Chemical Recycling: What is it?
by Justin Given at 17:05 in Circular Economy, Emerging, Packaging under Environmental
In recent years, there has been intensified efforts to address the issue of plastic waste as governments across the world are attempting to close the loop. Through this push for effective waste management, chemical recycling has become a promising solution, offering a new approach to tackle the challenges posed by traditional plastic recycling methods. B...
Indonesian New Eco-Labelling Criteria
by Qinthar Aghnia Audiawarman at 13:54 in Circular Economy, Packaging, Environmental under Environmental
Are you an exporter or a producer to Indonesian market? Be careful with your labelling making environmental claims because Indonesia has recently introduced a new eco-labelling criteria to promote environmentally sustainable practices across the country. The criteria, known as the SNI (Standar Nasional Indonesia or Indonesian National Standard) eco-label...
California has passed the most ambitious EPR bill for packaging in the U.S
by Lucy Mercer at 08:47 in Environmental, Packaging, Circular Economy under Environmental
EPR legislation, SB54 or the Plastic Producer Responsibility Act, was signed by Governor Newsom into law on 30th June 2022. The bill requires that businesses in California take responsibility to pay for the cost associated with the recovery of materials they sell in the state.SB54 passing has kept the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, a plastics fee ballo...
Indian EPR - What do we know so far?
by Jianhong Hu at 10:01 in Packaging, Circular Economy, Environmental under Environmental
To tackle the plastics waste pollution and establish a circular economy, the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has imposed mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility on Plastic packaging. The requirements were laid down in 'Guidelines on Extended Producer Responsibility for Plastic Packaging' published on 16th February 2022. It's ...
Is your business ready for the upcoming UK Plastic Tax?
by Jianhong Hu at 14:40 in Packaging, Emerging, Environmental under Environmental
It is the countdown for the beginning of the UK plastic packaging tax.Next month, on 1 April 2022, if you import or manufacture more than 10 tonnes of plastic packaging annually, you will be obligated to register with HMRC for the UK plastics packaging tax. The first accounting period will be from 1 April to 30 June, and the first tax return and payment ...
Will the United Nations Global Treaty be a solution for plastics pollution?
by Jianhong Hu at 11:52 in Emerging, Environmental, Circular Economy under Environmental
The United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) will host the fifth session for global leaders from 193 Member States to share best practices for sustainability from 28 February – 2 March 2022. On the theme of 'Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals', all Member States and stakeholders were asked for comments and i...
UK Plastic Packaging Tax - where are we now?
by Annis Mapleston at 09:08 in Emerging, Packaging under Environmental
Following a few months of silence, the UK government has now published more information about the plastics tax. So what do we know about it?Following the publication of draft legislation on November 12th, we now know that some things have changed from the proposal contained in the March consultation (covered in a previous blog post). Key details tha...
Global Commitment 2020 Report - How much progress has been made?
by Rachel Langhill at 19:27 in Circular Economy, Environmental, Packaging under Environmental
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme, launched the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment in October 2018. Signatories of the Commitment represent over one-fifth of all plastic packaging produced worldwide, and over 500 businesses, governments and industry organisations are united behind a common vision and ta...
The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020: What does it do exactly?
by Rachel Langhill at 17:27 in Emerging, Packaging under Environmental
The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020 was first introduced to the US House of Representatives and the Senate on 11th February as SB 3263 and HB 5845. Then on 11th June, a related bill of the same name, SB 3944, was introduced to the Senate and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.If passed, this latest bill would amend the...
Plastics bans - are we going forward or backward?
by Annis Mapleston at 13:40 in Emerging, Environmental, Packaging under Environmental
In recent months and years, we have seen countries around the world consider banning or taxing certain plastic products, such as bags, plates and straws (we have covered Italy, Turkey and France in recent blog posts). However, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused many to question the safety of reusable alternatives, with some bans being postponed or over...
Launch of the European Plastics Pact
by Annis Mapleston at 15:20 in Circular Economy, Environmental, Packaging under Environmental
Last week, the first regional Plastics Pact was launched in Europe. Governments and businesses from across the European Economic Area (EEA) have joined together to commit to reducing plastic waste and move towards creating a circular economy for plastics. Signatories of the European Plastics Pact commit to a number of shared goals, including:Designing a...
China announces new measures to tackle plastic waste
by Annis Mapleston at 15:22 in Emerging, Environmental, Packaging under Environmental
China has recently published details of its plans to significantly reduce plastic pollution within five years. The new legislation will introduce bans on ultra-thin plastic bags and the production and sale of disposable PS foam tableware. Other products that will be affected include plastic straws, disposable...
The UK Plastics Pact - how do I complete my report?
by Ellen Thornton at 10:09 in Circular Economy, Emerging, Environmental, Packaging under Environmental
The UK Plastics Pact, brought about by WRAP, aims to create a circular economy for plastics. Through bringing together businesses from the entire plastics value chain with UK governments and NGOs, with the goal of overcoming plastic waste. Business members who are responsible for placing plastic packaging on the UK market are obligated to contribute a rep...
European Parliament votes to back ban on single-use plastics
by Ellen Thornton at 14:14 in Emerging, Environmental, Packaging under Environmental
On 24th October, the European Parliament voted to back an EU ban on throwaway plastics by 2021. Items such as plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks will be banned if approved by the Member States ministers at the next stage of talks. In addition, MEPs added oxo-plastics and certain polystyrenes to the to the ban proposed by the commission. Furthermore, ...
Are biodegradable, compostable and bioplastics the future of plastic packaging?
by Ellen Thornton at 08:44 in Emerging, Packaging under Environmental
In an effort to move away from conventional plastic packaging, compostable and biodegradable packaging is making advances in industry. Plastics can be made from fossil based or bio-based materials and both of these can be used to make durable, non-biodegradable plastics or plastics which biodegrade or compost. Companies such as Vegware, an Edinburgh based...
The New Plastics Economy; a solution to our plastic problem?
by Ellen Thornton at 10:49 in Circular Economy, Environmental, Packaging under Environmental
Following the airing of David Attenborough's Blue Planet II, awareness of the global plastics problem increased drastically and plastics have become demonised. According to research by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in the past 50 years, plastic production has increased from 15 million tonnes in 1964 to 311 million tonnes in 2014 and is expected to doub...
Packaging Waste and Sustainability Forum 2018
by Ellen Thornton at 14:58 in Circular Economy, Emerging, Environmental, Packaging under Environmental
On the 5th, 6th and 7th of June this year, the annual packaging waste and sustainability forum was held in Brussels. The days were filled with interesting talks from members of the European Commission, producers and retailers, industry representatives and producer responsibility organisations (PROs) who addressed topics such as the new EU recycling target...
edie Live 2018
by Ellen Thornton at 09:30 in Circular Economy, Emerging, Environmental, Packaging under Environmental
On the 22nd and 23rd May, edie held their energy, sustainability and resource efficiency conference at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. Their theme this year was mission possible: achieving a sustainable future. The conference was packed with exhibitions, advice clinics and a live theatre programme which was split into four areas: sustainabil...
Indian state Maharashtra bans certain types of plastics and implements a DRS
by Emma Mundy at 10:10 in Emerging, Environmental, Packaging under Environmental
Maharashtra, India's second most populous state is banning certain types of disposable plastic. A plastic ban has been introduced in the state through the Maharashtra Plastic and polystyrene Products (Manufacture, Usage, Sale, Transport, Handling and Store) Notification, 2018, which was published under the Maharashtra Non-biodegradable Garbage (Control) A...
What happened when Lorax gave up plastic for lent
by Ellen Thornton at 09:46 in Packaging, Environmental under Environmental
Here at Lorax, in an effort to reduce our use of plastic, we took part in Plastikfasten. This involved aiming to give up or reduce the amount of plastic we use during the 40 days of Lent. As part of the challenge, we collected any plastic used in the office as well as collecting and weighing any plastic each of us used at home. When it comes to the weekly...
Action on ocean plastic pollution
by Ellen Thornton at 15:43 in Circular Economy, Environmental, Emerging, Packaging under Environmental
Recently, there has been a great deal of publicity concerning ocean plastic pollution. Plastic litter, which makes its way into rivers and coastlines, eventually becomes part of the five gyres in our oceans. These pieces of plastic can be broken down into smaller pieces by sunlight, waves and salt. Waterborne chemicals from industry agriculture can stick...