Sabic joins UK Plastics Pact to transform packaging

^{Chemical manufacturer Sabic has signed up to a world-first initiative to help transform the plastic packaging system in the UK.}

The company has signed up to the UK Plastics Pact, designed to bring businesses from across the plastics value chain together with UK governments and NGO’s to tackle plastic waste.

The initiative was launched on 26 April at a ceremony attended by the secretary of state for the environment, Michael Gove and is being led by sustainability experts Wrap.

There are currently 42 businesses who have joined the Pact, including major household names such as M&S, Tesco and Nestle.

The Pact sets out a series of ambitious targets to reach by 2025, which include; eliminating unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative delivery models and ensuring that all plastic packaging produced is reusable, recyclable or compostable. The initiative also aims to help build a stronger recycling system with the government to ensure that UK recycling targets are met.

Other countries are expected to replicate the Plastics Pact as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Initiative.

Leon Jacobs, sustainability lead for Europe, said: “Plastics should not end up in the environment, landfills or the oceans. At Sabic, we are planning to scale up high-quality recycling processes for chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste to the original polymer. Sabic has the know-how, the resources and the resolve to help reduce the waste-stream”.

“Plastics are valuable and have many benefits. We believe that with the steps we take today, we will directly affect the world, the economy and the quality of life in decades to come”, said Paul Davidson, market development and support engineer, Sabic.