From Ocean Plastic Prevention to Advanced Recycling: Highlights from the 2024 Plastic Sustainability Innovation Awards

The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) announced winners of its 2024 Plastic Sustainability Innovation Awards on Wednesday. Awards were previously announced in four categories: Design, Materials, End-of-Life and Leadership. Voting at NPE on Monday and Tuesday was tabulated to determine the winner of the “People’s Choice” award.

Eastman is the winner of the design award, given in recognition of the company’s new molecular PET recycling facility in Tennessee. The new Eastman facility started up in March 2024 and at full capacity is expected to process up to 110,000 tons of recovered plastic per year.

“Eastman’s strategy is focused on leading principles where our purpose, leadership and actions continue to guide us toward carbon neutrality, circularity and caring for society,” says Scott Ballard, Eastman plastics division president. “Our teams have been working incredibly hard on these challenging issues and we are honored to be selected for this important recognition.”

Sustainable Innovation in Materials Award

Bantam Materials UK is the winner of the materials award for their Prevented Ocean Plastic initiative. Bantam creates a market for discarded PET in regions where recycling systems are severely lacking. Through this work, the company has supported the construction of 13 collection centers, created nearly 2,000 jobs and prevented the equivalent of nearly two billion PET bottles from entering the ocean.

“Prevented Ocean Plastic is focused on preventing discarded plastic from polluting our oceans, protecting our environment, supporting coastal communities and ultimately offering businesses, brands and consumers a better plastic choice,” says Raffie Schieir, director of Bantam Materials UK.

Sustainable Innovation in End-of-Life Award

Ultra-Poly Corp. received the End-of-Life award for its ELV (End of Life Vehicle) Bumper Recycling Program. Ultra-Poly developed a reverse logistics collection program with auto body shops for bumper covers. It recycles about 1.2 million lbs/yr. The recycled pellets are now in commercial production of a wheel outer liner for GM heavy duty pickup trucks.

“Ultra-Poly is thrilled to receive this recognition from PLASTICS,” says Kevin Cronin, Ultra-Poly’s v.p. of sustainability and R&D. “We are particularly proud of the fact that this is essentially the first large-volume, vehicle-to-vehicle circularity success for plastic materials and are excited about the potential of using this creative approach to expand ELV plastic recycling.”

Leadership in Sustainability Innovation Award

The Leadership in Sustainability Innovation Awared went to Polycarbin, for its Circular Economy for Laboratory Plastics and Carbin Counter Platform.

Polycarbin has a closed loop system for collecting, recycling and remanufacturing laboratory plastic products such as pipette tips, tubes, tube racks and more. It also provides a tracking software, Carbin Counter, which relays the information back to users in the form of meaningful metrics, including scope 3 emission reductions, water conservation, landfill diversion and more.

“We are grateful to be acknowledged for our commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability. It is truly inspiring to be surrounded by fellow industry leaders who share our commitment to advancing plastic circularity,” says Polycarbin CEO James O’Brien.

People’s Choice Award

The finalists for the People’s Choice Award were voted on by NPE attendees. They were Amcor, Avient, Coperion, Hoola One and Purecycle.

The winner of the award was Coperion, for the development of the ZSK FilCo filtration compounder. The compounder enables filtration and compounding in a single production step. Compared to standard two-step production lines, the ZSK FilCo is distinguished by a more streamlined equipment setup. Energy consumption and emissions for the extrusion process are reduced by more than 50%.