New Closed Loop Fund sparks controversy

At this year’s Plasticity Forum, MBA founder Mike Biddle and an impressive line-up of leaders from many different fields tackled the question of “The Future of Plastics”. Other speakers included former President of Costa Rica Jose Maria Figueres, now Co-Chair of the Global Ocean Commission and President of the Carbon War Room; Bill McDonough, a world sustainability leader in the area of design, co-author of Cradle to Cradle and recently appointed Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Meta-Council on the Circular Economy; and New York’s ex-‘Recycling Czar’ Ron Gonen, who has collaborated with major companies to establish the Closed Loop Fund. Mike invited McDonough to speak on how plastics fit into Circular Economy principles and he is shown below being interviewed by Mike after his presentation. Mike invited Gonen to speak at the forum to share his ambitions for the fund, which will loan $100m to US municipalities working to improve waste recycling rates and recycling infrastructure.

Gonen has a strong reputation for scaling up recycling efforts, having founded Recyclebank and grown it to service 50 cities and 1m households in six years. He also expanded recycling efforts in New York during his two-year tenure, increasing paper and textile collections in schools, launching e-waste collections and banning polystyrene foam.

The Closed Loop Fund’s founding investors include some of the world’s biggest consumer goods companies: Walmart, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, P&G and Unilever. According to Plastics News, they decided to start the fund to help boost recycling rates in the US, where recycling rates still lag behind Europe. Just 13% of plastics are recycled in the US, compared to 33% in Europe, where there are plans afoot to ban certain hazardous plastics and introduce binding targets on plastic waste.

mike-biddle-plasticity-2014

Municipalities can win zero-interest loans from the fund by putting forward worthy projects. However, will the loan really help to scale up high impact recycling schemes, or is it a just another sustainability play from big corporations keen to pass the buck? This is the question posed by Upstream in a recent piece for the Guardian. The company argues that the fund’s goal of providing 100% of US consumers with access to recycling is unrealistic.

The $100m may sound like a lot, it says, but it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the participating companies’ combined annual profits ($61.3bn), and won’t be sufficient to help states and cities keen to make progress on recycling. Minnesota alone spends up to $70m annually to fund its curbside recycling programme, for example, while San Jose recently spent $50 million modernising its material recovery facility. Also, since this is purely a loan, local governments will eventually need to find new funding to continue their efforts.

plasticity-2014

A consortium of public interest groups, including Upstream, 5 Gyres, Eureka Recycling, Green America, Story of Stuff Project and Texas Campaign for the Environment, have openly criticised the fund, and called upon the companies involved to back ‘proven policies’ to boost recycling such as extended producer responsibility, already widely adopted in Europe, which holds consumer goods companies financially responsible for the collection and recycling of their waste packaging.

So what do you think about the Closed Loop Fund? Should major companies step up and take more responsibility for investing in recycling solutions? Let us know by contacting us.

Ocean plastic waste causes $13bn of damage a year, scientists say

Plastic waste floating in the world’s oceans causes $13 billion of environmental damage annually, a new report has revealed. Entitled ‘Valuing plastic’, the report was compiled by the Plastic Disclosure Project (PDP) in partnership with natural capital analysts Trucost and UNEP. Focusing specifically on the consumer goods industry, it calculates the volume of plastic used by 16 major companies and clearly highlights the business case for measuring, managing and disclosing plastic use.

During a public webinar on 9th July 2014, PDP Director Andrew Russell said that defining a strategy to derive real business benefits from smarter plastic use started with identifying the risks and opportunities in a structured way. He explained that PDP wanted to help companies manage plastic in the same way that they already address aspects such as carbon, water, forestry and social value. And companies are already benefitting commercially from taking a smarter approach to plastics, he confirmed.

According to Trucost, the total natural capital cost of plastic in the consumer goods industry is more than $75bn each year. This spans environmental impacts including the harm done by plastic litter to marine ecosystems and the loss of valuable resources when plastic waste is sent to landfill.

Among the key findings, the report revealed that plastic use in the food sector has the largest impact in absolute terms, responsible for almost a quarter of the total natural capital cost. The most significant downstream impact of plastic use by the consumer goods sector is marine pollution, while the biggest upstream impact is greenhouse gas emissions released from producing plastic feedstock, which is responsible for almost a third of the total natural capital cost.

The impacts of plastic also vary around the world. Companies face higher natural capital costs if they purchase or dispose of plastic in Asia compared to North America, Europe or Oceania due to the higher pollution intensity of manufacturing in Asia and its lack of adequate waste management facilities.

Plastics disclosure project 2014

Trucost’s Alistair MacGregor, who also spoke at the webinar, explained that current levels of disclosure are low and often motivated more by regulatory pressure than ‘material’ issues. The first PDP discloser is UK-based cosmetics company LUSH, which has now completely banned small plastic particles from its products.

The report recommends that progressive companies can improve management of plastic and win customer loyalty by developing closed loop models that recover resources and materials. For example, Unilever has made $250,000 of savings by using 15% less plastic packaging in its Dove products.

Similarly, Dell’s Environmental Affairs Director Scott O’Connell, said that Dell had goals to recover 2bn pounds of e-waste and use 50m pounds of recycled plastics in its products by 2020. Indeed, Dell has just launched the first ever PC made using third party certified closed loop plastic. And with recycled plastics becoming more cost-effective, O’Connell anticipates there will be an opportunity to ensure that ‘closed loop’ products deliver cost as well as environmental benefits.

“It’s great to see companies across the consumer goods sector tapping into innovative solutions for cutting plastic waste and incorporating recycled plastic in their products,” says Nigel Hunton, MBA’s CEO. “Companies are increasingly asking us about the business and sustainability benefits of using high quality recycled plastics in their products and they’re quick to seize on the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint.”

In the long term, the report concludes, progress on plastic, improved waste management infrastructure and more effective legislation will require collaboration between multiple stakeholders, particularly in developing countries.

To read more about the PDP report, please visit Plastic Disclosure Project. To learn why MBA’s sustainable plastic polymers use just 20% of the energy it takes to produce virgin plastic, please visit www.mbapolymers.com.

Cleaning up the plastic waste in our oceans

A 19-year old Dutch entrepreneur has released a peer-reviewed feasibility study detailing ambitious proposals to rid the Pacific of half its plastic waste in ten years. Boyan Slat, who gave a TED talk in 2012 to introduce his idea, is already half way to achieving his $2m crowdfunding goal.

Millions of tonnes of plastic have already entered the oceans, according to UNEP, with between 10m and 20m tonnes estimated to reach the oceans annually. Much of this ocean plastic waste is concentrated in five rotating currents, the ‘five gyres’, where they gradually break down into a ‘plastic soup’ of tiny plastic particles. And there’s increasing evidence to suggest that this plastic is entering the food chain, scientists say.

Few viable solutions exist to clean up all the plastic waste in the ocean, and so far the solutions proposed often involve vessels and nets that would ‘fish’ for plastic. This would create by-catch and generate significant carbon emissions, according to Slat and his team, costing billions of dollars over thousands of years.

Ocean cleanup basic principles

Slat’s concept revolves around the idea of ‘passive collection’. His idea is to harness the wind and ocean currents and use them as a free, clean source of power to capture waste using v-shaped floating barriers and platforms attached to the sea bed. This solution avoids by-catch and is highly scalable, according to Slat, covering millions of square kilometres. The Ocean Clean-up report estimates that the plastic collection rate would total 65m3 per day, with waste collected by ship every 45 days.

The solution may cost €31.7m per year, which sounds high but is more than 30 times cheaper than conventional clean-up methods, according to the report. To help minimise costs, Ocean Clean-up is outsourcing most of the fundamental research to institutes and is also collaborating with various companies to take the project forward. Slat also hopes to offset the collection costs by recycling the recovered plastic.

“Studies exploring technologically sound, clean and cost-effective solution to recover ocean waste are to be applauded,” says Mike Biddle, MBA founder and president of Waste Free Oceans. “Should Ocean Clean-up go ahead, the question of what to do with the recovered waste will be vital. If it can be processed effectively, it would create a valuable stream of secondary raw materials and make substantial in-roads into tackling plastic pollution in our environment.”

To read more about the Ocean Clean-up concept, please click here.

Advanced technology and collaborative approach give MBA the edge in plastics recycling

Quality is everything to us. We know that the quality of our finished products is critical to our customers. The products they’re taking to market must perform in order to be successful. That’s why we operate a stringent quality control process, as our Quality Control Manager, Peter Mackrell, explains in our latest video. What’s more, our keen focus on advanced technology and working in partnership with customers ensures we continue to lead the way in plastics recycling.

Back in the 1950s, Mackrell explains, plastic was often viewed as a ‘cheap alternative’ due to certain durability issues, and that perception still endures today, to some extent. However, he says, MBA Polymers takes every measure to ensure a consistent product that performs as it should.

We check all incoming material for contamination and extract the maximum amount of plastic while removing any contaminated material. We also monitor every step of the process to ensure it’s running correctly, and have a full suite of plastic testing equipment in our laboratory to perform high tech analysis on our finished products. Any problems can be traced, solved and preventative measures put in place.

The recycled plastic pellets we supply are used in a variety of different industries (in horticulture, building and high tech applications, for example) and we can modify the properties of the plastic to suit the purpose in hand. Importantly, we work with our customers to understand their precise needs and produce a range of alternatives.

A great example of this is the work we’ve done with Aeroplas to optimise the plastic used for its flower pots and clothing hangers. By working collaboratively, we adapted our pellets to suit the company’s needs, reducing the brittleness of the plastic to ensure lower melt temperatures, which has enabled it to use less energy at the manufacturing stage.

From a technical standpoint, our patented processes, specialised equipment and rigorous approach to quality control ensure our finished products remain highly effective secondary raw materials in multiple industries.

To view the Peter Mackrell video, please click here.

MBA helps Landmarks create horse-riding area with rubber flakes donation

MBA Polymers has donated 20 tonnes of rubber flakes to Landmarks College as a top layer for a new horse riding area, also known as a manège. The custom-built area was opened by international dressage professional Hannah Esberger at the college’s ‘Summer Fayre’ on 27th June 2014. Landmarks, which provides specialist education for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities, will use the manège to help learners improve their riding skills in a safe environment.

“We’re delighted to help Landmarks expand its horse-riding facilities for young people,” says Paul Mayhew, MBA’s Global Sourcing Manager. “We consistently seek to create value from the by-products of our processing plants and support organisations providing progressive services to the community.”

Hannah Esberger opening manège

Landmarks thanked Mayhew for the generous donation, adding that it was his offer that prompted them to proceed with the whole project. The new area will help the college move towards its goal of being an outstanding centre for riding and horse care activities for young people with learning needs, Landmarks representatives said.

Based near the MBA Polymers plant in Worksop, UK, Landmarks runs vocational courses in animal care, horticulture, conservation, woodwork and ceramics, as well as covering important life skills topics. The manège opening event included a dressage display by Esberger, as well as a riding display performed by some of the college’s learners and their horses.

To discuss how we might support your school or community project with MBA by-products, please contact us.

Progress on sustainability is not rapid enough, says UNGC

The global economy is not on track, say CEOs, and business is not doing enough to help forge a sustainable future. This was the conclusion reached by business consultants at Accenture following the recent UN Global Compact’s (UNGC) Leaders Summit. Held in New York in September 2013, the conference united business leaders from around the world to discuss how business could contribute to and support the post-MDG agenda.

Just 32% of 1,000 CEOs surveyed by Accenture believe that the global economy is on track to meet the demands of a growing population within global environmental and resource constraints. Meanwhile, 67% believe business is not doing enough to tackle global sustainability challenges. Progress is simply not being achieved at the scale at which it’s needed. CEOs are therefore now calling for structures and systems that will enable companies to move forward collectively on achieving business success while becoming radically more sustainable.

Some 64% of CEOs expect sustainability to transform their industry within five years and 76% believe that embedding sustainability into core business will drive revenue growth and new opportunities. However, quantifying the business value of sustainability remains a struggle, which leads to frustrated ambition when it comes to driving action at scale. Business is restricted by the economic climate, and of course, companies are still caught between their traditional responsibilities to shareholders and their new responsibilities in promoting sustainable development.

There’s also a refocusing of attention on issues closer to home, with 64% of CEOs selecting ‘growth and employment’ as among their top priorities to address before health (18%), poverty eradication (16%) and water and sanitation (14%).

Some 76% of CEOs are satisfied with the speed and effectiveness of their own sustainability strategy and nearly two-thirds believe they’re doing enough to address the world’s sustainability challenges. This is worrying at a time when environmental and social challenges are only increasing, according to Accenture. While some companies are forging ahead with new innovations to create ‘shared value’, many are stuck in the routine of compliance and mitigation and see CSR as an act of philanthropy rather than a business-critical activity.

To enable progress, CEOs are calling for increased intervention by governments and policy-makers to align public policy with sustainability. 83% of CEOs see this as providing an enabling environment for the private sector to advance sustainability. They also want to learn more from corporate sustainability pioneers.

Some 85% of CEOs demand clearer policy and market signals to support green growth, and, in the context of discussions on the United Nation’s post-2015 development agenda, 81% of executives emphasise the need for governments to set a policy framework for ‘economic development within the planetary boundaries of environmental and resource constraints’ for the global economy.

ungc-2

The seven steps to sustainability and success, as defined by Accenture, are:

  1. Being realistic about the scale of the challenge – and the opportunity
  2. Using sustainability as a competitive advantage and to create value
  3. Tracking environmental and social indicators with precision required to quantify the business benefits of sustainability
  4. Using technology to innovate
  5. Engaging in fruitful partnerships and collaborations across industries and between the public and private sectors
  6. Broadening the conversation and engaging all relevant stakeholders via meaningful communication
  7. Business taking a leadership role in defining and delivering a sustainable global economy (including through the post-MDG agenda).

In terms of judging success, business leaders need greater ambition, speed and impact. And CEOs see the Global Compact as integral to catalysing action. The Global Compact, which comprises nearly 8,000 companies and 4,000 civil society organisations, already acts as a collaborative platform to address issues such as women’s empowerment, children’s rights, climate, energy, water management and anti-corruption.

Now, there is a growing recognition that collaboration at all levels will be central to companies’ success in building the skills they need to tackle major sustainability challenges, measuring value and performance, building positive dialogue with stakeholders and ultimately, achieving business growth while contributing to the sustainable development of people and planet.

View infographic, report and video here.

Keep going, Elsa!

Everyone at MBA Polymers would like to send a special word of encouragement to British adventurer Elsa Hammond, as she continues her daring Pacific solo row to raise awareness of ocean plastic waste. MBA’s CEO Nigel Hunton made a personal donation of £1,000 in support of Elsa’s solo row in October 2013.

Having put in a sterling performance since setting out from Monterey Bay, California in June, Elsa has drifted off course and decided, after much deliberation, not to regain the Great Pacific Race due to the high probability of tropical storms en route. Her fellow competitors are continuing the 2,400-mile journey to Hawaii.

elsa-hammond-map

Elsa is not giving up, however, and has decided to change tack towards Mexico, where the race organisers are preparing for her safe arrival. She is still raising funds for the Plastic Oceans Foundation and Global Ocean, and is also carrying out plastic pollution tests for the research group Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.

Rowing alone and unsupported, Elsa had been the only female solo from Europe to be competing in the inaugural Great Pacific Race, the world’s first rowing race in the Pacific Ocean. If you’d like to read her updates, please click here.

Dell launches first ‘closed loop’ computer with recycled plastics

Technology giant Dell has become the first computer manufacturer to launch a PC made partly of third-party certified ‘closed loop’ plastics. The computer’s Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification verifies that the Dell OptiPlex 3030 All-in-One, launched in June 2014, comprises at least 10% closed loop post-consumer recycled plastics in its chassis enclosure.

By using plastic from recycled electronics in the new OptiPlex machine, Dell is making a carbon saving of 11% compared with a similar product made with virgin plastics, the company says. It plans to use this approach as a blueprint for reusing metals and other materials, as it works towards its goal of using 50 million pounds of recycled plastic and other sustainable materials in its products by 2020, helping to create a circular economy for IT.

“By moving to close the loop on plastics in computers, Dell is helping to reduce e-waste, save resources and prevent further plastic pollution,” says Nigel Hunton, MBA’s CEO. “Integrating its take-back programme with its ‘closed loop’ manufacturing supply chain should make the solution even more efficient, ensuring materials in end-of-life machines can be used again in new products.”

Dell closed loop recycling (click for full)

Starting next year, more Dell laptops, desktops and monitor back-panels will be made using recycled plastic, according to PC Advisor magazine. These products will also be certified by UL. Dell will save money by reusing plastic, PC Advisor reports, adding that the company has not confirmed whether the savings will be passed on to consumers.

Dell is also introducing carbon-negative packaging through a partnership with Newlight Technologies, the company behind ‘AirCarbon’, a plastic made using air and greenhouse gases. The AirCarbon packaging will be used to package Dell Latitude series notebooks, initially in the US, with plans to extend this worldwide.

Commenting on the news, Dell CEO Michael Dell said: “We have a long-standing commitment to conduct our business responsibly. AirCarbon packaging and closed loop recycled plastics are terrific innovations and big steps forward as we work with our customers and partners towards our 2020 goals.”

To learn more about how MBA Polymers could work with your company to help ‘close the loop’ with quality recycled plastic for your products, please contact us.

MBA sponsors Pacific solo row to raise awareness of plastic waste in our oceans

MBA CEO Nigel Hunton has made a personal donation of £1,000 to rower Elsa Hammond’s quest to row 2,400 miles across the Pacific from California to Hawaii. This impressive solo row, taking place in June 2014, is intended to raise awareness of the colossal amount of plastic waste clogging up our oceans and harming marine life. Money raised via the row will go to the Plastic Oceans Foundation, a charity working to combat the issue through a diverse range of educational projects and practical solutions.

Elsa, a PhD student at Bristol University, has always had a passion for adventure and the great outdoors. She unicycled across England in 2004 to raise money for a four-month expedition to Borneo, and has also sailed from Samoa to Fiji in six days as part of a two-man crew. While she is a confident rower, she’ll be learning new skills to contend with the open ocean, including navigation, chart work, and meteorology. Her Pacific solo row, alone in a 24-foot rowing boat, is expected to take three months.

Elsa Hammond training

“I’m delighted to be supporting Elsa’s solo row across the Pacific,” says Nigel Hunton, CEO, MBA Polymers. “It’s a brave and enterprising attempt to highlight a growing environmental problem which is entirely preventable. We wish her the best of luck and look forward to recycling any of the plastic waste Elsa brings back with her.”

The North Pacific Ocean is home to the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’, a concentrated area of plastic pollution the size of Texas. It can be described as a ‘plastic soup’ of billions of plastic particles. These particles attract toxins, and are ingested by birds, fish and other marine life – more than 250 species are known to have ingested or become entangled in plastic. (See Chris Jordan’s Midway Journey).

Elsa’s journey will take her south of the most concentrated area of plastic pollution, but she will still see a lot of plastic around her, even when she’s thousands of miles away from land. Other ocean rowers have reported seeing discarded plastic object bobbing around regularly while at sea. Elsa has vowed to rescue what plastic she can from the ocean during her row, with a view to recycling on her return and showing it in schools.

For more information on Elsa’s Pacific solo row or to help her raise money to tackle the plastic waste in our oceans, please visit: http://www.elsahammond.com/sponsor/

MBA Polymers further strengthens Board

MBA Polymers, the world-leading multinational plastics recycling and technology company has added Nick Deeming to its Board, effective immediately. This is the second Board appointment in less than a month and comes as the sustainable polymers company strengthens its team for the next phase of growth.

Nick brings 30 years of business and legal experience and a strong commercial awareness working with boards, leading corporate transactions and specialising in the management of risk and the implementation of change.

Most recently, Nick was a member of the Executive Management Board and General Counsel for Transocean Ltd based in Geneva. Before that, and for four years, he was Chairman, Christie’s International Realty and Christie’s Insurance as well as being General Counsel, Christie’s International plc.

Prior to that, Nick was Chief Legal Officer for The Linde Group AG that acquired The BOC Group plc where Nick was a member of the Executive Management Board and General Counsel. Nick also worked at Sema Group and PPP Healthcare.

MBA Polymers Chief Executive Nigel Hunton commented, “We are delighted that Nick has joined us at this time and is part of strengthening the Board as MBA moves to the next stage of its evolution. As a General Counsel, Nick has been right at the heart of executive leadership with a remit including legal affairs, corporate transactions, risk control and compliance and has worked closely with Chairmen and CEOs to deliver strong leadership, international best practice and effective corporate governance.”

MBA Polymers announced in January that it had received further funding from its investors which will allow development of the business and move to the next stage of commercialising their processes and products.

Added Hunton, “We aim to build a company with strong governance as well as providing significant environmental benefits. That’s the mix which will ultimately provide us with the base from which we will grow in the future. Strengthening our non-executive team at this stage will assist us on that journey.”