Chemical giant Dow has updated its “Stop the Waste” goal to “Transform the Waste” and now plans to produce 3 million metric tons of circular and renewable plastic annually by 2030, tripling its previous target.
A press release said with the latest initiative, Dow “commits to accelerating the circular ecosystem by transforming waste and alternative feedstock.”
The company plans to build “industrial ecosystems to collect, reuse or recycle waste and expand its portfolio to meet rapidly growing demand.”
“We are expanding our commitments to address plastic waste and meet customers’ increasing demands for more sustainable and circular products,” said Jim Fitterling, Dow’s chairman and CEO, in the press release. “Through investments in key technologies, infrastructure and strategic collaborations, we are expanding our Stop the Waste goal to reflect the transformation of Dow’s plastic franchise and leadership to enable a circular economy.”
Not long ago, Dow had announced several circular and mechanical offtake agreements and projects it said would help meet the new target. Those include chemical recycling facility construction projects with Mura Technology; an investment to build the largest single hybrid recycling site in France, managed by Valoregen; a collaboration with Nexus Circular in Dallas; a mechanical recycling collaboration with Boomera LAR in Brazil; an investment in Mr. Green Africa to co-develop more fair, traceable and high-quality PCR; and a memorandum of understanding with Lucro Plastecycle to develop and launch recycled PE film in India.
Dow also formed a business platform called “circular and renewable solutions” within its packaging and specialty plastics operating segment in order to focus on its circular goals.
“We will increase the value of waste and enable a new industrial ecosystem to grow, which in turn will allow Dow to scale our ability to produce circular and low-carbon emission solutions,” Fitterling said.
Dow plans to report progress in its annual environmental, social and governance report.
