Global engineering, design and advisory services firm Pöyry has launched a PlasticsToBio concept and initiative, in a bid to solve global plastics problem.
Image: Pöyry has launched PlasticsToBio concept to solve global plastics problem. Photo: courtesy of John Cameron / Unsplash.
The new affordable and economically viable concept has been designed to decouple plastics from fossil-based materials and turn all plastics bio-based.
Pöyry’s concept will focus on the whole value chain ranging from material suppliers to consumers, helping to show a lucrative business case for replacing fossil plastics with bio-based plastics.
The concept is based on two major areas – significant increase in recycling and the gradual replacing of fossil feedstock with bio-based feedstock in plastics production.
Pöyry is developing a global deposit scheme for plastics collection and recycling to support the concept.
According to the company, similar schemes are already in use in various countries either on national or retail chain level.
A partnership and value chain will be formed between the retailers and recyclers, under which a deposit will be charged by the cashier to the consumer for the packaging when a product is purchased from the store.
The consumer will receive the deposit value back either directly or as a receipt, when returning the used packaging to the shop.
The returned plastic packaging will be regularly collected, transported and sorted for recycling and material reuse. Plastics must feature an icon that states indicatively the deposit value for packaging.
Pöyry offers engineering, design and advisory services with over 16,000 experts within the fields of infrastructure, industry and energy operating across the world.
Pöyry’s Management Consulting Business Group principal Tomi Nyman said: “Societies, companies and consumers recognise the magnitude of the plastics problem. Solutions to replace fossil plastics, including recycling, are in constant development, but so far there has not been a systemic concept to drive decoupling plastics from fossil based materials.
“Neither has increasing plastics recycling in a large enough scale been developed so far, and in an affordable, economically viable and sustainable manner. Pöyry’s PlasticsToBio concept shows that within just ten years, most fossil based plastics could be replaced with bio-based materials.”