Plans to tackle plastic waste in 2018
Fraunhofer Institute and Unilever have joined forces to develop an innovative, new technology called CreaSolv Process, that will work to help combat the single use plastic sachets that are thrown away every year globally.
CreaSolv Process was inspired by the revolution used to recycle television sets and works to recycle these plastic sachets that are causing detrimental damage to the environment. The method has been adapted from a process that worked to separate brominated flame retardants from electronic equipment polymers and waste electrical.
This method allows for the plastic to be recovered from the sachet, to then recreate new sachets for Unilever’s products.
Millions of single use sachets are purchased every year within developing markets, allowing low income customers to buy in small amounts of products that would usually be unaffordable for them. The issue is that there is currently no recycling solution for these sachets that will end up on a landfill, therefore Unilever has incorporated the issue into their Sustainable Living Plan, to find an alternative instead of throwing these plastic sachets away.
It is expected that Unilever will open a test plant in Indonesia later on this year to review whether the CreaSolv Process is viable and a long-term option for the recycling of the plastic sachets. This country was chosen due to the high mass plastic waste it produces each year and with 1.3 million tonnes of it going into the ocean.
To help combat the issue, Unilever is expected to create a sustainable system that will organise waste collection schemes to help channel the plastic sachets into the plants; these are expected to be global if the test plant is successful.
Unilever are testing these waste collection schemes through local waste banks, retailers and governments and will work to help empower waster pickers that will eventually incorporate them into mainstream economy. Thus, providing a potential long term income consequently helping to generate wider growth in the economy.
Added: 16 Jan 2018 11:00
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