From PET bottles to tires – plastic and rubber production provides a wide range of raw materials for other industries. Paths to a future without environmentally harmful plastic lie in the cycle: Instead of using granules made from fossil raw materials, it is important to switch to material alternatives that come from recycled plastic waste or sustainable, bio-based sources.

Ultimately, plastic products and applications should be designed in such a way that they are completely returned to the cycle after use and do not end up incinerated or in the ocean. The key here is the choice of the appropriate recycling technology or the use of biopolymers, which enables the raw material cycle to be closed.

The rubber industry is also advancing sustainability: Because natural rubber is mainly produced in monocultures and its synthetic replacement is based on fossil petroleum, the industry is increasingly working on recycling options to reprocess the material. Rubber waste from further processing should also be made usable in order to return the materials to production in an energy and resource efficient manner. As the starting point of many value chains, the industry increasingly has to be measured by the environmental compatibility and CO2 footprint of its products. Recycled materials are becoming increasingly interesting as an alternative to virgin materials. From a global perspective, the industry is faced with the responsibility not to flood countries in the global south without adequate waste recycling systems with plastic waste and not to excessively pollute rivers and seas. Unfortunately, plastic waste from Germany still ends up in Asia as exported waste in non-transparent ways. It is important to start responsible initiatives and develop new solutions to transform plastic from a pollutant into a useful material. For companies in the industry, sorting technologies, recycling systems as well as sustainable raw materials and resource-saving processes are key levers for greater sustainability.

The industry includes, for example, the production of plastic goods as well as tires and rubber goods.