plastic waste

Implementing a February 2020 law, the government published a list of about 30 fruits and vegetables that will have to be sold without plastic packaging from January 1. The list includes leeks, aubergines and round tomatoes as well as apples, bananas and oranges.

"We use an outrageous amount of single-use plastic in our daily lives. The circular economy law aims at cutting back the use of throwaway plastic and boost its substitution by other materials or reusable and recyclable packaging," the ministry said in a statement.

"Eliminating waste plastic from our environment is a complex global challenge that requires a comprehensive, collaborative approach across the entire plastics lifecycle. P&G is taking a thoughtful approach to addressing the collection, processing, revitalization, and reuse of materials. That's why we selected Eastman's molecular recycling technologies which enable former waste to be transformed into useful products," explained Lee Ellen Drechsler, Procter & Gamble Senior Vice President of R&D. 

This ground-breaking technology has been developed in partnership with the Pulpex consortium, a collaboration between Unilever, Diageo, Pilot Lite and other industry members. Unilever has been able to use the technology to package liquid products in first-of-its-kind paper-based bottles, made of sustainably sourced pulp and designed to be recycled in the paper waste stream.