A dozen of the world's largest consumer goods companies, including Mars, PepsiCo, Unilever, and Danone, have joined forces to signal that there is significant and growing demand for chemically recycled plastic from corporates across Europe.
In a letter published this morning, the firms said there was potential demand for at least 800,000 tonnes a year of chemically recycled plastic in Europe by 2030 from 40 firms alone.The group, which also include Barilla, Amcor, Colgate-Palmolive, and McCain Foods, said they aimed to send a "strong signal of support" to regulators and investors of the need to scale up plastics recycling infrastructure.
"The Parties wish to express their common interest in the development of credible, safe and environmentally sound chemical recycling infrastructure put forward by the industry players in Europe," the letter states. "More specifically, and assuming that global investment in the field materialises by 2030, the Parties wish to express their common interest in purchasing commercial volumes of chemically recycled plastic content to incorporate in their packaging portfolio [from chemical players]"
The companies acknowledge that significant investment in waste collection and sorting and recycling infrastructure would be required to expand the nascent market for chemicals plastic recycling and reduce the amount of plastic waste sent to landfills and incinerators.
Campaigners have expressed concerns that chemical recycling, a process which strips plastic down to its chemical form, comes with significant environmental risks and could produce more emissions than waste incineration. They have warned the industry has overstated the feasibility of chemical recycling and understated its climate impact amid a lack of independent reporting and monitoring of the trial facilities that do exist.
But in their letter today, the group of corporates said demand for chemically recycled material would not reduce the need to continue the scale-up of other forms of recycling infrastructure, arguing that chemical recycling would be able to recycle plastic waste that could not otherwise be recycled, and would also supply recycled plastic for food packaging and pharmaceutical applications that could not be met at scale through other methods.
The letter comes a few months after the 40 members of the Consumer Goods Forum's Coalition of Action on Plastic Waste published a set of principles for chemical recycling, which aim to encourage the development of new technologies while addressing concerns over the environmental impact of the emerging sector.
Ferrero, Henkel, Modelez International, and Haleon have also signed the latest letter, which was coordinated by the Coalition of Action on Plastic Waste. Business Green - link - Cecilia Keating - link - more like this (chemical recycling) - link - more like this (Mongabay) - link - more like this (waste plastic) - link - more like this (PepsiCo) - link
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