Mechanical recycling is one of the important ways to achieve a circular economy for plastics materials. It’s here, it’s now, and it’s improving every day. Mechanical recycling provides the lowest carbon footprint at about 25 percent of first production plastics. And, according to the Association of Plastics Recyclers, 90 percent of the plastics that U.S. consumers put in their recycling bins get recycled. In 2020, this amounted to almost 5 billion pounds.
At NOVA Chemicals, we have developed a 2030 Roadmap to Sustainability Leadership to reshape plastics for a better, more sustainable world. Mechanical recycling will have a big role to play in our strategy. I am an advocate of mechanical recycling. Here are five ways we can collaborate to make it work even better.
- Designing packaging with recyclability in mind.
- Innovation to recycle different types of plastic packaging.
- Promoting policies to support recycling, such as EPR.
- Establishing strong end markets for recycled plastics.
- Educating consumers.
This article was originally published by John Thayer on LinkedIn.