The Introducing Stage here at Interplas has played host to a number of significant names from the world of plastics. While moderating some sessions on the introducing stage, junior editorial content producer at Interplas Insights, Danny Ball is here to pick out a couple of key highlights from the stage.
Interplas main stage
Derek Atkinson, VP Sales and Business development, TotalEnergies Corbion: sustainability is a huge talking point of late in the plastics industry and that shows absolutely no signs of letting up in an environment geared towards circularity and a greener future. Atkinson’s presentation emphasised the importance of sustainable solutions but also talked about the fact that the industry can still be wasteful despite the great advances that have been made: 91% of “recyclable” plastic ends up in landfills? In addition to contributing to environmental pollution, plastic waste disproportionately affects the people and nations that have the fewest resources to address it.
According to Atkinson, ‘closing the loop‘is also an essential component for economic growth: ‘Embracing these practices will not only yield economic benefits through job creation and fostering innovation, but also serves as a collective responsibility to safeguard our planet, future generations, and the people living today.‘
Ammal De Paul Bulholsen, BritAs recycling: Recycling innovations and the future of recycling is an ever evolving beast. This was reflected in the presentation by Amal De Paul Bulhosen. According to Bulhosen: 'Nowadays filtration technologies have evolved to achieve better results from dirtier materials and post-consumer is no longer a clear definition of the kind of material to be processed. As the incoming sources variate, the recycling process is getting more specialised, depending on the content of contamination and the process set-up, must reflect both the final application as well as contaminant content in the feedstock.'
This need to avoid contamination and achieve more effective recycling results for companies of all sizes, makes this presentation particularly important.