Building A Cleaner Nation

World Environment Day 2023: Fortunately, we know how to solve the plastic crisis. The solution doesn’t involve costly high tech or impossible international diplomacy. Every nation can act, without looking over the shoulder asking what others are doing

One warm Mumbai afternoon back in 2015 a young Indian man looked out of the window from the tenth floor of his apartment building. He got a glimpse of the beach. What he saw was a horrible sight. Versova, the beloved beach from his childhood, had become a dreadful hell of pollution. No young couple walked the beach. No elderly engaged in games. None played cricket or football. Fishermen were struggling to meet ends with a poor catch.

Versova beach was covered by half a meter of plastic of different hues and colour, washed up from the sea over decades. I have travelled the world, but never seen a sight quite like that.

Afroz Shah, a lawyer and counsel at Bombay High Court – decided to act. Different from how most of us would have reacted, Afroz acted in a true Gandhian way. He simply went down to the beach and started picking plastics. On his way down the stairs he met an 84-year old neighbour who joined him.

There they stood, just two human beings with an impossible task. But soon the duo were joined by ten, then hundred, then a thousand people. At the end hundreds of thousands of Indians, mostly young people, joined Afroz in cleaning up the beach at Versova and making the Mithi river great again.

Afroz unknowingly created a true Gandhian movement. “You need to be the change you want to see in the world”,the old sage told us. Today Afroz Shah Foundation is mobilising thousands into climate action every weekend. It is running education programmes in poor communities. Prime Minister Modi has described Afroz as a Hero of India. Afroz has received numerous international awards.

Afroz’s action on the beaches of Mumbai soon got the attention of more powerful people. Top business leaders joined him on weekend clean ups. They offered heavy equipment like tractors, and even more importantly they embarked upon a dialogue on how to change business practice and quell the plastic crisis at source. Political leaders from Maharashtra and India from different political parties rolled up their sleeves and asked Afroz for advice on political regulations of plastics in India.

What began as an individual’s battle against plastic soon became a vast movement for politicians and businessmen to forge a new pact between humans and nature. From cleaning-up of waste to single-use plastic to implementing circular economy – the journey of Afroz set an example for all of us.

When plastic was introduced in America in the 1950s, it was seen as the wonder material. One could preserve food better, make cars and aircraft lighter and protect against dangerous bacteria. But as often in human life, when we discover something good, we get addicted. We start overusing it.

There are three main reasons why humanity need to get out of the plastic addiction.

Plastics have no role in nature. It causes environmental catastrophe. A whale died in Thailand recently. It vomitted plastic bags while dying. Sea birds dive down mistaking plastics for shellfish. They feed their chick with this disastrous food. They perish, as do camels, cows and turtles, in all corners of the world.

Single-use plastic is an added economic disaster. Who will swim on the wonderful beaches of Goa, Sri Lanka or Bali, if you have to crawl through a sea of plastics? For this reason, tourist-dependent Indonesia declared plastic pollution as a major economic threat to the nation.

Plastics find their way into our bodies. We breath plastics, we drink plastic, we eat plastics. Bigger plastic items seep into our bodies as microplastics. Fish carries plastics. Even the most pristine waters of the world, in the Himalayas or the Arctic now contain microplastics. We don’t know exactly how microplastics will affect the human body. But no one has suggested it is good for us.

Fortunately, we know how to solve the plastic crisis. The solution doesn’t involve costly high tech or impossible international diplomacy. Every nation can act, without looking over the shoulder asking what others are doing. I have joined Afroz for many clean ups in Mumbai. Plastic pollution, different from climate, is at the core of national and local crisis. India can act to clean up in the spirit of Swacch Bharat. Other nations can do the same.

The cleanest nation in the world is the most improbable place. In small, poor, landlocked Rwanda you cannot find a single piece of garbage in the streets.The capital Kigali is absolutely clean. “All Rwandans keep clean at home;” president Paul Kagame told me. “We just needed to transform that spirit to the community at large.”

The solution is three fold.

We should prohibit all single-use plastics we do not need. Let us simply ban straws, plastic cutlery, plastic cups and bags. This is what the Indian government has done even if its not yet fully respected everywhere. The European Union has done the same. We can all drink straight from a normal glass, without straws. The average north American uses 600 straws a year. Does it make them more happy? There is no need to wait. Lets just do it!

Additionally, we can be a lot more innovative. Straws can be made from bamboo or from paper. Indians have through millenniums eaten from plates made of banana leaves. All over the planet startups are trying to make products from potatoes, sugar canes and many other natural materials. If we throw away natural products, they will disintegrate in nature. Like a banana skin.

But still we may end up with many plastic products which are useful and not so easy to replace. During the covid pandemic , plastic curtain was the first line of defence against the disease. A normal car contains many kilos of plastics, it makes the car lighter and it consumes less energy. These plastics must be brought in and recycled.

If you walk along the Mithi river in Mumbai, you will never see plastic bottles. The reason is simple. The bottles have value and ragpickers will sell them to supplement their income. Only the plastics without value pollute our beautiful beaches and rivers. All countries should introduce Extended Producer Responsibility. A company which contributes to the plastic crisis should also be held responsible for funding and innovating the solution. With Extended Producer Responsibility companies will be engaged in driving the technology for change. They will have to pay a levy on plastics which governments can use to organise plastic collection and pay for large scale recycling.

What started at Versova Beach in Mumbai has become a global movement. A young Sri Lankan Nishanka De Silva started Zero Plastics movement in the midst of the economic meltdown of his home country. Incredibly, young Sri Lankans turned out in droves to support the movement and making it a great success.

The Indian city of Indore has been repeatedly rewarded as the cleanest city of India. Its time we make all Indian cities like Indore. On world environment day – lets join hands to beat plastic pollution.

www.planet.outlookindia.com

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SIG Celebrates 170 Years of Striving for Better

In June, the Swiss packaging solution provider SIG marked another milestone in its long history – 170 years of operation. Founded in 1853 and headquartered in Neuhausen, Switzerland, the company took the opportunity to look back on its impressive history of ingenuity and innovation, visit its present, and explore the exciting potential the future holds. Moreover, the event enabled customers and employees to experience firsthand what SIG stands for today and will stand for tomorrow: SIG – for better.

The first celebratory event on June 17th centered on residents from Neuhausen’s local community, who were invited to SIG’s industrial area and headquarters to explore the facility and enjoy a food festival.

On June 20th, customers from all over the world participated in an exclusive event that included a tour through the ages from SIG’s perspective and a celebratory dinner. The final event occurred two days later on June 22nd when SIG leaders arrived for an intensive two-day leadership meeting.

Samuel Sigrist, CEO, SIG: “Being in operation for 170 years is something to celebrate and it was an excellent opportunity for us to showcase the spirit of SIG to our global customers and employees. The events reinforced the fact that while SIG has evolved over time, one aspect of our company has always remained the same, our commitment to delivering better for customers, consumers, and the world.”

Today, SIG is a leading provider of sustainable, innovative, and versatile packaging solutions. The company works in partnership with customers to bring food products to consumers globally in a safe, sustainable, and affordable way. In 1906 its long journey in food packaging began with packaging chocolates.

The first beverage carton and filling machine was launched in Europe in 1930, while it was not until 1955 that Scholle, now part of SIG, invented the revolutionary bag-in-box format that transformed distribution of liquid storage.

In 1975, beverage carton provider PKL introduced its combibloc aseptic packaging and filling system. SIG acquired PKL in 1989, creating a pathway for growth in aseptic packaging. At the beginning of this century, SIG decided to focus entirely on its packaging business and has since become one of the industry’s lead players. Joining forces with Scholle IPN and Evergreen Asia in 2022 extended its range to now include fresh and aseptic carton, bag-in-box, and spouted pouches.

SIG today is a leading sustainable packaging solutions provider and the world’s only system supplier covering carton, spouted pouch, and bag-in-box. The company’s versatile technology and capacity for product innovation means customers benefit from a wide range of solutions across categories and channels, which address consumer, market, and planet needs with responsibility, flexibility, speed, and affordability.

The company is committed to working towards net positivity and has split its sustainability initiatives into four core areas: Climate+, Forest+, Resource+, and Food+. To date, this commitment has seen SIG leading its industry in responsible sourcing and sustainable innovations.

All this reflects the spirit of SIG’s brand promise, “For better”. The phrase inspires its innovation of sustainable solutions and pioneering technology, all to transform its customers’ businesses and the world for better.

www.sig.biz

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Kent Wins FEED Contract for ExxonMobil’s Large-Scale Plastic Waste Advanced Recycling Program

• Kent will provide Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) services for ExxonMobil’s advanced recycling facilities under assessment in Baytown (Texas), Beaumont (Texas), Baton Rouge (Louisiana), Joliet (Illinois), Sarnia (Canada), Rotterdam (The Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium).
• Kent provided Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management services to ExxonMobil for its Baytown advanced recycling facility, which commenced commercial operations in December 2022 and is now one of the largest advanced recycling operations in North America.
• Tush Doshi, COO at Kent, said: “We are proud to be associated with this project to provide FEED services for ExxonMobil’s advanced recycling projects. The win is a testament to the fantastic work we have been doing in the field of recycling waste. It is a milestone project, and this exciting program will demonstrate how the recycling process is evolving to become more efficient and pave the way to a better future for our planet.”

Kent, a leading engineering company in the energy and chemicals industries, has been appointed as the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contractor for potential expansion of ExxonMobil’s advanced recycling facilities.

Kent will provide FEED services for potential new units across seven sites under this advanced plastics recycling global portfolio program, based on the success of a trial unit in Baytown, Texas designed by Kent during 2021 and 2022. The new such units are under assessment at ExxonMobil facilities located in Baytown (Texas), Beaumont (Texas), Baton Rouge (Louisiana), Joliet (Illinois), Sarnia (Canada), Rotterdam (The Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium). The first unit at Baytown started up late last year as one of the largest advanced recycling facilities in North America.

Tush Doshi, COO at Kent, said: “We are proud to be associated with this project to complete FEED services for ExxonMobil’s advanced recycling projects. The win is a testament to the fantastic work we have been doing in the field of recycling waste. It is a milestone project, and this exciting program will demonstrate how the recycling process is evolving to become more efficient and pave the way to a better future for our planet.”

By turning difficult-to-recycle plastic waste back into raw materials that can be used to make new plastic and other valuable products, ExxonMobil’s advanced recycling technology can divert plastic waste from landfill or incineration and help to meet customer goals for circularity.

Sean McNelis, ExxonMobil’s Venture Project Manager, commented: “Advancing this portfolio of projects into FEED is an important milestone as we look to expand advanced recycling globally to help achieve a more circular economy.”

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