Rethinking the plastic value chain

Currently, society is going through a critical period where global plastic use is being reconsidered more than ever. Plastic has become a ubiquitous material in the modern economy, combining its unparalleled functional properties with a low cost that led to exponential increase in its use throughout the last century.

While plastics and plastic packaging are an integral part of the global economy and provide multiple benefits, their value chain is now archetypically linear. The supply chains based on extracting, producing, and dumping lead to significant economic and environmental disadvantages. Today we know, more than 40 years after the launch of the first universal symbol of recycling, that globally only 14% of plastic packaging is collected for recycling.

Every year, thousands of millions of euros in plastic packaging is lost in our linear economy. Keeping in mind the predicted state of plastic production globally in 2050, if this does not change the oceans could contain more plastic than fish (in weight) and its production could consume 20% of total oil production and 15% of the carbon budget. This is why the industry and governments are now, for the first time, recognizing the need to rethink the global system of plastic processing.

Something is changing in the current model of plastic consumption, and at Polynext we want to be a part and driving force of that change.