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Education, industry activism and common sense can change the plastics narrativeEducation, industry activism and common sense can change the plastics narrative

At the largest plastics show in the Americas, the Re|focus Zone sends a needed message.

Norbert Sparrow

April 5, 2018

3 Min Read
Education, industry activism and common sense can change the plastics narrative

Right around the time that images of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch flooded the media and the Internet last month, Berry Global Group Chairman and CEO Tom Salmon made a case for plastics’ potential to transform the human experience. Salmon made his pitch to a receptive audience at the World Petrochemical Conference in Houston, TX. Meanwhile, the general public gaped at images of a mass of garbage, more than twice the size of Texas, floating in the Pacific Ocean. The article summarizing the results from a three-year study that got the mainstream media’s attention was published in Scientific Reports on March 22, 2018. Its title: “Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic.”

That’s what the plastics industry is up against.

Changing that narrative requires, first, an acknowledgement that industry should not fight every battle. Perhaps you can make the counter-intuitive case that single-use plastic bags are actually pretty green when you consider the total life cycle—see "Danish study finds plastic bags have lowest environmental impact"—but, generally speaking, a throwaway culture is nothing to celebrate.

My wife and I live in Southern California and have been bringing reusable shopping bags to the store for years now. It’s not that hard to do, and it feels like the right thing to do.

What also needs to happen is for industry to “tell a new story,” as Salmon told conference attendees. “A new story about the progress that plastics has supported . . . the promise plastics holds for everyday lives around the world. And the potential to transform the human experience. It’s time for us to speak with a strong and unified voice about the possibilities of plastics.” OK, the wording is a bit pompous—some might call it stirring—but the sentiment is sound.

To execute on that thought, Salmon wants industry to take a more collaborative role in educating consumers on the benefits plastics can provide. He launched an internal  program called Plastics Ambassadors to lead education and advocacy among its employees and internal stakeholders, and the Berry Group is engaging with resin suppliers and other partners to work together strategically to tackle this challenge more broadly.

That’s all good, but there is more that the plastics industry can and should do. I recommend that it vigorously engage with clean-up and conservation efforts and embrace advanced recycling research and workable sustainability initiatives. And it should refrain from fighting battles it is destined to lose in the court of public opinion. 

This is a long-term project and these initiatives will not change the minds of a significant portion of the population—just look at some of the comments on our Facebook page—but it will add some nuance to a debate that often seems stacked against the industry. That should not discourage us from telling our story factually, and industry will have another opportunity to do so during NPE2018 at the co-located Re|focus Zone.

Held in conjunction with the Re|focus Sustainability and Recycling Summit, the Re|focus Zone is dedicated to integrating sustainable practices into plastics manufacturing. More than 50 exhibitors will showcase equipment, materials and technology that support green manufacturing. Meanwhile, the accompanying summit gives voice to some industry heavyweights on the topic of sustainability.

Oliver Campbell, Director of Worldwide Procurement & Packaging at Dell Technologies, is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech explaining how Dell developed and launched a program to create a commercially scalable supply of plastics recovered from the ocean that can be used in product packaging. The topic could not be more timely.

Luminaries from Proctor & Gamble, Purdue University and ExxonMobil, among others, will speak at sessions devoted to moving beyond mechanical recycling, advances in composite recycling and the future of bioplastics in bottling.

The Re|focus Zone is located in the South Hall of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. NPE2018 runs from May 7 to 11, 2018.  More information on the event and a schedule of sessions at the Re|focus Sustainability and Recycling Summit is available on the NPE2018 website.

About the Author

Norbert Sparrow

Editor in chief of PlasticsToday since 2015, Norbert Sparrow has more than 30 years of editorial experience in business-to-business media. He studied journalism at the Centre Universitaire d'Etudes du Journalisme in Strasbourg, France, where he earned a master's degree.

www.linkedin.com/in/norbertsparrow

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