plastic | Environment.org

Just a day after the conclusion of the United Nations’ annual climate conference in Azerbaijan, diplomats began convening in Busan, South Korea, for a separate bout of discussions — this time over plastics.

The fifth and potentially final round of negotiations over a global plastics treaty began on Monday, with hopes running high that countries will be able to wrap up a deal to address plastic pollution by December 1. During an opening ceremony, speakers from the U.N. entreated delegates to find the “bold political will” to address plastic’s damage to human health and the environment. South Korea’s environment minister, Kim Wan Sup, said that “we must end plastic pollution before plastic pollution ends us.”

Specifically at stake at INC-5, the official name for this round of negotiations, is what many participants consider to be the treaty’s defining …

New Feasibility Study on Films & Flexible Plastic Packaging

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| Recycling

To grow the circular economy for hard-to-recycle plastics in Penang, Malaysia, the Penang State Government has partnered with RRS, Fonterra, Thong Guan Industries Berhad, The Circulate Initiative, and FFM Berhad to conduct a feasibility study for the collection of films and flexible plastic packaging. The study will be led by RRS and Penang Green Council (PGC), with PGC leading local coordination and outreach and RRS leading the recycling system evaluation and pilot plan.

The goal of the study is to establish an economic and environmentally preferred pathway for consumers to recycle film and flexibles in Penang in order to develop an effective collection and recovery model that may be replicated in other communities and further grow the circular economy for plastics in Malaysia.

The target material for this study is film and flexible packaging, also known as “soft plastics,” which …