Two Sides – New Fact Sheets Published

Sun Chemical has signed up to the Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0, facilitated by AIM, the European Brands Association. In doing so, Sun Chemical is joining forces with over 85 companies and organisations to participate in a pilot project with the goal of proving the viability of digital watermarking technologies to enable better sorting and higher quality recycling rates for packaging in the EU, in order to drive a truly circular economy. The initiative follows on from HolyGrail 1.0, a project conducted as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy programme, which brought together different stakeholders from the packaging value chain between 2016 and 2019. Having investigated different innovations to improve post-consumer recycling, digital watermarks were found to be the most promising technology.

Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) published a detailed aluminum beverage can recycling primer and roadmap that explains how the ambitious U.S. aluminum beverage can recycling rate targets that CMI members announced in November 2021 will be achieved. Those targets are reaching a 70 percent recycling rate by 2030, 80 percent by 2040 and 90 percent by 2050. The aluminum beverage can is the most recycled beverage container in the United States with a 45 percent recycling rate in 2020. Consider that in 2020, for the aluminum beverage can recycling rate to have reached 70 percent, 25.6 billion more cans needed to be recycled. If the target had been met and those additional cans recycled, it would have generated more than $400 million in revenue for the U.S. recycling system and resulted in energy savings that could power more than 1 million U.S. homes for an entire year. The report explains in detail how CMI will achieve its targets via four pillars of action, which are: 1. Catalyze the passage and implementation of well-designed deposit systems at the state and federal levels. 2. Increase and improve household and away-from-home recycling. 3. Ensure that more cans are properly sorted at recycling centers. 4. Increase consumer understanding on the importance of aluminum can recycling and the ability to collect and sell used beverage cans for cash.

Private forest owners in Latvia have reason to celebrate as the private forest association MA Krāslava becomes the first in the country to achieve PEFC sustainable forest management certification through PEFC Group Certification. Thanks to this, 23 individual forest owners have been able to certify their forests – together covering 417 hectares. “We are extremely happy that the first forest owners have begun to benefit from the possibilities offered by PEFC Group Certification,” said Martins Ailts, Board member of PEFC Latvia. “PEFC certification enables them to demonstrate sustainable forest management, gives them access to the certified timber market, and provides them with the possibility to attract some support from the government,” Mr. Ailts continued.