To ensure the development of the industry, it is essential to invest in environmental protection and sustainability solutions. Plastic is, in this context, not an enemy, but a challenge that needs a solution. It was with the purpose of making moldmakers think about this issue that ISTMA's most recent webinar, held on June 27th, had as its theme 'From Plastic Waste to Green Petrochemicals: the next generation'.
Ran Sharon, CEO of Clariter (ISTMA Global Partner), was the guest speaker, presenting the solutions that this company has already in practice, in order to recover and give new life to plastic waste. The session had the 'virtual' attendance of about thirty professionals from various parts of the globe.
Right at the beginning, and as contextualization for the theme, Bob Williamson, President of ISTMA, drew attention to the way the world looks at plastic. Exemplifying with the case of Canada, a country where the government has just listed plastic waste as a toxic substance, the responsible warned that "we cannot ignore the plastic problem". On the contrary, he argued, "we have to contribute to help solve this problem because a world without plastic is not possible".
Ran Sharon agreed, stating that "plastic is not the problem, but its waste". And by taking this waste, treating it and giving it a new life, putting it back into the market, his company, he argued, "is an ally of the mold and plastics industry.
"We care about the future of the industry, so we are providing this support on the back end. Because for the industry to develop it is necessary to ensure environmental protection and sustainability," he explained. And this issue, he stressed, is not just about changing the way some businesses are done, but above all, "it's about changing mentalities.
Addressing the mold makers, he considered that, besides the plastics issue, they face other challenges such as the dependency on crude oil or the increment of more and more restrictive legislation. Therefore, he defended, it is vitally important to invest in a circular solution. And he pointed as an example what his company develops: a process through which it receives and treats plastic waste, transforms it and puts it back on the market in the form of new products for the most varied applications.
The path, in his opinion, has to go through here: focus on recovering waste and putting it back into the value chain.
The company, headquartered in Israel, was created in 2003, having its first processing unit in Poland, where it began to develop the concept and create the solutions. Today, in addition to this unit, it has another one in South Africa, and plans to install others in the near future in other parts of the world.
