Can chemical upcycling solve the plastic waste crisis?

Appealing to a Gen Z market

Scientific experiments like this offer ripe opportunities to further gain favour with a growing number of environmentally conscious Gen-Z consumers.

Unilever have been upfront that their social conscience initiatives stem largely from a desire to stay ‘relevant’ to younger audiences.

On announcing their pledge to halve the amount of new plastic they use, CEO Alan Jope declared his awareness of this demographic and their concerns with ‘the conduct of the companies and the brands they’re buying’.

He’s far from alone, with Nestle planning to phase out all non-recyclable plastics from its wrappers by 2025, and Coca-Cola committed to doubling the amount of recycled plastic it uses in bottles.

A 2018 Censuswide survey revealed that 80% of 18-22 year olds entering the workforce believe that tackling single use plastics is important for employers. Campaigns such as 2018’s #StopSucking movement focused on ending plastic straw circulation and offered advice to young people on how they can play an active role in pushing big companies to change.

These organisations want to demonstrate that they are part of the solution, not the problem. Clever, highly marketable upcycling strategies such as this one can offer an attractive way in which they can do so.

The risk of greenwashing and misleading customers

Yet, could ‘solutions’ such as these offer companies a way to fulfil sustainability objectives from a PR perspective, without actually tackling the problem?

We have already seen Starbucks declare themselves to be ‘leading in sustainability’ whilst only last year launching a new range of plastic cups. This on top of an upcycling method that encourages plastic waste to be viewed as beneficial could cause more problems.

This is all, of course, hypothetical. Whilst researchers are optimistic that they can both scale up the process and increase their conversion rate,  it remains to be seen whether this can be done to a degree which would have any measurable impact on the vast quantities of plastic bottles used daily.

Even if it does, would consumers really want vanilla flavoured ice-cream or perfume that begun its life as a plastic water bottle?

This innovation is, without doubt,  an incredibly exciting breakthrough, and will hopefully usher in a new era of inventive upcycling techniques, but let’s be wary that it doesn’t fully distract from the issue as it stands.

An estimated million plastic bottles are sold every minute, and a limited proportion of those are recycled in the first place.

Programmes like this, which encourage us to consider not only what, but how, we recycle, can certainly form part of the solution, but they must be accompanied with concerted corporate and individual action to limit plastic waste overall.

However, with a multi-faceted approach, including scientific innovations such as this one, continued upward pressure from activists, and strategies of waste limitation, we might be on the right track.

This article was originally written by Tom Hamp. ‘Hi, I’m Tom (he/him) and I’ve just finished by second year studying English at the University of Oxford. I love writing, am passionate about politics and social change, and am interested in learning about innovative ways to build a more ethical and sustainable future.’