MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Inc. announced new sustainability targets today, including a commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and ambitious plans to collect, reuse, or recycle 1 million metric tons of plastics within a decade, reported Chemweek.
The new goals - aligned around protecting the climate, stopping waste, and “closing the loop” - also include a target for 100% of Dow products sold into packaging applications to be reusable or recyclable by 2035.
“Climate change and plastic waste are among the greatest technical, social, and economic issues the world has ever faced, and our products and technology are critical to addressing both,” says Jim Fitterling, Dow chairman and CEO. “At Dow, we have a responsibility and an opportunity to lead in addressing these global challenges. A sustainable future is attainable, but only if we continue to tackle these issues head-on, hold ourselves accountable, and work together to enable new science- and technology-based solutions that directly address both climate change and plastic waste.”
Its climate-neutrality efforts include an interim target to reduce annual carbon emissions by 5 million metric tons, or 15% its 2020 baseline, by 2030.
To meet its 2030 waste goal, Dow is investing and collaborating in key technologies and infrastructure to significantly increase global recycling. “Dow’s plastic waste goals are designed to ensure that its investments and collaboration, including its commitments to and investments in the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and Circulate Capital, have clear targets to stop waste from getting into the environment and to lead the materials science industry toward a circular economy,” the company adds.
Dow has also entered into new renewable power agreements for its manufacturing facilities in Argentina, Brazil, Texas, and Kentucky, securing 338 more megawatts of power capacity from renewable sources, representing an expected reduction of more than 225,000 metric tons of CO2e. The company says it is on track to exceed its target to source 750 MW of renewable power capacity by 2025.
“Reducing the impact of climate change and eliminating plastic waste are societal challenges that are closely linked. As a producer of technologies that are essential to a low carbon economy, we are developing and investing in new production processes that are low-emission and optimally efficient. And we’re now looking at waste as a resource that will enable us to continue to innovate sustainable materials,” said Mary Draves, Dow vice president and chief sustainability officer.
As MRC wrote earlier, Dow and Shell have teamed up to accelerate the development of technology that can potentially electrify steam cracker.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
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