The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) named the winners of its 2024 Plastic Sustainability Innovation Awards, recognizing the outstanding innovations in plastics manufacturing that further environmental advantages in design, material, and end-of-life management.
Sustainable Innovation in Design Award
Eastman is the winner of the design award for their New Molecular Recycling Facility. Eastman’s new material-to-material molecular recycling facility in Tennessee is the largest in the world with the capacity to process 110,000 metric tons of polyester waste that would otherwise go to landfill or incineration. Eastman’s process reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 50 percent when compared to traditional processes.
Sustainable Innovation in Materials Award
Bantam Materials UK Ltd. is the winner of the materials award for their Prevented Ocean Plastic Initiative. Bantam Materials UK Ltd. creates a market for discarded PET in countries with severely lacking recycling systems. Through this work, they have directly supported the construction of 13 collection centers, generated over 500,000 bottle collector workdays, created nearly 2,000 jobs, and prevented more than two billion bottles from entering the ocean.
Sustainable Innovation in End-of-Life Award
Ultra-Poly Corporation is the winner of the end-of-life award for their ELV Bumper Recycling Program. Ultra-Poly Corporation developed a complete reverse logistics collection program with autobody shops for bumper covers, a previously wasted material. They recycle about 1.2M lbs./yr. The recycled pellets are now in commercial production of a wheel outer liner for GM heavy duty pick-up trucks, completing vehicle-to-vehicle circularity.
Leadership in Sustainability Innovation Award
The Leadership Award, the award for the company with the best overall score across the three categories, was awarded to Polycarbin for their Circular Economy for Laboratory Plastics and Carbin Counter Platform.
Polycarbin has a complete closed loop system for collecting, recycling, and re-manufacturing laboratory plastic products such as pipette tips, tubes, tube racks, etc. They also provide a tracking software, Carbin Counter, that relays the information back to users in the form of meaningful metrics, including scope 3 emission reductions, water conservation, landfill diversion, and more.
The finalists for the People’s Choice Award are as follows:
Amcor – BLUE BIN 100 percent PCR Wine Bottle – Amcor Rigid Packaging, in conjunction with Ron Rubin Winery, recently brought to market BLUE BIN, a premium wine packaged in a 750mL bottle made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled (PCR) material. This is the first 750 mL wine bottle made from 100 percent PCR released in North America, fostering a change in the market not only for responsible packaging, but customer convenience.
Avient – Versaflex HC BIO BT218 Material – Avient’s Versaflex HC BIO BT218 was developed as a more sustainable alternative to current single-use biopharmaceutical tubing materials. This first-generation plant-based product provides critical requirements for single-use applications, such as clarity, flexibility and low extractable/leachable profile, while reducing the product carbon footprint by 25 percent over petroleum-based elastomer solutions on the market and an even greater reduction compared to silicone, which is still the predominant material used in industry today.
Coperion GmbH- ZSK FilCo Filtration Compounder – For recycling of PCR or any highly contaminated polymer, Coperion has developed the innovative ZSK FilCo filtration compounder that allows filtration and compounding in a single production step. Compared to standard two-step production lines, the ZSK FilCo is distinguished by a more streamlined equipment setup. Energy consumption and emissions for the extrusion process are reduced by more than 50 percent. Moreover, the resin is only melted once, producing a higher-quality product.
Hoola One Technologies, Inc. – HO Wrack – The HO Wrack is a portable and mobile treatment plant specially adapted for removing plastic pellet spills from unpaved areas, where pellets mix with other materials such as rocks, dirt or other organic matter. The HO Wrack technology separates plastic from other natural materials to the point where all of the natural material is returned to the ground and the pellets can be recycled and re-sold. This innovation allows companies to remain within compliance with regulations at a greatly reduced remediation cost related to excavation and disposal of contaminated soil.
PureCycle Technologies – PureFive Ultra-Pure Recycling Process – The polypropylene (PP) recycling technology that PureCycle uses, consists of seven main process stages that help close the loop on plastic waste while making recycled plastics more accessible at scale. The unique purification process uses extraction and filtration to remove color, odor, and other impurities from PP waste, resulting in an industry-first Ultra-Pure Recycled resin that can be recycled and reused multiple times.
