We’re delighted to have won our first accolade of the year at the 2015 Rushlight Awards. MBA Polymers was presented with the Resource Innovation award for our technological innovation in the complex field of plastic polymer separation. The award was presented by Clive Hall and collected by MBA’s CEO Nigel Hunton.

“It’s a real honour to have received this award for our work on transforming waste plastics into valuable materials,” says Nigel. “We have some exciting times ahead, including high tech collaborations with our customers to help them innovate en route to the circular economy. I’d like to thank everyone at MBA for their continued hard work and commitment. We’ve won this award as a team and everyone has played a part in this success.”

The Rushlight Awards are the only awards designed specifically to support and promote the latest clean technologies, innovations and initiatives in the UK and Ireland. Now in its eighth year, the annual awards ceremony recognises the clean tech achievements of diverse organisations and gives entrants the opportunity to pitch to investors and corporate businesses at the Rushlight Show. The overall winner is awarded the Climate – KIC €20,000 prize.

This year, international companies were also invited to enter a new ‘international’ category and there was a new prize award for a sustainability initiative that develops the market or engages positively with stakeholders.

This latest accolade for MBA Polymers follows a successful year in 2014, in which we won multiple awards from organisations including Ethical Corporation, Global Plastics Environment Conference and Katerva. We were also named a finalist at the Guardian Sustainable Business Awards.

Moving to a circular economy could create 200,000 jobs in the UK as more companies view discarded materials as valuable resources. This was the finding of a new report issued this January by the Green Alliance. The move could stimulate jobs in areas of high unemployment, boosting productivity and growth, the charity suggests.

According to the Guardian, Green Alliance director Matthew Spencer said parts of the economy were recycling in a way that dispensed with the traditional ‘take, make, waste’ model. He highlighted circular business models such as designing goods that last longer and can be repaired easily, as well as the importance of designing for disassembly.

“At a time when many are worried about where jobs will come from in future, it is a tantalising prospect to have a sector which offers a wide range of new jobs right across the country, especially in regions with high unemployment,” he said. “To be able to stimulate these new jobs in remanufacturing and reuse, we will need government to play its part in setting higher standards for product and resource recovery.”

Produced in collaboration with WRAP, the report, entitled ‘Employment and the Circular Economy’, details how the UK can adopt a more efficient approach to resource use while generating more jobs. It estimates that by 2030 there could be 205,000 extra jobs and a 54,000 drop in unemployment.

With Brussels set to strengthen waste and recycling regulations, the UK government could play a key role in promoting the importance of a circular thinking, Spencer believes.

“The biggest opportunity is in the EU circular economy package which is being renegotiated this year, but the UK will have to become an active champion of higher ambition or we could end up with no new policy drivers for investment,” he explained.

EU circular economy package moves slowly forward

Concerns were raised among green groups in December, when it appeared that the EU’s circular economy package – designed to accelerate the transition to a circular economy in Europe – could be blocked due to ‘anti-competitiveness’.

The package, presented in July 2014, includes an 80% recycling target for packaging by 2030 and a ban on sending recyclable materials to landfill by 2025. It also comprises non-binding ‘aspirational’ goals, including the phasing out of landfilling of all recoverable waste by 2030 and a 30% reduction of waste by 2025.

Supporters of the package include the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, whose research suggests that a circular economy could generate $1tn annually, ‘cradle to cradle’ carpet tile manufacturer Desso, and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment.

“Helping more traditional ‘linear’ businesses to understand the business benefits of a more circular approach will be fundamental to the development of a progressive circular economy package,” says Nigel Hunton, MBA Polymers’ CEO. “And with more than half a million jobs already created by the recycling industry in the EU, it’s clear that we have a golden opportunity to expand our domestic recycling industries. This would both reduce the volumes of waste being exported to China and keep the economic value of waste in our own countries.”

For more on how MBA Polymers is contributing to the creation of a circular economy, please visit our website or read our new corporate responsibility report.

Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) revealed in October that it plans to expand its sustainability goals to double the use of recycled resin in its plastic packaging. It also plans to ensure that 90% of its product packaging is recyclable or that programs are in place to recycle it. In addition, P&G is working across its supply chain to replace its top petroleum-derived raw materials with renewable alternatives by 2020, the company confirms.

Both new goals form part of P&G’s overarching ambition to reduce the environmental impact of its packaging. With the company on track to reach its existing goal to cut packaging by 20% per unit of production by 2020, it took the decision to raise the bar.

“It’s encouraging to see major consumer goods companies taking action to replace virgin raw materials with sustainable alternatives,” says Nigel Hunton, MBA’s CEO. “As more companies realise the benefits of using recycled plastics in reducing the environmental footprint of their products, we’ll see a growing global demand for high quality secondary raw materials.”

Commenting on the news, P&G’s Martin Riant said: “We continue to improve the environmental sustainability of our products across all aspects of their life cycle – from manufacturing, packaging and delivery through consumer use.”

P&G is working towards 12 environmental sustainability goals as it seeks to accomplish its vision of 100% renewable energy use, 100% renewable or recycled materials for all products and packaging, and zero consumer and manufacturing waste to landfill. Since 2010, the company has achieved 70 zero-waste manufacturing sites.

In addition to its new packaging goals, the company has also revealed plans to cut its water consumption in manufacturing by a further 20% per unit of production, and provide one billion people with access to water-efficient products.

MBA Polymers’ recycled plastics take 80% less energy to make than virgin plastics. To find out more, please contact us.

The inaugural Circular Economy 100 (CE100) Annual Summit took place this summer, on 19th June 2013. Founded by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the CE100 is a global platform uniting leading companies and innovators to accelerate the transition to a circular economy over 1,000 days. It seeks to help businesses unlock the commercial opportunities presented by the circular economy, which, its Circular Economy Reports suggest, could present companies with a trillion dollar cost savings in net energy and material use annually.

The CE100 seeks a collaborative approach to tackling the inherent challenges of moving from a linear model of production and consumption to a more regenerative ‘circular’ model. Its three main goals are to create a mechanism for collective problem solving, build a library of best practice guidance for businesses and help companies add scale to circular economy capabilities within their organisations. More than 30 companies are confirmed as CE100 members to date, including Unilever, Coca-Cola, H&M, Marks & Spencer and Vestas.

Uniting circular economy thinkers

The CE100 Annual Summit attracted a host of revered circular economy thinkers and business leaders, including Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, ‘cradle-to-cradle’ pioneers Dr Michael Braungart and William McDonough, Renault, Cisco and B&Q. Our own Mike Biddle also attended, playing a vocal part in the conversation, and was a guest speaker in the Leading Company Cases session. The day began with an overview of the aims and achievements of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation by CEO, Jamie Butterworth, followed by four discussion sessions. Schmidt delivered a compelling evening lecture on how to ‘change the rules of the game’.

Setting the scene, Jeremy Oppenheim of McKinsey & Co. explained that the middles classes of emerging economies such as China and India are growing rapidly, and are expected to place a significant strain on the world’s resources. There may be 475 million middle class inhabitants in India and one billion in China by 2030, estimates Ernst & Young. Business models must change now to positively influence their consumption choices, Oppenheim says.

Professor Walter Stahel, Founder and Director of the Product Life Institute, believes that the change required must take place in the West, and recommends a host of measures to achieve this at a policy level. Meanwhile, Dr Braungart asserts that instead of living in fear of nature, we need to see nature as our partner. He strongly advocates moving away from ‘doing less bad’ and recommends that companies focus on forging a new way forward based on ‘cradle-to-cradle’ thinking.

Changing attitudes

Delegates heard that Generation X may be adopting different consumption patterns, with a recent study in Germany indicating that 75% of 18-24 years olds would prefer to buy a smartphone over a new car, suggesting a preference for access over ownership.

Rethinking design

Janine Benyus, founder of the Biomimicry Institute, argued that we should increasingly look to nature for design inspiration, and recommended the www.asknature.org website as a good place to start. Additionally, designers and business managers should work collaboratively to design within circular networks and understand quantitative metrics to help set priorities, says Jeremy Faludi, a Sustainable Design Strategist.

Best practice examples

With the help of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Renault actively pursued a number of circular economy techniques to produce four electric car models, as well as create both remanufacture and repair and battery leasing schemes.

James Walker, Head of Innovation at B&Q, explained that B&Q is working on the idea of a Project Box, a tool box that contains everything consumers might need on a daily basis, except tools needed less frequently such as power drills or ladders – these would be available for rent.

Dutch company Turntoo has furnished an entire school through renting furniture and fixtures rather than selling them outright. Items are rented for a ten-year period, during which time they can be repaired, allowing the school to enjoy better quality items without the initial high outlay. Turntoo can extend the rental ad infinitum, or upgrade, thereby extending the product’s life.

Delegates also learnt that the food supply chain is a great renewable source of molecular value. Some 60% of orange peel waste can be used as the basis of materials such as bio oil and starch. US company Ecovative is using organic waste (including mushrooms) as a raw material to manufacture a new polymer used to make packaging material.

Finally, Neil Harris, Head of Sustainable Business EMEA, Cisco, believes that technology is a key enabler for the circular economy, particularly as cloud platforms allow us to manage systems in a central location.

Looking to the future

“The summit was optimistic in its outlook,” says Mike Biddle, Founder, MBA Polymers. “We heard from a variety of inspiring speakers, representing businesses of all shapes and sizes, and it was clear that the drive for resource efficiency is creating some very exciting new product designs and business models. Adding scale to these ventures and creating an open-sourced framework for implementing circular economy thinking within all businesses will be vital to achieving a true circular economy.”

» CE100 Lecture Video – Carlos Tavares, COO of Renault, explains why the circular economy is relevant to Renault and the wider significance of the framework in the global economy.

We were delighted to win the ‘Best SME’ award at this year’s Ethical Corporation Responsible Business Awards. Our Sales Director Gary Claypole accepted the award on MBA’s behalf, adding that it was a great testament to our progress and dedicating it to our employees, for helping to achieve such high profile recognition of our work.

The Ethical Corporation awards were held in London’s Mayfair on 29th September 2014. Nearly 200 sustainability leaders attended, representing companies from multiple industry sectors. Winners on the night included Mars, B&Q, Interface, Nestlé and Santander.

Opening the awards ceremony, Professor Grayson of Cranfield University, who led the judging panel, said that the standard of this year’s entrants had been very high. Just 14 winners were chosen from more than 400 entries, with the judges seeking entries that clearly demonstrated how the company had linked sustainability with commercial objectives. Among Grayson’s fellow judges were Karen Hamilton, Unilever’s Vice President of Global Sustainable Business, and Fran Leedham, Head of Environment and Sustainability at Jaguar Land Rover.

Ethical Corporation’s ‘Best SME’ award was designed to recognise companies with under 250 employees that had innovated in 2013 by creating products or services with a definite social or environmental gain, reinforced by a watertight business case. Clear measurable gains rather than pledges to improve were the key to winning. Commenting on MBA Polymers’ achievements, the judges agreed that “sustainability is at the core of their business” and MBA’s “commitment to sustainability is impressive”.

Indeed, the environmental savings of purchasing our recycled plastic are clear. Making recycled plastic uses just 20% of the energy required to make virgin plastic. We’re helping some of the world’s leading companies to reduce the carbon footprint of their products, cut waste and conserve natural resources. We use high tech, proprietary technology to separate plastic polymers from post-consumer plastic waste, breathing new life into material that would otherwise go to landfill.

And investors continue to show faith in what we’re doing – we received a multi-million pound cash injection earlier this year, which we’re using to scale up the business, including expanding capacity at our UK plant in Worksop by 40%.

To learn more about MBA Polymers and how we transform plastic waste into new raw materials, please visit our website.