Closing the Loop: 5 Ways to Transform the Plastics Economy

Closing the Loop: 5 Ways to Transform the Plastics Economy

For the world to lead its way to a sustainable lifestyle, having a grip on the plastic economy is one of the key solutions! It is like giving second life to a life that has been distorted since its discovery as plastic has played a great part in all of our lives and has taken a great space on our planet due to the slowest decomposition ever. Recycling and reusing it brings the ultimate approach to sustainable development and understanding of the circular economy for plastic, it never leads its way toward pollution.

It’s not too late for you to set these sustainability goals for your business where you focus on resource-efficient innovations and can actually expect fewer funds to give out great outputs! And, here are the 5 ways to transform the plastic economy.

1. A BIG ‘NO’ TO SINGLE-USE PLASTIC

It takes millions of years for plastic to decompose and for closing the loop, we need to put a full stop to single-use plastics. Recently, the Indian Government took a step toward the same by banning the manufacture, sale, and use of identified single-use plastic items like plates, cups, straws, trays, and polystyrene as a transforming step toward the plastics economy. This will result in a huge decrease in plastic pollution paving the way for its economy to become circular, by reducing, reusing, and recycling!

2. TURNING PLASTIC WASTE INTO RAW MATERIAL

Sustainable development always keeps an approach to waste recovery, that is, using it as a resource. The circular economy definitely aims at reducing land pollution and evidently, most of it is from materials like plastics that are not easily decomposed. Forming raw materials out of this waste is the innovation the world researchers to tackle climate change are working upon. Ultimately, it leads to a reduction in manufacturing along with a reduction in the already existing plastic on our planet. Just like Go Rewise is working towards recycling tonnes of plastic to make rPET products including flakes, rPET chips bottle grade, rPET fully drawn yarn and many more. These find applications in industries ranging from packaging, apparel, automotive etc.

3. PLASTIC ECONOMY WITH CARBON NEUTRAL TARGETS

1 million plastic bottles recycled eliminates 180 metric tons of CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere and controls the greenhouse emission, hence reducing the carbon footprints. One way is to just keep recycling and reusing plastics.Since the manufacture of new plastic uses enormous amounts of fossil fuels, an innovative research proved biofuels to be effective oils to replace carbon positive oils as a raw material. Cutting greenhouse gases as a carbon-neutral solution, use of biomass and biochemicals along with further circular economy-driven innovations must be looked up.

4. RESPONSIBLE PLASTIC CONSUMPTION

Promoting trends of replacing plastic with any other environment-friendly alternative can work really well in transforming the plastic economy. By using cloth bags instead of plastic bags, replacing plastic utensils with steel or glass ones, and many more. Some legal actions always help to keep a check on these trends!

5. POLICY FRAMEWORK TO SUPPORT PLASTIC TRANSFORMATION

Being well aware about plastic pollution being a serious threat, a proper framework that is well considerate about collection & recycling of plastic and its further transformation as a recovered resource for further application, is important. Policy makers have identified this as a solution and have launched policies such as EPR which hold brand makers & manufacturers responsible for proper collection & recycling of plastic waste. Such policies also enable to create more jobs in the economy while ensuring recyclers are rewarded for their efforts.