In this op-ed discussion between three family-run companies from the consumer goods and recycling industries, their CEOs call for a mass balance method where recycled content is allocated proportionally to all products of a recycling process at batch level. A label claiming „Made from 100% recycled content" should only be allowed for packaging products fully made from recyclate. Otherwise, it should be considered as greenwashing.
Chemicals are a critical, but often overlooked, factor of success for a circular economy. 96% of all products on European markets, from food to medical treatments, from buildings to consumer electronics, rely on chemicals, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. But what does circularity mean for the future of the chemicals industry? Should it embrace circular systems or resist them?
Interview with Kęstutis Sadauskas, Director for Circular Economy & Green Growth at the European Commission’s DG Environment, about the EU’s upcoming “Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability”
Consumers appreciate recyclates in packaging as long as it doesn’t affect the quality, functionality and price of the product. But how do companies remain competitive in view of added costs for high-quality recycling and the low price of virgin plastics?
Plastics recycling is as much of a challenge as an opportunity for the circular economy. In Europe, amidst growing public concern, new regulation and voluntary pledges from the industry, the problem is that so little of the plastic that is collected actually gets turned into new material. In this article, I investigate whether chemical recycling can make the plastics value chain more circular and what it takes for it to providing a profitable new industry branch.
Reason & Rhyme 