Sustainability Challenge:

Current recycling technology limits recyclability of used polystyrene products into high-value second life items, so discarded polystyrene products frequently end up in a landfill.

Chemistry Solution:

Converting used polystyrene products back into their original feedstock form enables manufacture of brand-new products, without degradation in quality.

Sustainability Benefit:

In 2019, Regenyx converted more than 800,000 pounds of polystyrene waste into recycled styrene monomer - equivalent to about 30 million foam cups. Today the total amount of recycled product exceeds 1 million pounds.

Sustainability Challenge:

In the U.S. and Canada, while traditional mechanical recycling programs work well for recycling many plastic containers, these traditional technologies do not necessarily have the capability to process and recycle many other types of post-consumer plastics.

Chemistry Solution:

Chemical recycling technologies being engineered and implemented by Eastman offer new circular solutions for waste plastic materials that are currently landfilled or incinerated.

Sustainability Benefit:

A range of discarded plastic materials such as flexible packaging and films, among others, can be diverted from landfills and used as a feedstock to create new consumer products.

Sustainability Challenge:

Plastic waste, when not disposed of correctly, can end up in the environment, on land and in the oceans.

Chemistry Solution:

SABIC is pioneering to scale up a process that takes feedstock made from low value, mixed plastic waste that would otherwise end up in landfill or incineration, to produce original, high-quality polymers.

Sustainability Benefit:

Use of this process can enable wide-scale recovery of plastics, reducing waste sent to landfill, reducing dependency on traditional fossil-based feedstock, and creating a circular economy for plastics.

Sustainability Challenge:

Although many plastic products are recyclable, 26 million tons of plastic was landfilled in 2015.

Chemistry Solution:

Braskem's collaboration with the Philadelphia Eagles is helping educate a wider audience on the importance of recycling and repurposing single-use plastics.

Sustainability Benefit:

Increasing plastics recovery and recycling can reduce waste, conserve resources, save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Sustainability Challenge:

Highway engineers are seeking solutions that help enhance use of recovered materials in asphalt and enable high-quality roads and infrastructure.

Chemistry Solution:

Kraton asphalt performance additives enable development of durable, cost-effective roads using high percentages of reclaimed asphalt, enabling resource efficiency and shorter construction time.

Sustainability Benefit:

Kraton developed an asphalt performance additive that can help build sustainable highways by enabling use of reclaimed asphalt pavement in road rehabilitation projects.

Sustainability Challenge:

Plastics materials that aren't recycled can pollute the environment.

Chemistry Solution:

Technologies made possible by chemistry can convert used plastics into road materials.

Sustainability Benefit:

In India, The Dow Chemical Company worked with government officials and waste collectors to collect and process enough discarded plastic material to pave 40 kilometers of roads-diverting 100 metric tons of waste from landfills in the process.

Sustainability Challenge:

Wood is a popular renewable building material; however, less than 65 percent of a tree can be used for solid lumber.

Chemistry Solution:

Hexion EcoBind^TM resin technology helps manufacturers recover more usable wood from trees, resulting in a variety of engineered wood products for use in building materials.

Sustainability Benefit:

Engineered wood can enable more than 95 percent of every tree to be used, saving natural resources and expanding use of renewable wood resources.

The chemical industry embraces the drive toward a circular economy for plastics because it helps demonstrate an overarching commitment to sustainable materials management.