Sustainable Plastics - September/October 2022 - 12

material matters
Passports for our products
- and not just for travel
It is hard to imagine our daily life without the Nutrition Facts Label we are all so
accustomed to fi nding on all food packaging. These labels were fi rst introduced in
the US in 1994 and in the UK in 1996 - not so long ago, at that. Nowadays, because
of these labels, we can all make conscious and informed food purchases. Efrat
Friedland, founder of materialscout and co-founder of Positive Plastics, dreams of
the day when not just food packaging, but EVERY product, will carry such a label.
          
      
     
  

   
  
 
    
 
  
  
 
   
   
     
    
     

     
 
   
  
 
    
   
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
   
    
    
 
   
  
 
  
  
   
  

   
  
 
      
    
P
12
icture yourself standing
in a large electronics
store, in front
of a shelf packed with
espresso machines. With a click
of a button or a swipe, you scan
their codes, and their entire
identity is revealed. That black
machine - it uses only one material
for the housing, a PC/ABS
blend containing 85% recycled
post-consumer material, collected
and compounded in the
EU, with no fire retardants. The
carbon footprint of this specific
polymer grade is 3.2Kg/CO2
September/October 2022
equivalent and the entire housing
weighs 875gr. You continue
reading about the energy
consumption during the usage
phase, your guarantee, ability
to repair and the extended producer's
responsibility actions.
You then aim your scanner
at the neighboring red machine
and discover that its housing is
also made from just one material
- in this case, ABS with 85%
recycled content. Aha! As it is
not a blend, the carbon footprint
of this material is 2.7Kg/CO2
equivalent and the housing
Sustainable Plastics - September/October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Plastics - September/October 2022
