Despite its often maligned impact on the environment, plastic produced by the petrochemical industry is a chief demand of the growing global economy, and that demand is only growing stronger.
According to Ron Abbott, sustainability technical manager for Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem), North American individual consumers each use approximately 74 kilograms (kg) of plastic per year.
Per person plastic consumption is rising in Asia and India as well, at the rates of 63 kg per year and 20 kg per year, respectively, Abbott said at ECC's PerspECCtives Conference.
"Per capita, consumption is growing at a very rapid rate in these countries. We want toys for our children; we want building materials for housing. We want safe food and recreational devices -- things that are light, strong and durable," he said. "Plastic weighs a lot less than glass and aluminum. Every material has a role in safe packaging, but plastic has an inherent advantage."
The petrochemical industry is intent on reclaiming, recycling and reusing as much plastic content as possible in order to "proactively help the world find sustainable solutions," Abbott attested.
Abbott said he considers the petrochemical industry's increased attention to its impact on the environment as a "tsunami of sustainability."
"I've seen an enormous step change in the past two to three years in what industry is doing," he said. "At CPChem, for example, we have a new strategy that says we are going to be proactively helping the world find sustainable solutions."
CPChem was one of the first of 47 member companies to join the Alliance to End Plastic Waste to address global "high leakage areas."
"There are 10 rivers in the world that are producing about 85 to 90 percent of the plastic waste that gets into oceans. That's got to stop," Abbott said. "Last year, companies came together and said, 'We're going to put a stop to this by funding cleanup efforts in these regions.' That funding has now grown to $1.5 billion over the past five years, and that's just the start."
CPChem is focused on "more rigorous pellet management processes," he said. "We've always been concerned about pellet management and making sure plastics don't leave our site and don't escape during transportation."
Additionally, Abbott said CPChem is engaging in public disclosure of all pellet spills "to make sure we are as transparent as we can be and show what we're doing."
Abbott accentuated the company's enthusiasm for developing effective recycling programs.
"We cannot continue to waste all these perfectly good hydrocarbons by burying them in landfills, and we need infrastructure and cooperation throughout the value chain to achieve that," he said.
'Aspirational goals'
CPChem continues to collaborate with nongovernmental organizations, universities and government labs, as well as with competitors, to tackle plastic waste, Abbott said.
There's even more emphasis on collaboration through the American Chemistry Council (ACC), he noted.
"The ACC has the aspirational goals, which industry has committed to, that 100 percent of plastics used in packaging will be reused, recycled or recovered by 2040. That's not that far away," Abbott said. "By 2030, [the goal is] all plastics will be recyclable or recoverable. It's caused a lot of change in the industry as the companies that have signed on to these goals are pursuing them."
"All this is to say, industry is doing a lot," he said.
"Waste in the environment - paper, plastics and everything else -- must become a thing of the past," Abbott concluded. "We are working toward reclaiming these materials and using them more efficiently, because, as the global population grows from 7 billion people to 9 billion people, we've got to make sure we're using our natural resources effectively."
Clay Scott, vice president and project principal at Hanson Professional Services, moderated the session.
