Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW) announced plans to accelerate its 2030 sustainability targets, by expanding its stop the waste programme to circular transformation.
- Dow is targeting transformation of waste and alternative feedstock to deliver 3m metric tons of circular and renewable solutions.
- It has launched a new business platform to build scale on the back of advanced and mechanical recycling partnerships.
- Dow’s announcement is another signal that the plastics and chemicals industries and rapidly moving towards more circular models.
With the launch of its 2030 Transform the Waste target, Dow plans to transform plastic waste and other forms of alternative feedstock to commercialise 3 million metric tons of circular and renewable solutions annually.
It’s going to do this through the launch of a new business platform, Circular & Renewable Solutions, around which its going to build industrial ecosystems to collect, reuse or recycle waste and expand its portfolio to meet rapidly growing demand.
The new platform is going to be closely aligned with Dow’s existing Packaging & Specialty Plastics operating segment. Daniella Souza Miranda will lead this new business platform as its global business director. Miranda has been with Dow for nearly 25 years, and was most recently its Global Director, Marketing & Digital.
Jim Fitterling, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer said: “Through investments in key technologies, infrastructure and strategic collaborations, we are expanding our Stop the Waste goal to reflect the transformation of Dow’s plastic franchise and leadership to enable a circular economy. We will increase the value of waste and enable a new industrial ecosystem to grow, which in turn will allow Dow to scale our ability to produce circular and low-carbon emission solutions.”
While the exact projections are uncertain, it is expected that the waste required to produce 3 million metric tons of circular and renewable solutions per year by 2030 will surpass and replace Dow’s original 1 million metric ton goal.
New partnerships are in place to build out an industrial ecosystem
Several recently announced circular and mechanical offtake agreements and projects will help contribute to achieving the target. These include recycling deals with Mura Technology, Valoregen, Nexus Circular, and Bomera in Brazil.
The agreement with Mura Technologies includes a collaboration to construct multiple large-scale recycling facilities in the US and Europe, adding up to 600,000 tons of plastic recycling capacity by 2030, making it Dow’s largest advanced recycling commitment so far.
Dow has also invested in Mr. Green Africa, and has an agreement to co-develop more traceable, fair, and high-quality PCR that can be used in the production of new flexible plastic packaging; while in India it has an MoU with Lucro Plastecycle to develop and launch polyethylene (PE) film solutions using PCR plastics in India.
