• Sustainability

      Guest Blogger: Kyla Fisher, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

      August 30, 2021 As a judge for the Re|focus Sustainability Awards, seeing how businesses are rising to the challenge to ensure we can still retain the value of plastics while working to reduce their negative externalities is a reminder why innovation is a key strategy towards a sustainable solution.

    • Sustainability

      Wish-Cycling? Recyclers Wish You Wouldn’t.

      August 20, 2021 “Wish-cycling” describes when a well-intentioned person puts an item that “seems recyclable”, into the recycling bin—with the hope or wish that it will be recycled—when they really have no idea whether or not their local recycler accepts such items. It’s a “feel good” sustainability gesture that often ends up defeating the purpose of recycling. According to Waste Management, about 25% of all goods sent to U.S. recycling facilities in 2018 ended up in a landfill due to contamination from non-recyclable materials in the recycling bin.

    • Sustainability

      Learn About PLASTICS’ Zero Net Waste Program

      July 12, 2021 PLASTICS’ Zero Net Waste Recognition Program (ZNW) greatly enhances the public reputation of participant companies and has been proven to help companies reduce their waste to landfill by 90%, engage employees in environmental efforts, avoid landfill costs, and generate revenue through recycling. The program offers three recognition levels to companies that have demonstrated leadership in landfill diversion, waste reduction, and most importantly, a commitment to ensuring valuable resources go to their highest and best use.

    • Sustainability

      Guest Blog: What Would Life Be Like Without Plastic?

      May 25, 2021 COMITATVS, a company trading in recycled and biosustainable plastics, "underlines" just how important plastics are to our daily lives.

    • Sustainability

      A Conversation on Sustainability with Experts in the Field

      May 19, 2021 Three outstanding plastics professionals, members of the PLASTICS panel Integrating Sustainability into Daily Operations: Why It Matters and How It Works—part of the PLASTICS 2021 Spring Meeting—joined us for a pre-panel chat about their sustainability achievements.

    • Sustainability

      “Feel-Good” Solutions to Plastic Waste Need to be Practical Too

      April 22, 2021 On Earth Day, environmental issues are at the forefront of our minds. But it’s important to know the difference between initiatives that create real change and those that create unintended consequences for the environment. Such “feel good” solutions can end up causing more and bigger problems.

    • Sustainability

      Battle of the Bottles: Plastic Beats Glass and Aluminum

      March 29, 2021 An estimated 651,800 Americans work in plastic bottles, laminated plastics plate, and sheet manufacturing, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A plastic bottle ban would put all those jobs in jeopardy. Producing more glass and aluminum would also raise greenhouse gasses and global warming.

    • Sustainability

      World Oceans Day | June 8, 2020

      June 8, 2020 Today is World Oceans Day, which provides an annual forum to learn more about how we can work together to protect our oceans, which cover nearly 70% of the Earth’s surface. We must all continue to work together to understand the importance of the oceans, develop or increase the program designed to keep them clean, and to celebrate how people are already trying to #ProtectOurHome.

    • Sustainability

      An Earth Day Message From Our Member: Eric Roegner, Amcor

      April 22, 2020 Fast forward 50 years and the annual day is still important as a way to remember to reduce air and water pollution. This year, the world acknowledges Earth Day very differently as we all adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic. This “event” has increased awareness about how our day-to-day activities impact our planet. For example, we see images of blue skies where smog filled the air weeks before because there are fewer gas emissions related to transportation. That’s a monumental step! It’s a step that’s given us reason to pause and reflect about the greater purpose that connects us - the true spirit of Earth day – that we’re all in this together.