Alliance to End Plastic Waste adds UFlex and Greif to ranks as circular economy advances

22 Sep 2021 --- Plastic packaging giants UFlex and Greif are joining the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a non-profit currently 66 members strong across the plastics value chain.

By joining the Alliance, both companies pledge to help recover and recycle post-consumer plastic waste and help plastic find a purpose beyond its original use.

UFlex will direct its resources, expertise and investments to deliver innovative sustainable packaging materials that address the issue of plastic waste and implement effective waste management and recycling systems.

“We have also done a lot of research on the municipal solid waste handling and sorting system, which we intend to share with townships through active participation in the Alliance to End Plastic Waste activities,” a UFlex spokesperson tells PackagingInsights.

In addition to this, UFlex intends to propagate upcycling of MLP to make polyolefin films and scrap PET bottles into packaging PET films across the industry through the Alliance.

“The Alliance is the ideal forum for us to bolster our efforts and rewrite the overall story of how plastic waste can be repurposed for good,” UFlex chairman and managing director Ashok Chaturvedi highlights.

“Through open collaboration and leadership provided by the Alliance, we can advance the need for more sustainable packaging and tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues,” adds Ole Rosgaard, Greif’s COO.

The Alliance currently has 66 members across the plastics value chain. How UFlex scored its membership
Early last year, UFlex extended its efforts to work more with post-consumer plastic waste. The company set up lines at its headquarters plant in Noida, India, to recycle and upcycle post-consumer mixed plastic waste and PET bottle waste into post-consumer recyclate (PCR)-grade packaging films. This included both PCR PET and PCR polyethylene (PE).

UFlex is now scaling up its recycling infrastructure with the commissioning of similar facilities in Mexico and Poland to repurpose plastic waste coming from households locally.

Moreover, it is developing an enzyme-based biodegradable solution that converts uncollected plastic waste into biomass.

Some of UFlex’s clients on the global turf include P&G, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Mondelez, Britannia, Haldiram’s, Amul, Kimberly Clark, Reckitt, Dabur, ITC, Perfetti, GSK, Agrotech Foods, Mars Wrigley, Amcor, Mondi and UPM Raflatac.

India’s first plastic pact
UFlex’s headquarters country India recently become the first Asian country to launch a plastics pact.

It aims to take measures to address problematic plastic through redesign and innovation. By 2030, 100% of plastic packaging should be reusable or recyclable; 50% of plastic packaging effectively recycled, and 25% average recycled content incorporated across all plastic packaging.

“According to us, there are two missing links here,” says the UFlex spokesperson. “First, it does not address the core issue of collection, segregating and sorting of plastic waste.” They flag investments in automatic municipal solid waste sorters and segregators, creating an eco-system for effectively collecting the waste, and bringing it to material recovery facilities have not been considered either.

“A second point is addressing uncollected waste,” continues the UFlex spokesperson. “All developing countries would take a long time to implement the infrastructure for collection and segregation system. Until then, the only way to remove plastic waste from the environment is to biodegrade it.”

They further highlight policy advocacy, which encourages the development of a viable aerobic biodegradable material, is “the need of the hour.”

“The Alliance is the ideal forum for us to rewrite the overall story of how plastic waste can be repurposed for good,” says Chaturvedi.Two more on board
The Alliance also welcomes Inabata, a Japanese trading company specializing in chemicals, and software-centric additive manufacturer Origin Materials, to its ranks.

“Plastics is one of our core business areas along with information and electronics. Smart use of plastics and waste reduction is undoubtedly essential for the global environment,” comments Katsutaro Inabata, director and president of Inabata.

Inabata has been working on plastic recycling while exploring opportunities for innovative technologies such as biodegradable plastics.

“Stakeholders across the manufacturing sector and end-product markets recognize that to create a sustainable, circular economy, we must aggressively decarbonize the global plastics supply chain to mitigate the climate impact of plastic,” outlines Rich Riley, co-CEO of Origin Materials.

The Alliance in action
The four new members follow another round of recruitment from last May. Then, Amcor, Atlantic Packaging Co, Inter Pipeline, Kirin Holdings and Novacel brought “even more diversity” into the Alliance from both membership category and geographic standpoints.

“We are excited to include new viewpoints and different expertise on our membership bench,” said Jacob Duer, president and CEO of the Alliance, at the time.

At the beginning of the year, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste came under a fresh tide of criticism following an investigation revealing the collapse of its flagship project, Renew Oceans.

Environmental campaigners claimed vindication on earlier warnings that the 2019-founded Alliance is merely a marketing ploy by big oil companies designed to hide and justify a massive expansion of global plastic production.

The Alliance hit back at those greenwashing accusations, pointing out “inaccurate characterizations” and “many missed salient points.”

By Anni Schleicher

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