We will deliver circular economy solutions

Dow believes that plastic is too valuable to be lost as waste and should be part of a circular economy. From design to disposal, we should retain the value of plastic.

To this end, we are engaged in numerous initiatives to “close the loop” and ensure that no plastic ends up in the environment or is lost to landfill.

benefits of plastics graphic

Keeping Plastic Valuable

Promoting a circular economy

At Dow, we strive to make products and promote processes to enable the best environmental performance, mindful of every aspect of a plastic’s lifecycle.

Across the value chain and other industries, we look for ways to make plastic part of a circular economy.

Advancing feedstock innovation

Bio-feedstock supply

We work with a wide variety of bio-feedstock suppliers who are ISCC+ certified. The range and variety of our suppliers ensures bio-circular feedstocks which are derived from vegetable waste and other industry residues such as used cooking oil, which do not compete with the food chain or contain animal products and are sustainable sources and certified. In this way we can address the growing market demand for these bio-plastics.

Fuenix

Dow is partnering with Fuenix for the supply of a new feedstock made from recycled plastic waste, to produce new Dow polymers. The process breaks down mixed waste plastics into their original form to manufacture virgin polymers. The polymers produced will be identical to products from traditional feedstocks and can be used in the same applications.

Dow technologies

Dow offers products to support the recycling of previously hard to recycle products, for example, with the use of RETAIN™ Polymer Modifier multi-layer barrier films can be recycled. Dow’s work in this area is broadening the mix of plastic waste that can be recycled and allowing recyclers to enhance the quality and therefore value of the recycled material and end-use application.

Dow is passionate about advancing recycling capabilities. We design products for recyclability. We innovate recycling technologies. We find new ways to incorporate recycled content into the resins we sell. All to increase the amount of plastic recycled and reused worldwide.

In addition, as a founding partner of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, Dow helped initiate the Store Drop-Off program for hard-to-recycle plastics in 2017. Today, more than 30,000 products carry the How2Recycle logo.

AGILITY™ CE, the first of Dow’s new polyolefins portfolio to incorporate a percentage of post-consumer plastic waste. It is manufactured for use in shrink films, as secondary packaging for transporting packs of cans or bottles. The material’s formulation consists of a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) compound into which up to 70% postconsumer plastic waste is incorporated, while ensuring the consistency of the material and functionality for its final application.

Our portfolio and activities include:

  • Products that can be easily recycled
  • Compatibilizers that offer the recycling of non-compatible material combinations
  • Innovative resins to allow combinations with recycled content without losing functional performance or significantly increasing weight

We’re also helping to develop options for improving the quality of recyclate from flexible packaging defined by:

  • Economics and implementation speed
  • Enabling partnerships (recyclers, OEMs, NGOs)
  • Regional infrastructure for plastic recycling