to grow rapidly in "In the next 25 years, we are looking at world where there
the coming decades. Conference speakers celebrated the will be more plastic in the ocean than fish," said Michael
shale fracking boom that, through new drilling methods, Waas, a vice president of TerraCycle, which works with
have put a glut of cheap natural gas on the market, driving companies like Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Colgate-
down manufacturing prices and spurring the development Palmolive on their recycling challenges. They have, for
of a potential new plastics production hub in Appalachia. example, recycled toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes into
With the glut of cheap natural gas liquids used to make playgrounds, he said. But, he said, "we realized we are
plastics, there's little financial incentive for the industry not going to be able to recycle ourselves out of the waste
incorporate more expensive recycled content in their challenge."Johnson called plastic "a miracle product" that
products, said Butler, the CEO of More Recycling. That's has "enabled the improved standard of living we enjoy."
been a bigger problem than China's decision to restrict He and other speakers touted plastics used in health
imports of plastic waste for recycling there, she said.
care, in cars to make them lighter and more durable to
Only 9 percent of all the plastics ever made have been save fuel and lives, and in other everyday products. But
recycled, scientists reported in 2017. One answer could be he said the industry needs to respond to the waste issue
what's called chemical recycling, where plastic products in a timely manner.
are converted back into their molecular building blocks "The time to act is today. Not some day," Johnson said.
before being turned into new products, Butler said. "We

Is Turkey the ‘new dumping ground’ for Plastic-waste

WWF report this month on plastic pollution in the Mediterranean found the highest amount of plastic debris
had accumulated in Turkey's Cilicia on the southeastern coast

urkey is a popular country visited by many tourists the southeastern coast. The report also ranked Turkey as
Tacross the world. The attractive landscapes, interesting the second biggest contributor to mismanaged waste in
pasts, the annual pilgrimage, exports, and cuisines are the region after Egypt, with Turkey responsible for 18.9%
some of the things that make Turkey unique. But being of the waste in the Mediterranean. The report raises a
one of the biggest exporters of Plastics waste in the world crucial red flag for the near future. Since the Chinese
it needs to manage its waste as well else for it is almost government started enforcing strict regulations on its
on its way becoming the new dumping ground. plastic imports in 2018, Turkey has become one of the
world’s top 10 waste importers.
As Pinar Tremblay in her column for Al-Monitor's Turkey
Pulse refers a World Wildlife report this month on plastic According to a report on international plastic scrap trade
pollution in the Mediterranean found the highest amount released by Greenpeace recently Turkey has become
of plastic debris had accumulated in Turkey's Cilicia on one of the major destinations for plastic waste export.

31 June 2019 Plastics News