Interview with MKV Managing Director Rainer Zies on avoiding pellet losses
Rainer Zies is Managing Director of MKV GmbH Kunststoffgranulate, a medium-sized family-run company in the German Bundesland Hessia. It is specialised in the recycling and compounding of waste plastics from technical applications. As a member of the board of the TecPart association for technical plastic products, Rainer Zies plays an active role for the industry and represents the industry’s interests in public and in politics and also on national and European committees. Apart from that, Rainer Zies is a member of the Technical Committee of BKV GmbH and of the sustainability committee of IHK Frankfurt. Finally, he works on normative basis for the mechanical recycling of plastics in a working group of the plastics committee within DIN, the German Institute for Standardization. There, he is one of the co-authors of DIN SPEC 91446, which describes the quality levels for plastic recyclates.
Read more … Interview with MKV Managing Director Rainer Zies on avoiding pellet losses
BKV event: "Plastics in the environment - focus on pellet losses"
On November 30, 2023, BKV GmbH held an online event to provide data, facts and possible actions to prevent pellet losses, and also to discuss possible measures along the plastics value chain. Pellet losses in Germany were examined in more detail in a study conducted by Conversio Market & Strategy GmbH on behalf of BKV, which was published as a "Special report on pellet losses". The results of this study were presented at the event.
Read more … BKV event: "Plastics in the environment - focus on pellet losses"
Plasticpreneur wants to encourage plastics recycling worldwide
The aim of the Austrian social & green tech company, Plasticpreneur GmbH, based in Klagenfurt, is to create low-threshold, inexpensive access to the recycling of plastics. For this purpose, the company, which was founded in January 2020, has developed small-scale plastics recycling machines and moulding tools, which are said to be in use through the world.
Read more … Plasticpreneur wants to encourage plastics recycling worldwide
Bottle from marine plastic for Migros washing-up liquid
The bottle containing the washing-up liquid "Handy Fresh Ocean" from Migros – the largest retail trading company in Switzerland – is, according to the manufacturer, produced from plastic waste, which the Swiss company, tide ocean SA, collects in coastal regions. This waste is sorted, cleaned and processed into plastic granules. The material produced from this is used for the production of new products such as the Migros bottle.
Read more … Bottle from marine plastic for Migros washing-up liquid
OCS® certification to prevent pellet losses
"Operation Clean Sweep®" (OCS) is an international programme launched by the plastics industry that sets out to avoid the leakage of plastic granules, flakes and powder, and to ensure that such materials do not get into the environment. The voluntary European OCS® certification system, which came into force in February 2023, now wants to create harmonised processes and procedures for the control and documentation of granule losses throughout the entire plastics supply chain. A joint webinar recently staged by Plastics Europe Deutschland, KunststoffSwiss and TÜV Nord, with the support of BKV, provided information about the basic principles of the OCS® certification.
Luminous biosensors as markers for tiny plastic particles
In an ongoing study, a Finnish research team has tested a new method for detecting and tracking the degradation of plastics in bodies of water. The team used so-called recombinant bacterial whole-cell biosensors – in short, biosensors – which were structured in such a way that they light up on contact with the monomer acrylic acid. According to the Finnish research team, the results show that the degradation of plastic waste in freshwater and salt water could be monitored with the help of these biosensors.
Read more … Luminous biosensors as markers for tiny plastic particles
Microplastic on Baltic Sea beaches stems mainly from the land
According to a study from the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR) and the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, microplastic on the Baltic Sea beaches of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany evidently stems predominantly from the beach, and is probably not caused by plastic litter in the seawater.
Read more … Microplastic on Baltic Sea beaches stems mainly from the land
Roundtable on Marine Litter has been active for seven years
The Roundtable on Marine Litter has been working for seven years on recommendations for action to combat plastic pollution in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The starting situation for setting up the Roundtable on Marine Litter was the national implementation of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive in Germany. The Roundtable thus set out to develop concrete strategies for implementing measures to meet the national targets. At the beginning of June 2023, the participants met up with the patrons of the Roundtable, Germany's Environment Minister, Steffi Lemke, the Lower Saxony Environment Minister, Christian Meyer, and the President of the Federal Environment Agency, Dirk Messner, in Berlin, to present the results of their work to date.
Read more … Roundtable on Marine Litter has been active for seven years
Chemical and plastics industry support UN plastics agreement
The member states of the United Nations want to put an end to environmental pollution through plastic litter by 2040. Plastics Europe Deutschland (PED) and the Chemical Industry Association (VCI) support the overriding aim to strengthen the circular economy.
Read more … Chemical and plastics industry support UN plastics agreement
Interview with Dr. Klaus Wittstock, BASF SE, on the UN plastics agreement: "Reduction, bans or taxes on plastics are not expedient"
Dr. Klaus Wittstock is Director Industry Affairs and head of Environment Policy at the global chemicals Group BASF, and has been active for 28 years in various functions for the company. Since 2017, Wittstock, a chemical engineer, has been a member of the Advisory Committee of BKV GmbH, to which he previously belonged for over ten years as spokesman of the Technical Committee. We asked the plastics expert for his appraisal of the preparations for the global agreement of the United Nations, which aims to reduce the impact on the environment of improperly disposed-of plastic waste.