Recycling Technologies contributes to the ‘New Plastics Economy’ report

The World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, based in the United Kingdom, have released a report titled "The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics," produced as part of Project MainStream.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes Project MainStream as “a cross-industry, CEO-led global initiative to accelerate business-driven innovation and help scale the circular economy.”

Analytical support for the report was provided by McKinsey & Co., and financial support by the MAVA Foundation.

United Kingdom-based Recycling Technologies collaborated with more than 40 other participants in the report, which provides a vision of a global economy in which plastics never become waste and outlines concrete steps towards achieving the systemic shift needed.

Adrian Griffiths, CEO of Recycling Technologies, says, “We are delighted to be part of the 'New Plastics Economy'  report. Recycling Technologies’ innovation has created one of the world’s most significant developments in the field of recycling inorganic material by creating a highly commercial, distributed solution for a multibillion pound global problem. Our approach utilises a series of scaled chemical processes to convert residual plastic waste into Plaxx, an ultra-low-sulphur hydrocarbon product. We hope that this will help the U.K. and other nations achieve the new European circulatory targets and reduce the need to import virgin oil feedstock.”

The new report acknowledges that while plastics and plastic packaging are an integral part of the global economy and deliver many benefits, their value chains currently entail significant drawbacks. Assessing global plastic packaging flows comprehensively for the first time, the report finds that most plastic packaging is used only once; 95% of the value of plastic packaging material, worth $80-$120 billion annually, is lost. Additionally, plastic packaging generates negative externalities, valued conservatively by UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) at $40 billion. Given projected growth in consumption, by 2050 oceans are expected to contain more plastic than fish (by weight), and the entire plastics industry will consume 20% of total oil production and 15% of the annual carbon budget, the report states.

The plastics value chain has the opportunity to deliver better systemwide economic and environmental outcomes while continuing to harness the benefits of plastic packaging, according to the report, which envisions a new approach based on creating effective after-use pathways for plastics; drastically reducing leakage of plastics into natural systems, in particular oceans; and decoupling plastics from fossil feedstocks.

Achieving such systemic change will require major collaboration between all stakeholders across the global plastics value chain—consumer goods companies, plastic packaging producers and plastics manufacturers, businesses involved in collection, sorting and reprocessing, cities, policymakers and NGOs. The report proposes the creation of an independent coordinating vehicle to set direction, establish common standards and systems, overcome fragmentation and foster innovation opportunities at scale. In line with the report’s recommendations, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation will establish an initiative to act as a cross-value-chain global dialogue mechanism and drive the shift towards a New Plastics Economy.

The full report is available at www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications.