Plastics are frequently the subject of much heated debates – ranging from topics such as their impact on marine pollution, their recyclability, and most of all, their role in climate change. Such debates often paint plastics as the villain, overlooking their role in enhancing efficiency: plastic packaging reduces wastage of food; they are an important component in lightweight cars which help in the fight against climate change; modern medicine would be unimaginable without the efficiency of innovative plastics, and so much more.
Of course, topics such as environment leakages, toxicity, emissions and ocean pollution must not be overlooked, but these important considerations need to be addressed with an open mind. Today’s innovative plastics technology presents opportunities for a more balanced, science-based, and holistic discussion and perspective on plastics.
Climate Change: Plastics are not the enemy: Many believe that plastics add to the overall climate crisis. The fact of the matter is plastics and plastic materials enable lower carbon footprints and provide a clean energy future through their application across a wide range of sectors and industries.
The auto industry is a great example of this. Plastics play a major role in creating lighter vehicles that help in improving fuel efficiency – which means less emissions. Another example is consumer goods packaging that extends the shelf life of food and reduces wastage considerably.
The point is the plastics industry is increasingly becoming circular. Advanced molecular recycling technology allows the breakdown of mixed plastic feedstock to basic building blocks. These can be used to make totally new plastics or other new products. These new materials are innovative, clean, of the highest quality, and can be used in a range of very demanding applications.
Innovation + Versatility: Chemical companies such as Covestro manufacture sustainable plastic-based products that are essential to the functioning of modern society. Their innovativeness is key to understanding the real footprint of plastics. For example, some of the company’s innovative applications are in battery storage for electric vehicles and cutting-edge construction applications. The company is committed to producing these materials across value chains safely and responsibly.
How is this implemented one might ask?: The answer to that lies in the company’s contribution to closing and extending the loops in two ways: by developing and implementing circular solutions for their materials. It also includes optimising operations and offering products that are resource-efficient and services which support their customers’ circularity journeys.
The overall objective is to move towards a more circular economy by increasing the use of recycled and renewable feedstocks, creating new material cycles, and creating newer and more innovative business models. Here are some recent examples:
The Map Ta Phut site of Covestro in Thailand recently received ISCC PLUS certification, an internationally recognised system for biomass and bioenergy sustainability certification. This means the company can now offer its customers in the ASEAN region large volumes of the high-performance plastic polycarbonates, including compounds and polycarbonate films, produced with alternative raw materials in the same good quality as their fossil-based counterparts.
Advanced molecular recycling technology allows the breakdown of mixed plastic feedstock to basic building blocks. These can be used to make totally new plastics or other new products
Together with renewable toluenedisocyanate (TDI) and climate-neutral methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), the company can supply both key raw material components for the production of polyurethane (PU) foams based on alternative raw materials. Like TDI and MDI, the polyols are produced with the help of the mass balance approach using renewable precursors – from biowaste and residual materials – which are allocated to the products by calculation.
Partnering with more than 30 global companies and co-founding The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), a non-profit organisation dedicated to developing, deploying and bringing to scale solutions to reduce, reuse and recover plastic waste.
Final thoughts: The key to working and managing climate change for any chemical/plastics company lies in creating high-quality materials often used for decades; utilising CO2 as a raw material in plastic production; implementing solutions to stop plastic leakage along the manufacturing chain; optimising processes to save on energy and reduce carbon footprints; a well-thought-out digitisation strategy; offering carbon-neutral versions of each product/solution; investing in and prioritising innovation.
Only such a visionary and detailed roadmap can help organisations set realistic milestones for achieving carbon neutrality and cutting down direct and indirect emissions.