Dow and The Procter & Gamble Company have unveiled a joint development agreement (JDA) aimed at pioneering a novel recycling technology. The objective is to facilitate the efficient conversion of challenging-to-recycle plastic packaging into recycled polyethylene of nearly virgin quality, with a minimized greenhouse gas emissions footprint.
This collaborative effort will leverage the companies' respective patented technologies and expertise in the dissolution process. The focus of the development program will be on utilizing dissolution technology to recycle a wide range of plastic materials, particularly polyethylene, with a specific emphasis on post-household plastic waste, including rigid, flexible, and multi-layer packaging, which pose greater challenges in recycling.
The envisioned technology aims to produce high-quality post-consumer recycled (PCR) polymer with reduced greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil-based polyethylene. P&G intends to incorporate this PCR polymer into its packaging, thereby fostering a pathway to circularity that maximizes resource utilization and minimizes materials treated as waste.
This global partnership between Dow and P&G commences immediately and is anticipated to continue until commercialization. In addition to their patented technologies, both companies bring extensive expertise in materials science, manufacturing capabilities, and large-scale supply chain management, which will be vital in the development of this new recycling technology suitable for commercial manufacturing scale.
Dave Parrillo, Vice President for Research & Development at Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons, expressed Dow's commitment to transforming plastic waste into circular solutions, aligning with customer demands and accelerating the circular economy. Lee Ellen Drechsler, Senior Vice President of Corporate Research and Development at Procter & Gamble, emphasized the partnership's role in advancing P&G's objective to scale industry solutions and create a circular future where materials are recycled and repurposed instead of being discarded as waste.
Both Dow and P&G have ambitious goals to drive circularity forward. Dow aims to commercialize three million metric tons of circular and renewable solutions by 2030, while P&G envisions using 100% consumer packaging designed for recycling or reusability by 2030.
