Rethinking the potential of plastic

Back in 2015, kids' toys conglomerate Lego announced it would be investing a large sum into a Sustainable Materials Center. Six years later and after testing over 250 PET materials, Lego has confirmed a suitable PET plastic alternative produced from discarded bottles. This discovery, made by a team of 150, is the first brick made from a recycled material that meets most of Lego’s requirements for its standard ABS bricks.

If the world continues on the same path, the amount of plastic dumped in our water ways is expect to double by 2025. We are on the verge of an irreversible tipping point according to a new study by researchers from Sweden, Norway and Germany, and our current waste management systems are no longer adequate to handle the amount of plastic waste consumer culture produces.

Research completed by Royal Society for the Arts (RSA) found on average 49% of clothing made by Boohoo, Prettylittlething, Missguided and Asos were made of polyester, acrylic, nylon and elastane, with only 3% of those clothes containing recycled plastics.

A plastic straw's biggest environmental  impact is its end-of-life disposal... but looking at its lifecycle as a whole, they are less harmful than popular alternatives that have sprung up in recent years.

The strongest material on the planet, spider silk, is the inspiration behind a new plant-based plastic alternative, removing the challenges that come with the micro and nano structures of traditional plant-based plastic. This new, energy efficient method mimics spider silk on a molecular level and will result in a plastic-like free-standing film that can be composted at home.

End consumers are demanding more transparency when it comes to sustainability measures taken by large-scale organizations. To keep up with this demand and to support sustainable change in supply chains, companies like ORBIS, Litco International and PECO Pallets are implementing circular economy tactics when it comes to creating and recycling pallets.

Led by the Ocean Plastics Leadership Network in partnership with WWF and Greenpeace, this two day event garnered support for a global treaty that would be ambitious enough to match the scale and urgency of the plastic waste problem. Here are four key take aways from the virtual event.

6 years ago, a video sparked a revolution around the environmental impacts of single-use plastic straws.

Since then, alternative straws have skyrocketed in popularity as a sustainable option. Let's take a look at a few.